Latin King chef Zach Boals shares his favorite places to eat in Des Moines

The Des Moines metro is home to a lot of restaurants and bars, but there are tons of hidden gems that should be uncovered. To help guide readers to these potential discoveries, the Des Moines Register enlisted some of the city’s food players to share their recommendations for a feature dubbed Dining Confidential. Have someone we should feature, drop our entertainment editor Susan Stapleton a line at [email protected].

Taking over a legendary restaurant is never an easy task, but Zach Boals did just that when he became the executive chef at the Latin King, the longtime Italian restaurant in Des Moines. In 2021, Bob and Amy Tursi sold the restaurant to Whitney VinZant, a Kansas City, Missouri-based restaurateur who also owns local restaurants Fresko in downtown Des Moines and Louie's Wine Dive on University Avenue near 42nd Street in Des Moines. Tursi bought the restaurant in 1983 from original owner and his third cousin Jim Pigneri, who originally opened it in 1947. Both families came from Terravecchia, a village in the Calabria region of southern Italy.

Boals grew up in central Iowa, graduating from Johnston High School and playing football at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake. “I blew up my knee and went home and started working at Texas Roadhouse. I worked for them for almost 10 years,” Boals said.

He ended up opening restaurants across the country. When he wasn’t moving up with Texas Roadhouse, he went to Louie’s Wine Dive as the executive chef. Now he’s at Latin King, keeping the traditions of chicken spiedini, steak de Burgo and toasted raviolis alive at this institution on the east side on Des Moines. Here he shares some of his favorite places to dine in Des Moines.

More: What to know about the Latin King, the Italian restaurant on the east side in Des Moines

The Des Moines Register: Do you have any very favorite breakfast spots to go to?

Zach Boals: The Drake Diner has always been just my G.O.A.T. I live close to there. And anytime my parents come to town to visit, that's where we're going for breakfast.

I get the country fried sirloin. It's steak and gravy on there. I always need a nap after that.

My wife and I go to Fresko downtown for a late breakfast. We actually do bring the kids. We'll have a couple drinks. We always order the Texas B&G with homemade drop biscuits with a chorizo gravy on top. We always just order that as like an appetizer. We tried to go around like 11 so that way, you know you can get breakfast or you can get lunch.

I think everyone should have lunch all day. I need a burger at 9 a.m. That's just me. We usually go around 11, that way I can get their pita wrap that they have there. And then my wife can get a flatbread or something like that or breakfast if she wants.

DMR: Do you ever get out for lunch?

Boals: The Beaver Tap is one of my favorites. My mom worked there when it was A.K. O'Connors. My uncle worked there when it was the Bon Ton Tavern back in the ’60s and ’70s. I like going there when my folks are in town. We go there and get a tenderloin, I'm a sucker for a good fried tenderloin. It’s just kind of cool to me that my mom worked here like 25 years ago. My uncle worked here 50 years ago, so it's just kind of like a cool history to the place.

DMR: Where do you like to go for dinner?

Boals: My brother has a gluten intolerance. So we frequent Louie’s Wine Dive, especially for the live music.

I like their Buffalo chicken sandwich. That's my go to. Fish and chips is always a good one as well.

I also like going to Rube’s in Waukee. Anytime someone else cooks my steak I feel like it’s just not right. So being able to cook my steak and have the experience is always fun. My wife kind of gets to see me in action a little bit.

The quality of meat they had out there was really good. That's one of the things that I look for when you go to a place like that.

I like to get the rib-eye and my wife gets the filet.

They also have a potato bar or a salad bar. It's really just kind of do your own thing. If you want another potato, no one's gonna tell you no.

And the Latin King. That's where we go for our anniversary and stuff like that. My family used to all come here for birthdays and everything, so that's why this place is kind of special to me.

More: Get Des Moines restaurant recommendations from Bubba's owner Chris Diebel

Zach Boals' favorite places to dine in Des Moines

The Beaver Tap, 4050 Urbandale Ave., Des Moines; 515-528-8125 or beavertapdsm.com

Drake Diner, 1111 25th St., Des Moines; 515-277-1111 or drakediner.com

Fresko, 909 Locust St., Des Moines; 515-630-7009 or freskodsm.com

Louie's Wine Dive, 4040 University Ave., Suite A, Des Moines; 515-777-3416 or louieswinedive.com

Rube's Steakhouse, 3309 Ute Ave., Waukee; 515-987-8237 or rubessteakhouse-waukee.com

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Dining Confidential with Zach Boals at Latin King in Des Moines