Something Italian

Something Italian is a wonderful place to stop by on your lunch break. You definitely get more food for you dollar compared to any restaurant downtown. The pizza is amazing! It’s made fresh everyday so not sure where one Unilocal reviewer got his facts on that’s it’s store bought pre-​made crust. I haven’t tried any of the pasta yet but had numerous sandwiches that are phenomenal! Staff is always pleasant.

Great place for a cheap, quick slice of pizza during lunch. The salad bar is nothing spectacular and I usually skip it now. Service is quick but don’t expect a warm welcome as the staff usually all act as if they’d rather be anywhere but there.

Mediocre penne pasta with one huge tasteless meatball. Super cheap though!
It’s hot in Des Moines in the summertime.

I tried Something Italian for lunch today after doing a fair amount of research into their menu and reviews. To cover all the bases, I ordered a slice of pepperoni and The Villian sandwich (it’s a grinder plus jalapenos). The pizza came out first and was what you’d expect from any pizza-​by-​the-​slice place — some flavor on what was almost certainly a premade purchased crust. Cheese and pepperoni were good. At this point, I wasn’t too worried because in my mind the grinder was the main event.
I have a false presumption that if a place offers a grinder, it’s going to be a good one because it’s a niche menu item. I mean, everyone has a hamburger on the menu because people expect there to be a hamburger on the menu. But if you’re serving grinders I assume it’s because you want to do so because you’re a fan yourself. So after reading that Something Italian uses Graziano’s sausage (one of the standards by which DSM food is judged, unless you make the sausage yourself) I thought the worst that could happen was I would get a sub-​par grinder with above average sausage. Not the case. If Something Italian does in fact use Graziano’s, they must add a heavy dose of ground beef or pork because the grinder meat was totally flavorless. Many places do add ground beef to their meat, and that’s fine — but I appreciate being told as much before ordering.
The sandwich came with a healthy dose of red sauce — both mixed with the meat and on top — and was topped with melted mozzarella. Bread looked good and was nicely toasted, but like the sauce, meat, and cheese, had very little taste. The pickled jalapenos on top were the highlight of the sandwich. My friend had The Works sandwich — a grinder plus meatball (s) and a few other garnishments. Unfortunately, the sandwich came with only a singular meatball stuffed into the middle.
Something Italian gets ⁵⁄₅ for appearance but ²⁄₅ where it counts. The best comparison I can think of here is the mall-​style pizza chains like Sbarro — food looks like the best thing you’ve ever seen but is dull and tastless upon taking the bait. Prices are fair, service was quick, and dining area was spacious and clean — but food doesn’t deliver. I’d only go back for a slice if I worked downtown and had easy access to the skywalk.

Still a huge fan for the lunch hour, and I want to add the hot ham and cheese sandwich is one of the best I’ve ever had. Great value for the money.

I really enjoy this place. It’s a bit hard to find, and it doesn’t help when you ask the very vague, «Can you tell me, is something Italian down this way?» But once you find it, they are fast, reasonably priced, and they fill you up. It’s something different, not just something Italian, to break up your work day.
Their special is usually a great value, but I find it sells out before they close. I also enjoy their pizza — huge slices, and the vegetarian options are very good. They have a small, but tasty salad bar with all kinds of things to give you bad breath the rest of the day.
The place looks small, but they have a fairly large second dining area, so we’ve never had trouble finding a seat.
Be sure to check out their extensive Rocky Balboa action figure collection. You’ll never see its equal.

One of the few lunch options left on this skywalk area. Very reasonable and fast. You can customize a pasta dish, or they have several sandwiches and pizza by the slice to choose from. They also have a small salad bar.
The food is okay. My biggest complaint is that while they advertise several sauces and have daily specials with unique sounding sauces, really, they have marinara and alfredo. All of them taste the same. But if you’re in the mood for marinara or alfredo, they’re not bad. The pizza comes in huge slices, but I’ve found they are light on sauce and heavy on grease.

So here is a little gem on the 2^nd Floor of the Skyway. They have freshly made italian pasta, sandwiches, pizza by the slice and an amazing lunch salad for very reasonable prices. This place closes at 2pm.