Home > Des Moines Restaurants > Editorial Review > Editorial Juice Review: Skip's

If you want to do lunch old-school, Skip's is the place to go.

When we pulled into the parking lot, I felt like singing the hook to the Lil' Kim song, "The Jump Off," when she raps about "the Bentleys, the Hummers, the Benz." With all the BMW, Lexus and Mercedes hood ornaments, we decided the restaurant probably gets runoff from The Wakonda Club across the street, which was founded in 1922 - and that means old money.

SCENE

From the outside, Skip's is a cheerful, little white house, but inside, the woodwork is dark and rich, and the bar has an old, classic feel. Most of Skip's patrons were dressed as if they'd spent the morning at Wakonda. Sure, we felt like the youngest people there, but there were enough groups engaged in lively conversation that our youth went mostly unnoticed.

FOOD

Skip's has a substantial lunch menu that includes salads, sandwiches and pasta. Nothing is more than $10. We didn't stray too far from tried-and-true classics. The chicken avocado club sandwich on toasted sourdough was good, but a bit on the greasy side. My indecisive dining partner ordered a shrimp club sandwich after our server asked, "Where else can you get a shrimp club?" My friend described her sandwich, filled with large shrimp smothered in zesty sauce, as "really good."

Both sandwiches came with shoestring french fries - so perfectly crispy that I didn't even need ketchup. More health-conscious diners can get cottage cheese, rice pilaf, coleslaw, a dinner salad or potato salad on the side.

The sandwiches filled us up, but our server suggested homemade bread pudding for $3.95. Very tempting, but that would have put us over our budget.

SERVICE

Since we sat at the bar, our server didn't have far to go to fill our water glasses. She was very helpful and familiar with the menu - and we were glad she suggested the shrimp club.

BOTTOM LINE

Skip's is a Des Moines classic at a reasonable price - the perfect place to pretend like you're loaded.