Four Mile is one of Des Moines’ quieter east-side neighborhoods, shaped more by Four Mile Creek, mature residential streets, and open green space than by a single walkable restaurant district. That is part of the charm. Instead of one packed dining strip, the neighborhood’s best food is scattered along nearby commercial corridors—especially Hubbell Avenue, East University Avenue, East 14th Street, and the intersections around East 25th Street and Easton Boulevard.
If you are exploring Four Mile, plan to drive between stops. The reward is a wonderfully unfussy food tour: old-school Italian dining, Salvadoran pupusas, Chinese takeout, frozen desserts, neighborhood bars, drive-in classics, and a strong Des Moines tradition of casual comfort food.
Start with a Four Mile classic: Tursi’s Latin King
At 2200 Hubbell Avenue, just south of East University Avenue, Tursi’s Latin King is the area’s signature sit-down restaurant. It has been a Des Moines east-side institution for decades, and its location makes it an easy anchor for a Four Mile dining itinerary.
The cuisine is traditional Italian-American rather than minimalist or highly modern. Expect red-sauce pasta, toasted ravioli, meatballs, chicken spiedini, lasagna, Italian sausage, steak, seafood, and generous family-style portions. The restaurant’s chicken spiedini—marinated chicken skewered, breaded, and grilled with its distinctive amogio sauce—is the dish many regulars associate with the Latin King.
- Price range: About $15–$25 for most pasta, sandwiches, and classic entrées; higher for steak and seafood.
- Best for: Family dinners, celebrations, nostalgic Des Moines dining, and anyone who considers toasted ravioli a food group.
- Order this: Chicken spiedini, toasted ravioli, Italian meatballs, or the pasta trio.
Latin King is popular, but it still feels like a neighborhood restaurant rather than a destination designed for food tourism. That old-school atmosphere is exactly why it belongs near the top of the list.
La Cuscatleca brings Salvadoran flavor to East 14th
For one of Four Mile’s most memorable hidden gems, head toward East 14th Street and the East 14th Street–East University Avenue area. La Cuscatleca East, at 1240 East 14th Street, specializes in Salvadoran food, particularly pupusas made to order.
Pupusas are thick corn masa cakes filled with combinations such as cheese, beans, pork, chicken, shrimp, spinach, squash, or loroco. They arrive hot from the griddle with curtido, a tangy cabbage slaw, and salsa. The menu also includes Salvadoran breakfast plates, carne asada, fried yucca, plantains, tamales, pastelitos, and combination platters.
- Price range: Roughly $3–$4 per pupusa, with most full plates in the $10–$18 range.
- Best for: A quick lunch, a casual family meal, or trying a cuisine that is still underappreciated by many Des Moines diners.
- Order this: Mixed pupusas, loroco and cheese, fried yucca, and an agua fresca if available.
The key Four Mile food lesson is to look beyond polished storefronts. Some of the area’s best meals are served in modest spaces where the specialty is clear and the cooking is deeply rooted in family tradition.
Hubbell Avenue is the neighborhood’s practical food corridor
Hubbell Avenue carries much of the everyday dining traffic near Four Mile. Around East University Avenue and farther north toward Easton Boulevard, you will find a mix of independent restaurants, fast-casual stops, dessert businesses, bars, and familiar chains.
For Chinese-American comfort food, Tsing Tsao Chinese Fast Food near 2231 East University Avenue is a useful takeout option. It is the kind of place to remember when you want fried rice, lo mein, egg rolls, or a combination plate without turning dinner into an event. The nearby East University corridor also includes long-standing convenience stops, cafés, dessert counters, and quick-service restaurants.
At 2323 Hubbell Avenue, Thelma’s Treats adds a distinctly Des Moines sweet tradition to the neighborhood. The company is known for ice cream sandwiches made with soft cookies and playful flavors, and its products have become a local favorite far beyond the east side.
- Price range: Usually under $10 for a dessert stop.
- Best for: A post-dinner treat, a road-trip snack, or introducing visitors to a locally made Iowa indulgence.
- Order this: A classic chocolate-chip ice cream sandwich, then look for seasonal or specialty flavors.
Nearby, AE Dairy at 2420 East University Avenue represents another piece of Des Moines food culture. While it is not a conventional restaurant, the local dairy name is part of the city’s everyday culinary identity. Pairing a Hubbell Avenue dinner with ice cream or a cold dairy treat feels especially appropriate.
Don’t overlook neighborhood bars and casual grills
Four Mile’s dining scene is also about places where food and community overlap. 14th Street Tavern, at 3418 East 14th Street, is a casual bar-and-grill option known for approachable bar food, drinks, and a relaxed neighborhood atmosphere.
This is where you go for burgers, sandwiches, fried appetizers, wings, and a low-pressure dinner rather than a carefully choreographed meal. Prices generally fall in the budget-to-moderate range, making it a practical stop for game nights, quick dinners, or meeting friends.
Farther east along East University Avenue, Now or Later Restaurant & Lounge offers another casual option for diners who want a fuller menu and a laid-back evening. The area around Hubbell Avenue, East University Avenue, and East 25th Street has long functioned as an everyday commercial hub, so the food choices tend to favor generous portions, familiar flavors, and easy parking over trendiness.
Food trucks add the neighborhood’s most flexible flavor
Food trucks are an important part of Des Moines’ dining culture, especially during warmer months, festivals, brewery events, and neighborhood gatherings. Rather than relying on one permanent truck parked in Four Mile every day, check local food-truck listings and social media for rotating stops around East 14th Street, East University Avenue, business parking lots, and community events. Food Trucks DSM maintains listings for trucks and locations across the city.
Taco trucks are especially worth seeking out. Des Moines has a strong street-food tradition built around tacos, burritos, quesadillas, tortas, and other Mexican specialties served quickly and affordably. In the Four Mile area, a truck stop can be the perfect complement to the neighborhood’s sit-down restaurants: less than $15, highly flavorful, and often worth a small detour.
The Four Mile food tradition is casual, generous, and multicultural
The best way to eat around Four Mile is to embrace variety. Start with Italian comfort food at Latin King, pick up Salvadoran pupusas near East 14th Street, grab Chinese takeout along East University Avenue, and finish with a Thelma’s ice cream sandwich or a classic dairy treat.
You will not find a single restaurant-lined avenue here, and that is the point. Four Mile rewards diners who follow the corridors, watch for small signs, and treat Hubbell Avenue and East University Avenue as a collection of local food stops rather than a formal dining district. The scene is affordable, welcoming, and proudly east side—exactly the kind of neighborhood food culture that makes exploring Des Moines worthwhile.