What will 2023 bring? The new year arrives soon and there’s no better place to celebrate the last night of the year than the Des Moines metro area. Here’s a guide to dates, times, and locations for a bumper crop of events and eats on New Year’s Eve.
Des Moines essential restaurant Aposto in Sherman Hill celebrates the new year with a four-course menu with choices such as arancini or salad, a scallop crudo or duck ragu agnolotti, and braised beef short rib or white fish roulade with white bean sauce, and Prosecco cake.
When: Dec. 31 starting at 5 p.m.
Where: Aposto, 644 18th St., Des Moines
Contact: 515-244-1353 or apostodm.com
Tickets: $80 per person tickets can be purchased on Tock.
In lieu of a full dinner menu, Des Moines essential restaurant Clyde’s is celebrating the new year with a prix fixe menu featuring four courses of elevated comfort food with multiple options. Menu details are forthcoming, but make sure to book a table at the East Village restaurant before the big day.
When: Reservations run from 5 to 8:45 p.m. on Dec. 31.
Where: Clyde’s Fine Diner, 111 E. Grand Ave., Suite 111, Des Moines
Contact: 515-243-3686 or clydesfinediner.com
Tickets: $100 tickets can be purchased on Tock.
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Ring in the new year at barbecue restaurant Cornbred in Ames. Cornbred fans can celebrate at the Ames eatery with barbecue, beverages, and a broad range of desserts. Each ticket comes with two drinks, grazing tables featuring a wide array of food, a live band performing, various games, and a Champagne toast. A photo booth will be available so friends and family member can capture the moment with Instagram-worthy pictures.
When: 8 p.m. Dec. 31 to 1 a.m. Jan. 1
Where: Cornbred Barbecue, 526 Main St., Ames
Contact: 515-964-5259 or cornbredbbq.com
Tickets: $45 per ticket, but $80 for a pair in a two-ticket bundle. Purchase them on Eventbrite.
Reservations: Call 515-964-5259 to save a seat.
Des Moines essential restaurant HoQ has a four-course menu on New Year’s Eve for $79 per person on both Dec. 30 and 31. An optional wine pairing goes for $45. The meal at the East Village restaurant starts with an amuse bouche and naan, followed by a soup sampler or tri-color beet carpaccio; chicken and waffle or a pupusa with Kennebec potatoes and spinach; and grass-fed tenderloin, Alaska halibut or buttered local tofu. Vegan and gluten-free options also available.
When: Available starting at 5 p.m. Dec. 30-31
Where: 303 E. Fifth St., Des Moines
Contact: hoqtable.com or 515-244-1213.
Tickets: $79 per person with an optional $45 wine pairing.
Reservations: Book a table on OpenTable.
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Ring in the new year with a specialty menu, led by executive chef Rateb Aburas, at the Surety Hotel’s restaurant Mulberry Street Tavern in downtown Des Moines. Starters include butternut squash and black truffle bisque and lamb meatballs alongside entrees such as black cod, smoked cauliflower, half chicken confit, and prime rib beef Wellington. Make it a night to remember and reserve your table early because these seats go fast.
When: 4 p.m. to midnight on Dec. 31
Where: Surety Hotel, 206 Sixth Ave., Des Moines
Contact: 515-985-2066 or suretyhotel.com/mulberry-street-tavern.
Tickets: $85 per person or $70 for vegetarian options.
Reservations: Book a table on OpenTable.
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End the year over a New Year’s Eve prix fixe, multi-course meal by two French guest chefs — David Baruthio and Marc Navailles — at new American restaurant Salt of the Hearth in West Des Moines. The spread includes starters such as Alaskan king crab and lobster alongside wild Alaskan halibut with smoked eggplant and a miso glaze and prime angus filet with black truffle, as well as dessert. An early option offers three course while the later brings six.
When: Early bird at 5 or 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 31; main dinner at 6, 7 or 8 p.m. on Dec. 31.
Where: Salt of the Hearth inside Beer Styles, West Glen Town Center, 5513 Mills Civic Pkwy., West Des Moines
Tickets: $100 per person for early bird dinner, $195 for six-course main dinner
Reservations: Call 515-457-7258 or visit eventbrite.com.
Contact: beerstyles.com
End the year over a special meal with loved ones with Splash Seafood Bar & Grill’s menu on New Year’s Eve. The downtown Des Moines seafood stop invites locals and out-of-towners to visit and ring in the new year with a seafood menu of oysters, lobster, king crab and fish.
When: 4 to 10 p.m. on Dec. 31
Where: Splash Seafood Bar & Grill, 303 Locust St., Des Moines
Reservations: Call 515-244-5686 to save a seat.
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Head to OpenTable for 20 additional restaurants with availability on New Year’s Eve from Tupelo Honey and 801 Chophouse to Fresko in downtown Des Moines to Wasabi in Ankeny, Fleming’s and the Firebirds Wood-Fired Grill in West Des Moines, Destination Grille in Grimes and Cooper’s Hawk in Clive.
When: Dec. 31, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Where: Des Moines Central Library, 1000 Grand Ave., Des Moines
Price: Free
Young ones don’t have to wait until midnight to celebrate the start of 2023 when the Des Moines Central Library will host a Noon Year’s Eve party, a daytime soiree for the holiday for kids from 5 to 12 years old.
Over the course of this hour-long event, attendees can enjoy snacks, music and games while they count down to noon that day.
Though the event is free to attend, registration is required before 6 p.m. on Dec. 30. Registration and more information are available at dmpl.org.
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When: Dec. 31, 8 p.m.
Where: Des Moines Civic Center, 221 Walnut St., Des Moines
Price: $40 to $95
Hot off of celebrating the other planets of our solar system in concert, the Des Moines Symphony will perform again to celebrate another year of our planet’s orbit with “New Year’s Eve Pops.”
Maestro Joseph Giunta will once more lead the Des Moines Symphony in its traditional New Year’s Eve concert. This year, the symphony will bring in vocalists Capathia Jenkins and Tony DeSare to help them perform music from legends like Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. The evening promises fresh takes on old favorites, like “Come Fly With Me” and “The Lady is a Tramp,” to ring in the new year.
Tickets and more information about the event can be found at desmoinesperformingarts.org.
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When: Dec. 31, 8 p.m.
Where: xBk Live, 1159 24th St., Des Moines
Price: $15 to $300
Having headlined this year’s GDP music festival, the locally based, multi-media band Lvvmaking is performing at xBk Live in the Drake neighborhood to play out 2022 with a high-energy dance party.
The group released its first full album, “TRVE LVV,” in 2019 and has since then put out a single, “Everything That I Got,” and a set of EPs with “Memory Metals” Vol. I through IV.
Tickets and more information about the event can be found at xbklive.com.
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When: Dec. 31, 8 p.m.
Where: Noce, 1326 Walnut St., Des Moines
Price: $110 to $190
Noce owner Max Wellman and his band are once again serenading attendees to the jazz bar on New Year’s Eve with an event that has sold out in all seven previous years.
Joining the Max Wellman Big Band for the evening with be The Nate Sparks Band, among other musical acts. Game tables with professional dealers will be available in the Backstage room, Tangerine Food Co. will cater the evening and the jazz club promises to have premium Champagne cocktails for the event.
Tickets to the event can be purchased through simpletix.com.
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When: Dec. 31, 9 p.m.
Where: Wooly’s, 504 E. Locust St., Des Moines
Price: $15 to $200
Des Moines-based musicians Tony Bohnenkamp and Jerry Lorenson return to Wooly’s on the final day of 2022 to once again showcase their skills with this year’s “Pianopalooza.” Featured with the duo this year is The June Bugs, an all-female cover band.
Tickets and more information about this year’s event are available through firstfleetconcerts.com.
When: Dec. 31, 9 p.m.
Where: Gas Lamp, 1501 Grand Ave., Des Moines
Price: $15
DJ Taylor Gonzalez will be keeping the party going at Gas Lamp on New Year’s Eve in this event hosted by Dusty Baker, the vocalist of Tom’s Top 8, an Iowa-based cover band that pulls from the hits of bands like Fallout Boy and My Chemical Romance.
Tickets for the evening are $15 at the door.
When: Dec. 31, 9:30 p.m.
Where: Teehee’s Comedy Club, 1433 Walnut St., Des Moines
Price: $15 to $20
Black Iowa Streams, a nonprofit group of Black Iowa-based comedians and creators, is setting up in Teehee’s for its fourth annual New Year’s Eve Kickback event.
Tickets for the evening are $15 in advance, $20 at the door and can be found at teeheescomedy.com.
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When: Dec. 31, 10 p.m.
Where: Funny Bone, 560 S. Prairie View Dr., West Des Moines
Price: $40
Kellen Erskine, who’s appeared on “America’s Got Talent,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “Comedy Central,” is coming to central Iowa to celebrate New Year’s Eve with a night of laughter at Funny Bone, a comedy club and restaurant in West Des Moines.
Erskine will have an event earlier in the evening on, 8 p.m. Dec. 31 and an event at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 30. Pricing and information about both of those shows can be found at desmoines.funnybone.com.
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When: Dec. 31, 10 p.m.
Where: Stoner Theater, 221 Walnut St.
Price: $25
Comedy Xperiment, Des Moines longest lasting improv comedy troupe, has made it through another year to once again celebrate the New Year with audience members. The comedians, who specialize in taking suggestions from the audience, promise that no two shows are the same. Just like the promise of 2023, anything is possible.
Tickets and more information about the event can be found at desmoinesperformingarts.org.
Jay Stahl is an entertainment reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow him on Instagram, Twitter, or reach out at [email protected].
Isaac Hamlet covers arts, entertainment and culture at the Des Moines Register. Reach him at [email protected] or 319-600-2124, follow him on Twitter @IsaacHamlet.
