Papa Kern's Cafe, Des Moines IA

Love Pa Pa Kerns. Absolutely an east side treasure. Very good food, very good service, hope they solve the staffing issue. The best establishment to ever occupy that location. IMO

Went for the Farmer's Eggs that I would order when I came here in the past. Not as good now. The "country" potatoes seemed like maybe they were boiled, then sliced and spent a few seconds on the griddle. Not 1 crispy.or even golden brown potato on my plate. Over easy eggs had some runny yolk like they should, but the white was pretty brown and crunchy. A bit of a let down from a year ago or so.

Had the roasters. It was really good got it to go the gal was real friendly. And they weren't skimpy on the food. I be back there again to try some other dinner meal

My husband absolutely loves this place use to go in quite often with his old boss! Living down south haven't had much time to make it back up there

Overall papa kerns is very good with very friendly staff although Out of the number if times we've been here, we have only had one somewhat bad experience. Food was good but whole order was not received and still did not receive the rest of it by the time we we're done eating. We even reminded them hey can we get the rest of our order. Said oh yea i'll get it and never came back to the table, and the whole time we we're there our drinks never got refilled, didn't ask if I wanted more to drink until they were clearing the table off of plates. Not sure what was going on but the waitress we had seemed way more concerned about her other table than ours

Food is quality and substantial servings! Served very quickly although we came in before the lunch hour rush. One of our favorite places! Highly recommend for good comfort food!

When you done at Papa Kerns you are family. No, they don't have you do the dishes. I mean the family they like.

Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner, this is one of the best diner’s I’ve been too in a very long time. I’ve taken family and friends there 5 times now over the last 4 months and found the service to be professional, always getting my food and my family’s food as we order it. Priced well.

This has quickly become our go to for those meals where no once can decide what they want to eat as you can get a great food regardless of what meal you are trying to satisfy. This is a must try…

We went here on mothers day and was treated horrible. Food was cold when we got it, we still ate and paid for it even though we waited over a hour to get our food. Went to check out and my sister said something to them about it and the cashier was running her mouth about my sister to my brother and as soon as i walked up she stopped running her mouth. I called to make a complaint and got hung up on so i call back no one answered the phone. I call from my moms phone and talked to the so called manager and he said he would call me back never did and i call again the next day and got no answer again. I do not recommend going here at all. Normally I'm nice about things but this is not a good place at all. Plus they way over charge for food and service you get.

I'd give zero stars if I could. The services was horrible, you could tell the waitress didn't want to be there and food was cold and lacked flavor. I told our waitress numerous times while ordering i wanted an order of fries before our meal as we had kids with us that were hungry and since restaurant was busy I thought this would keep them happy till we got our food. My husband had to go up to the counter to tell them again we wanted them as an appetizer as it had been at least a half since we had ordered. When we went to pay we are pretty sure our daughter was over charged as they didn't order much and she questioned the same person that happened to be our waitress and was told she could have gone somewhere else to eat then continued to talk nasty about her to the people in line behind her when she left. I know this because her brother and sister were in that line. I find this in very pour taste and will advise people to stay away as her behavior was out of line and food was disappointing. I agree we should have chose somewhere else.

Came on Easter because they were doing an "Easter special", it came out cold and was the worst food I've eaten. They also charge you a fee when you use a debit card, which I was not told about prior. This place should be shut down for the pure disgusting food.

Reviews need to be about the FOOD! Stop reviewing on the fact they are slow getting to your table, occasionally! I want to know about the food and if it is good, or not! Sometimes home cooked meals, made to order, takes perfection and time, and if they are busy, this can cause a delay in your order, and the time it may take to get a cup of coffee in your face, so stop complaining about how slow it takes for the waitress to get to your table, just stop!

My husband has to go there at least once a week for their french dip. Ask for Stephanie, she's a great waitress.

3/12 to go order

You could tell the cooked didn't care. Just complete slop in a box.

Won't ever have it again.

Wonderful small town feel.excellent breakfast! Great place to meet … good prices.service is unbelievable! !
Enjoy a hidden gem

Was one of only cafe style places around. I could've cooked better food at home but for the price, I guess ya get what ya pay for.

I don't give 5 stars often because there's always room for improvement. But this place was pretty close. Great staff, good food, good prices. Neat place.