Mars Cafe

My personal favorite coffee in Des Moines. They host a pretty great variety of events as well, including board game nights. The food menu's pretty slim but they've got a few vegan food options, which I always appreciate. Try the hummus platter and the cold brew coffee.

Nice breakfast options. Sometimes seating is full. Music is a bit too loud and muddy sounding. Coffee is good, but Zanzibar's is better, IMO.
EDIT: today, good food and service, as usual. And now they've turned the music down, nearly perfect in here now.

I went for first time today and was so disappointed!!
Fruity espresso flavor that was awful. My coffee was cold and they blamed it on me ( I didn't pick it up on time) and second round just as cold. My number 1 big issue is the barista was a completely rude, indifferent girl with attitude.

Great atmosphere. Coffee is great and the smoothies are delicious.

Mars never disappoints. Best chai, some of my favorite drip coffee, and a vibe I always feel comfortable with!

My band director took me here on a school trip. I was forced to listen to his life story and the only thing that enhanced my experience was the delicious coffee and the relaxed atmosphere. Overall 5/5 stars.

I've always loved mars, and I am very pleased with how the new ownership/management has maintained its patrons expectations for great coffee, great service, and a great atmosphere. Looking for a good local coffee spot in Des Moines? This is your place.

I was here a week ago, have coffee and sandwiches I liked that the restaurant was clean and the staff are friendly, they have WI-FI.I would like to add the customers are friendly and it makes my experience so much more .I like to thank the manager, who makes everyone welcome. Also he's a Google Fan and makes sure your visit was enjoyable, ANY PROBLEMS WILL BE CORRECTED, he will make it Right. BELIEVE ME. I WOULD ORDER COFFEE and a muffin,they have soups and sandwiches and Pastries, So please come in anytime, you're welcome to come, Free WiFi, Beer, Clean Restrooms.

We stopped by for a quick bite to eat after deciding that the wait for Drake Diner was just too long on a Sunday afternoon. We ordered a few different sandwiches, and two of us got drinks (a mocha and an iced chai latte). The decor is nice and the staff were friendly enough. No issues there at all. The space seems like a nice place to hang out, and we saw a lot of people camped out on their laptops taking advantage of the chill vibes.

The food and my latte were definitely lacking, though our friend said their mocha was really great.

Breakfast Quesadilla - When you order a "breakfast" anything that has eggs on it, you usually expect one of two things. Scrambled eggs, or fried eggs. Their breakfast fare uses hard-boiled eggs, which was really unexpected and a little jarring. Since it's such a departure from the norm, I wish it would have been mentioned somewhere on the menu. However, the tortilla was crispy, and the salsa it's served with had good flavor.

The Spaceman (breakfast sandwich)- Again, served with hard-boiled eggs. Which wasn't unpleasant, just not what I was expecting or wanting from a breakfast sandwich. The bread was nice and crunchy and the bacon seemed of good quality. The whole sandwich overall was a little on the dry side and definitely needed something creamy to bring it all together (like mayo or avocado). I wouldn't order this again.

My iced chai latte wasn't very good either, though it was not the worst that I have had. Next time, I would try one of their coffee-based drinks instead.

One of the biggest issues we had was the discrepancy in our food coming out. My husband's quesadilla came out, and I was told my sandwich was coming out in a second. I waited at least another 10 minutes for my sandwich, which was awkward considering everyone else had their food and were almost done eating by the time mine came. One of our lunch guests even asked, "You did order food, right?" When it did eventually come, there was no "sorry about the wait" or anything, which goes a long way with me.

Overall, I was not impressed with our first visit here, and would probably not be back (at least for food). I would definitely come by to try some of their coffee-based drinks, and to enjoy the laid back atmosphere.

This is the second time we have graced you business, and it is probably the last. Ordered 2peach tea. The tea was so weak, you had to work at it to taste any peach. It was colored water. The guy that made the tea, said he followed the recipe, and THAT WAS peach tea. I am not a tea drinker so much. But I know peach. Then he insinuated we had covid, because according to him loss of taste is a symptom of covid. That was not necessary to insult first our tea, and say we needed to go get tested. No, now that I think about it, we will not come back, and word of mouth gets around.