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Rita’s Cantina is now open for the 2024 season! Located in the East Village River Market District, Rita’s offers a delicious menu of tacos, enchiladas, birria egg rolls and more! Rita’s is known for our margarita flights, queso flights, homemade salsa, and 12 + flavors of margaritas on our sizable outdoor patio! Our Guac-o-clock Happy Hour goes from 3 – 6 pm every Monday through Friday.
Address and Contact Information
Address: 401 SE 5th St, Des Moines, IA 50309
Phone: (515) 777-1012
Website: http://ritascantinadsm.com/
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Rita’s Cantina |
Rita’s Cantina is CLOSED for the 2025 Season! We will see you next year! Menu. ADDRESS. 401 SE 5th Street. Des Moines, Iowa 50309. PHONE. (515) 777-1012.
Rita’s Cantina | Des Moines IA – Facebook
Rita’s Cantina ; Details. . 78% recommend (326 Reviews). . $$. . Open now. . 401 SE 5th Street, Des Moines, IA, United States, 50309 ; Links. .
Rita’s Cantina (@ritascantinadsm) • Instagram photos and videos
CLOSED for the season East Village of Des Moines Happy Hour Mon-Thu 3-6pm · Photo by Rita’s Cantina in Rita’s Cantina.
Reviews
Lorien Spilkin
We walked to Rita’s Cantina for Mexican and had a lovely evening. We sat outside which had a nice feel, and our waitress was very sweet. The chips that came with the salsa weren’t the greatest, but the food overall was tasty. We shared the frozen Margarita flight, which confirmed that lime is definitely our favourite flavour. The Tacos each came with a side, the beans were nice and each plate came with a little dollop of corn tomalito which basically tasted like dessert. I’d happily go back.
… moreAshley Sinnorai
Went with a group of 5 to enjoy food and drinks on a Monday night. I love the outdoor seating because you can see the beautiful Des Moines skyline. They had plenty of seating and a free parking lot.
Overall, I had a great experience! The servers were alright, nothing special.
I enjoyed my 3 steak street tacos + side of black beans + my virgin frozen margarita. My friends loved their burrito bowl. It looked exactly like the picture in the menu and it was a big portion for the price!
Ordered take out for my boyfriend (steak and potato burrito) and he enjoyed it! He said the potato bits were interesting but you get what you order lol.
I would come back again. 🙂
… moreOverall, I had a great experience! The servers were alright, nothing special.
I enjoyed my 3 steak street tacos + side of black beans + my virgin frozen margarita. My friends loved their burrito bowl. It looked exactly like the picture in the menu and it was a big portion for the price!
Ordered take out for my boyfriend (steak and potato burrito) and he enjoyed it! He said the potato bits were interesting but you get what you order lol.
I would come back again. 🙂
Shane Howard
This was my first time at Rita’s & I was very impressed! The margherita flight was fun, the queso flight was tasty, the entrees that my group ordered had no complaints, & the service was adequate. The margarita flight has a small sample of 4 different flavors that varied from each other enough so that you knew they were 4 different drinks but they all were very good, my favorite might have been the watermelon. The queso was fantastic too! They start you out with chips & salsa but I ordered the queso for my group to share & everyone raved about the different varieties! My steak & potato burrito was great also, it was well prepared & was probably one of the best burritos I’ve ever had. The only knock I’ll give them is our server was busy watching whatever game they had on the TV that day & my group had to work to get his attention for refills. Overall it was a good experience!
… moreCharles Derrig
We stopped by and checked out this little hidden gem on Cinco de Mayo. Our waitress was Jordan and she was amazing, super friendly and checked on several times during our lunch. Food was very good portions and reasonably priced. I highly recommend checking this place out and asking for Jordan. You won’t be disappointed. Only downside is limited parking
… moreAllie Todhunter
The menu has completely changed – all of our favorite food items are no longer offered. On top of the chips and salsa no longer being complimentary, the “salsa” we paid for was completely watery. This place used to be one of our favorite restaurants ☹️
… moreDavid Meillier
A very solid all around experience. Good Margaritas, the flavored ones get pretty sweet. Peach was our favorite. They have black and pinto refried beans which we didn’t know until the food arrived, but nice to have options. Queso flight was pretty disappointing, the blanco with chorizo was clearly the best. The shrimp in the tacos were cooked perfectly, definitely ordering those again. Enchiladas were all good. But the barbacoa tacos were FANTASTIC! My son loved the dessert raco, but the churro tower will bring me back again and again.
Now lets talk venue and service. The parking lot is tiny and street parking is kind of sketchy, we ended up parking at Truman’s KC Pizza Pub who had zero guests. I normally wouldn’t do this, but they are the same ownership group. There is a good amount of bike racks. We had to wait about 45 minutes for a table at 2 pm on a Saturday. No big deal, grabbed some margaritas from inside and waited in the shade.
Once seated our server droppped off waters and chips & salsa immediately. We didn’t place our drink order for another 15 minutes at least. To be honest I just think they were shorthanded. I know it’s tough to hire service staff right now. Unfortunately when she was at the table it wasn’t much better. The other servers around us seemed more engaging and informative, so I wouldn’t throw the whole service team under a bus.
If you want to sit outside late afternoon will get you some great shade.
1x Marg Flight
5x Corona Marg
1x Queso Flight
5x Entrees
2x Desserts
Total & Tip $170
… moreNow lets talk venue and service. The parking lot is tiny and street parking is kind of sketchy, we ended up parking at Truman’s KC Pizza Pub who had zero guests. I normally wouldn’t do this, but they are the same ownership group. There is a good amount of bike racks. We had to wait about 45 minutes for a table at 2 pm on a Saturday. No big deal, grabbed some margaritas from inside and waited in the shade.
Once seated our server droppped off waters and chips & salsa immediately. We didn’t place our drink order for another 15 minutes at least. To be honest I just think they were shorthanded. I know it’s tough to hire service staff right now. Unfortunately when she was at the table it wasn’t much better. The other servers around us seemed more engaging and informative, so I wouldn’t throw the whole service team under a bus.
If you want to sit outside late afternoon will get you some great shade.
1x Marg Flight
5x Corona Marg
1x Queso Flight
5x Entrees
2x Desserts
Total & Tip $170
Kayla Rankin
Ava was phenomenal at being very attentive and making sure we had anything we needed. Drinks came out within 5 minutes of ordering. The hangover nachos were amazing and the perfect mid day snack to share.
… moreMelinda
Met some friends here. We each got a different margarita flight. They were all too sweet for me but still fun nonetheless. The fish tacos are so good! The tamales; however, were sweet. We were looking for something savory when ordering those. They were still good, just not what we expected. They gave us a birthday cake ice cream taco since we were all there celebrating our birthdays, too. That was really nice. I’d get the mahi mahi tacos again if I went back, and probably just order a regular marg.
… moreJ Clemens
Rita’s Cantina is a hidden gem in Des Moines that deserves more love! The food is absolutely delicious, and the recent updates to the menu are seriously impressive—fresh, flavorful, and full of creative touches.
My top favorite? The shrimp tacos—perfectly cooked, packed with flavor, and even better with a side of their house hot sauce. We started with the homemade guacamole, which was so refreshing and full of citrusy zip. Definitely one of the best I’ve had in town.
I also requested a margarita made with mezcal instead of tequila, and the bartender, Jaicee, couldn’t have been more accommodating. She crafted the perfect smoky margarita with a chili-salt rim and a dried citrus wheel on top—beautifully balanced and so good.
Our waitress, Luci, was warm, attentive, and made sure everything came out just right. Great service from start to finish.
If you haven’t been to Rita’s in a while, it’s time to go back. The menu upgrades are spot-on, the cocktails are amazing (especially if you ask for Jaicee!), and the vibe is relaxed but vibrant. Highly recommend!
… moreMy top favorite? The shrimp tacos—perfectly cooked, packed with flavor, and even better with a side of their house hot sauce. We started with the homemade guacamole, which was so refreshing and full of citrusy zip. Definitely one of the best I’ve had in town.
I also requested a margarita made with mezcal instead of tequila, and the bartender, Jaicee, couldn’t have been more accommodating. She crafted the perfect smoky margarita with a chili-salt rim and a dried citrus wheel on top—beautifully balanced and so good.
Our waitress, Luci, was warm, attentive, and made sure everything came out just right. Great service from start to finish.
If you haven’t been to Rita’s in a while, it’s time to go back. The menu upgrades are spot-on, the cocktails are amazing (especially if you ask for Jaicee!), and the vibe is relaxed but vibrant. Highly recommend!
Levi Hoffman
Great atmosphere, but VERY limited menu and over priced for what you get. $8 for chips and salsa that tasted like prego pasta sauce. Had the steak burrito, was okay. Won’t be back anytime soon.
… more