Whether it's the mahogany furnishings or the 24-ounce Porterhouse steak, excess is key at this elegant steak house. The 801 provides a gentlemen's club ambience and is renowned among the business crowd as the place to seal a deal. The menu is classic and the food rich. Side items come à la carte and include favorites like creamed spinach topped with cheese. Diners can also choose starters like baked escargot or lobster corn chowder. Main entrées include veal chops and Delmonico steaks, as well as prime rib and filet mignon. The menu even offers a spicy stuffed chicken breast filled with crab, cheese and mushrooms. Casual dress attire.

Steak, chicken and slow-roasted prime rib may be three reasons locals and tourists alike clamor to this Des Moines establishment. Crimmins Cattle Company has it all, including a roadhouse ambience and shrimp cocktail and crab legs on the salad bar. The atmosphere is casual and intimate, and the steaks are luscious. Reservations accepted.

With the option of cooking your own steak, eating at this local steak house is both adventurous and filling. The Iowa Beef Steak House serves up its food in simple décor. The ambience is rustic (farm tools hang from the walls), and the steaks are divine. Patrons can choose from 14-ounce fillets to 28-ounce T-bones. Meals are accompanied with a trip to the salad bar, baked potato and tasty garlic bread. The service is amicable. Reservations accepted.

For over 35 years, Jesse's Embers has been a Des Moines tradition. The steak house serves up classic heartland fare: the Black Angus beef is aged, the seafood is fresh, the pasta homemade, and the ribs are tangy. The menu even offers steak sandwiches and a tasty grilled chicken breast served with asparagus. Casual ambience and exceptional service.