Des Moines, Iowa: Fong’s Pizza

If you’re walking down 4th Street in downtown Des Moines, you might blink and miss the entrance to the downtown Fong’s location. The reason to visit Fong’s Pizza is for their hybrid Asian inspired Italian offerings, including Rangoon, ramen and Polynesian pizzas. A green and white sign with red lettering hangs above the door. If you’re in the mood for something fun and new, Fong’s Pizza may be the right choice for you.

About Fong’s Pizza

Fong’s downtown location opened in 2009, and since then they’ve opened locations in Ankeny and Cedar Rapids. It’s a small location, and you may miss it when visiting for the first time. Fong’s interior is reminiscent of Chinese buffet restaurants, with booths lining the wall opposite the bar. Fong’s offers a large variety of alcoholic beverages to complement their pizza and food menu. The far wall features a mural-style piece that heightens the space.

Fong’s Pizza gained attention from the Cooking channel when it was featured on a show called The Best Thing I Ever Ate. The restaurant also had their General Tso’s Pizza featured on the popular food show Man Vs. Food. When you visit Fong’s and look over the menu, you can see popular dishes marked with information about who liked them and where they’ve been featured. Alton Brown is a famous TV personality who loves Fong’s Pizza, even shouting them out in a tweet about favorite crab dishes.

Is Fong’s Pizza any good?

We’ve visited Fong’s twice, and both times we enjoyed the service and the food. Our appetizers and pizza came out hot and fresh both times, and the unique pizza flavors lived up to the hype. With such an expansive menu of interesting options, Fong’s is the kind of place you may need to visit several times in order to get the full experience.

Fong’s Crab Rangoon pizza

The first time we visited Fong’s was for lunch, and we ordered the Crab Rangoon pizza. We’ve had Crab Rangoon pizza at other local pizza locations, but Fong’s pizza topped the other versions we’ve had. The Crab Rangoon pizza comes with a creamy sauce, crispy wontons and a sweet and sour sauce drizzled over the top. It’s an awesome combination of chewy and crunchy, with all the familiar flavors of a Crab Rangoon

Fun fact: Crab Rangoons are not traditional Chinese food, as cream cheese is not a common ingredient in China. Likely invented in San Francisco in the 1940s, the Rangoon takes its name from a city in Myanmar (Burma) previously called Rangoon, but presently known as Yangon.

Fong’s General Tso’s pizza

Fong’s General Tso’s pizza is another Asian Inspired pizza from their menu that combines Italian cuisine and American Chinese food. This pizza comes with the sweet and savory General Tso’s sauce and is topped with breaded chicken, water chestnuts, roasted red peppers, asiago, baby corn and fresh green onions.

It’s a striking dish with a combination of colors, textures, and flavors. When pulling out a piece, you may notice the pizza sag a bit with the weight of the toppings. We didn’t find this to be a major issue, as the flavor and experience was exceptional.

Fun fact: Though General Tso’s chicken is a popular American-Chinese dish based on food from Hunan, it’s not authentic Chinese food. The dish is named for General Tso Tsung-t’ang, or Zuo Zongtang. A chef named Peng Chang-kuei started making the dish in the 1950s, then arrived in New York in 1973 to open a restaurant serving the dish.

Fong’s Chinese Cheesesticks

During our second visit to Fong’s, we grabbed an order of the Chinese Cheesesticks as an appetizer before the pizza came out. Fong’s Chinese Cheesesticks resemble egg rolls, with mozzarella cheese rolled up into a wrapper and friend. The cheese sticks came out piping hot, crispy on the outside and melty on the inside. Though the cheese sticks were delicious, we only got four cheese sticks for $10, which was a little pricey.

What to know before visiting Fong’s

It can be daunting to visit a new restaurant, so we like to give you the lay of the land before you arrive. Hopefully, offering some tips for unsure and awkward travelers can help them get out there and try something new. These are some things to keep in mind when visiting Fong’s Pizza:

The dining space is small and crowded: The dining space in Fong’s is far from being spacious. There’s a long bar, booths lining the wall, and tables in the back. If you prefer an eating space with a little more elbow room, consider getting Fong’s as takeout and eating at home.

There’s a room with seating in the back: When you first walk into Fong’s it’s not immediately apparent that there’s another room in the back of the restaurant. If you’re looking for a seat, you can head to the back, where it may be a little less busy. There are also larger booths in the back for bigger groups.

Safe for vegan and vegetarian visitors: If you’re a vegetarian or vegan vitising Fong’s pizza, there are many options for you. This makes Fong’s a great spot for groups of friends with diverse nutrition needs. Some vegan options at Fong’s include the Garlic Four Cheese Bread, Cauliflower Wings, and Avocado Rangoon pizza. You can also customize your own pizza to be vegan, vegetarian, or gluten free.

It’s a popular weekend and dinner spot: If you want to be sure to get a table at Fong’s, consider visiting for lunch or on a weekday to skip the crowds.

No specialty pizza on the lunch special: Fong’s offers a lunch special in which you get two slices of pizza and a drink for around $12. We made the mistake of assuming this included any of their flavors, but the lunch special only includes the pizza they have ready made that day. When we visited, this was cheese or Canadian bacon. If you’re looking to try one of their unique flavors, plan to order a pizza instead of doing the special.

You can seat yourself when you come in: Both times we visited Fong’s, we seated ourselves at open tables. When it’s busy, trying to find an open table can be difficult.

Check their website for featured dishes: If you check their website for the downtown location, you can learn more about the featured dishes for that month. For example, the features for April 2022 are a bacon and green onion mac n’ cheese roll and a bacon cheeseburger pizza.

Final thoughts about Fong’s pizza

After visiting Fong’s a few times and trying two Asian inspired dishes, we definitely plan to go back. The restaurant also offers an Iowa-themed pizza menu that makes it perfect for those visiting from out-of-state. Inside, Fong’s offers a dim, soothing experience reminiscent of smaller Chinese buffet restaurants.

Fong’s Pizza is a classic Des Moines restaurant with a downtown location that makes it perfect for grabbing lunch between other activities. When we stopped at Fong’s we went after visiting the alpaca farm and before heading to the Brenton Skating Plaza. If you’re in Des Moines for an event at Wells Fargo, visiting Fong’s is a no-brainer.

The service is friendly, quick, and our food always came out hot. When visiting Fong’s we didn’t have to wait long or spend too much time there as long as we were strategic about when we went. If you’re looking for something unique and fun, Fong’s may be a great choice for you. If you’re looking for something different, check out some of the other restaurants in Des Moines we’ve tried.