After 40 plus years, one of the most popular and one of the best Mexican food places in Des Moines closed their doors in October. Raul's on E. Grand was a staple of the restaurant scene in Des Moines for years, serving up authentic Mexican food to thousands of patrons since 1962.
Raul's served some of the finest Mexican food in the Midwest. Their chile rellenos were absolutely outstanding. And their deep-fried flour tacos were equally excellent. A typical meal for me would be a chile relleno - ala carte (no beans or rice), and two flour tacos. Bring on a couple Dos Equis Amber Lagers and I was in heaven.
Raul's opened a west Des Moines location and made a go of it for four or five years. It was good, but it still wasn't as good as the one on East Grand in east Des Moines. The westside location finally closed up around 2004.
In October of 2005, Raul Hernandez, the 77 year-old owner of Raul's, decided he couldn't compete with the number of low-budget and very good taquerias that had opened up on the east side over the past few years and he shut the doors to Raul's. What a shame. I'm really gonna miss Raul's. There will be nothing like it.
personally i never liked Raul's food and the owner was an asshole. there are any number of better full-fledged meskin restaurants here in dsm
Posted by: grimmy | February 03, 2006 at 02:17 PM