When the doors to the new Orlondo’s in Grimes swung open after a seven‑year absence from the Des Moines dining scene, owner Patrick Orlondo Renda felt something he hadn’t in years: the spark of his early days in the business.
“It feels like 1978 when I opened my first place,” he said. “I was 23, a lot of nice kids working for me.”
Now 72, Renda is back in the kitchen — pain‑free for the first time in years — mentoring teenagers, rolling dough and reviving one of the most recognizable names in Des Moines pizza.
After closing in 2019, Orlondo’s returned, this time in Grimes with a new restaurant. Exposed brick walls, visible air ducts along the industrial-style ceiling, a covered front patio and a small bar set the scene for fans of Orlondo’s to revisit the salads, thin-crust pizzas, pastas and Italian sandwiches they’ve missed.
A legacy that spanned neighborhoods
For decades, Orlondo’s wasn’t just a restaurant. It was a constellation of neighborhood hangouts woven into the city’s dining DNA. Renda rattles off the old locations like a family lineage: 21st and Forest, 39th and University, 65th and Hickman, 60th and Ashworth and Park Avenue, the revered trail‑side spot on the south side where cyclists refueled with cold beer and hot pizza.
Renda borrowed $1,500 from his father to open the first location with three booths. He cites his love of cooking and time spent working at Johnny & Kay’s Steakhouse on the south side as a busboy, the Des Moines airport and other spots before opening his Italian restaurant.
Scratch‑made food was always the draw. The creamy Italian dressing became a cult favorite, eventually landing on store shelves. Renda made the cavatelli, meatballs, sausage and dough in‑house. Even the produce often comes from Renda’s own garden, where he’s growing zucchini, tomatoes and peppers for the restaurant now.
“It was good stuff,” he said simply.
The pain that forced a pause
The original Orlondo’s didn’t close because business slowed. It closed because Renda’s body gave out.
A back surgery gone wrong left him in constant pain; sitting, standing or lying down — nothing helped. A second surgery to remove a blood clot required him to recover face‑down for 10 days.
“That was why I quit,” he said. “Wasn’t really because I wanted to, but I just couldn’t.”
Years later, a Florida specialist finally found the right spot for an injection. The relief was immediate.
“Today I feel like I don’t have any pain,” he said on reopening day. “I guess it’s the happiest day of my life since my first one opened.”
The nephew who brought the name back
The comeback wasn’t Renda’s idea. It was his nephew’s.
Bobby Felice, who also runs the Holiday Inn at the Des Moines airport, had been watching the explosive growth around the Grimes soccer complex. Every weekend, families packed the fields and spilled into nearby fast‑food drive‑thrus.
“I watched these soccer fields all last year, lines around every McDonald’s and B‑Bop’s,” Felice said. “I’m just thinking, ‘I think this would be a good spot.’ It’s a lot of younger families out here and all the ball kids.”
He pitched the idea of reviving Orlondo’s as a modern flagship. Renda didn’t take much convincing.
“My nephew wanted to carry on my name,” Renda said. “It just excited me, and I said, ‘OK.’”
Opening day: A sellout that shut the doors
When Bobby Felice originally posted on Facebook that Orlondo’s was returning, the Internet nearly had a meltdown. Fans were ecstatic.
But the first day the restaurant opened was a whirlwind, one that nearly broke the line.
Crowds poured in from the moment the doors opened. By mid‑afternoon, the kitchen was out of lettuce. Then cheese. Then sauce. By evening, the restaurant had to lock the doors.
“We were overlapped and humbled quickly,” Angelina Felice said. “Now we know what we didn’t know before.” They bought out all the lettuce at Hy-Vee, but that was the only compromise they made.
“I can go to Hy‑Vee and grab a bag of Kraft cheese and a jar of Prego,” Angelina Felice said, “but that’s not going to be the same pizza.”
Renda agreed. “It’s all homemade stuff, our sausage, our bread. It’s not instant.”
After a five-day break to regroup, the staff was larger, the prep list longer and the mood lighter.
“We’re feeling much, much more confident today,” Renda said on June 16, five days after the original opening day.
A menu built on classics, crusts and a cult‑favorite Reuben pie
The Grimes menu is built on the classics that made Orlondo’s famous. The scratch‑made dough comes in wheat or rye, which Renda proudly says he pioneered locally. The house‑made sauce will use tomatoes from Renda’s garden. The cavatelli comes with Renda’s original sauce. Orlondo’s still sells the creamy Italian dressing in grocery stores and adds it to salads with croutons and a shower of mozzarella.
The meatballs and Italian sausage found on sandwiches, the pizzas and even in the pasta all came back.
The breaded green pepper rings even got an upgrade, dredged in the onion ring batter and then coated for a crispy appetizer, served with creamy Italian dressing, of course.
And then there’s the St. Patrick’s Day legend: the Reuben pizza.
“I make a rye crust with nice cheese, Swiss, sauerkraut,” Renda said. “There’s no comparison.”
What’s on the menu at Orlondo’s?
Favorites include the Orlondo’s house salad with mozzarella and pepperoncinis slathered with that creamy Italian dressing, as well as the Alberto tomato salad with Asiago cheese, onions and cayenne.
Italian nachos that include Orlondo’s own grinder meat, made in-house, with a trio of roasted red peppers, jalapeños and hot banana peppers; homemade fried ravioli or onion rings; the famous green pepper rings; and hot wings round out the appetizers. Prices range from $6.99 to $12.99.Sandwiches span from Italian beef or homemade meatball to grinders and an egg and hot banana pepper, a dish that comes with red sauce and mozzarella cheese, all for $11.50 to $15.50 for the Italian-style steak, which uses filet mignon.
Orlondo’s offers pastas as well, including cavatelli, penne and manicotti, served with garlic bread and a house salad. Prices start at $10.99 for a half order or $13.99 for a full, and Italian sausage, meatball or chicken is an additional $2 with the penne.The pizzas, served as 12- or 16-inch crusts, start with the Orlondo’s combo topped with Italian sausage, pepperoni, mushroom, onion and sweet roasted peppers. Other options include an Italian Island with capicola and pineapple, chicken alfredo, carbonara or the Four Decades pizza with pepperoni, capicola, bacon, meatballs, Italian sausage and garlic. Pizzas range from $19.50 to $26.25. Diners can make their own as well.
Built for families, teams and to‑go pies
The new space is designed for the crowds Bobby Felice expects families filing in after games, youth teams celebrating wins and commuters grabbing dinner on the way home.
A compact dining room opens into a bar area that doubles as the take‑out hub, complete with a hot box for pizzas heading out the door. The beverage program stays intentionally simple with beer and wine only.
“We’re not trying to be a bar,” Renda said.
Lunch and dinner service will anchor the week, with weekends expected to be especially busy when tournaments fill the surrounding parking lots.
A tradition resumes
Between Renda’s recipes, Bobby Felice’s operational vision and a customer base that proved its loyalty by cleaning out the kitchen on day one, Orlondo’s second act feels less like a comeback and more like a continuation.
“I’m back, and I’m ready,” Renda said. “Now I’m pain‑free, so now I’m ready.”
Where to find Orlondo’s
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Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines pizza icon Orlondo’s reclaims its place in the metro
Reporting by Susan Stapleton, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Susan Stapleton, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
