In the Des Moines metro, the place to find a New York slice and other delicacies from the Big Apple is Taste of New York, the pizzeria in West Des Moines, Waukee and Pleasant Hill that won the Des Moines Register’s Pizza Bracket in 2025.
On June 23, Taste of New York made a major move in West Des Moines, shifting just a few doors down into the former Scratch Cupcakery space in the same strip mall. The new location gives the popular slice shop room to grow — literally and figuratively — with a larger dining room, expanded kitchen, a new service counter and a full bar.
Owners Lou and Joy Savelli say the move is about meeting demand while finally giving dine-in customers the kind of experience they’ve been asking for. The original location will stay in play for a future concept, but the heart of Taste of New York’s operation shifts into the larger corner space, allowing the team to stretch out.
Bigger dining room, party space and room to breathe
In walk-throughs of the new Taste of New York, the difference in scale is obvious. What once read from the outside as a compact cupcake shop (Scratch closed after 11 years in West Des Moines in 2023) now opens up into a deep, high-ceilinged space with storage, prep areas and a dedicated party room. Joy Savelli talks about finally being able to “move around without running into somebody every time you turn,” and about the relief of having enough storage and kitchen space to stay ahead of busy nights.
The original location was built like a narrow New York slice shop with all of the pizzas on display for a quick bite, warmed up in the ovens. The new location still has pizzas by the slice on display, but the space opens to a dining room with its own bar serving Fuhgeddaboutdit shakers with green apple, grape and watermelon Pucker or a New York sour. Down the hall, an overflow room and a party room sit.
A back party room can hold roughly 125 people, giving Taste of New York a new tool for private events and overflow seating on busy nights. The owners plan to keep regular hours Tuesday through Saturday, then reserve Sundays for full-restaurant rentals, with events like engagement parties already on the books.
Same New York slices with more on the menu
Fans can expect the same dishes, including New York-style slices, sandwiches, stromboli and garlic knots that built Taste of New York’s following, but the larger kitchen opens the door to a more ambitious menu. The West Des Moines space adds new pasta dishes, including a lasagna that’s already a staff favorite.
The New York-style pizzas are by far the favorites on the menu. Each pizza bakes in a Baker’s Pride oven with bricks on the top and bottom for 12 to 15 minutes. Pepperoni, cheese, a Margherita and the TONY Special with mozzarella, pepperoni, sliced sausage and sliced meatballs are among the most popular. This location also offers Sicilian-crust pizza with a thick, airy, focaccia-like base.
Pizza rolls come with stuffings including chicken Parmesan, sausage, pepperoni, spinach and a meat version for a smaller bite. Pizzadillas, new to the menu, come in meat, veggie and a Buffalo chicken versions. The chopped cheese, a New York favorite with seasoned ground beef, sauteed onions and American cheese, chopped together on an Italian roll, topped with lettuce and tomato, is now on the menu. Rice balls and calzones, wings and salads all make the menu.
Joy Savelli talks about the food in the language of repetition and refinement rather than reinvention. The recipes — from the long-simmered red sauce to the crisp-but-chewy pizza crust — have been “tweaked until we got it to where we want it,” to dial in a version that feels theirs distinctly.
Full bar, TVs and a livelier New York vibe
A full bar is one of the biggest upgrades at the new Taste of New York in West Des Moines. At the brand’s Pleasant Hill spin-off, Pizza Bar by Taste of New York, cocktails lean into New York–inspired names, playful garnishes and eye-catching presentation — flights of spritzes, a neon-blue fishbowl studded with Swedish Fish, and signature drinks built for game-day crowds.
That same energy carries into West Des Moines, where customers will find a proper bar, multiple TVs and a space designed to feel like a cross between a neighborhood pizzeria and a sports bar.
Try the Brooklyn mule with a cucumber and raspberry mix or the Mister Julio, a margarita.
Who are Joy and Lou Savelli?
Lou and Joy Savelli moved to the Des Moines metro from Brooklyn after Lou retired from the New York Police Department Terrorism Unit in 2004. One of his cases brought him to Lamoni before he retired, and he fell in love with Iowa.
While they loved living in Iowa, they missed the New York food — namely pizza, bagels and Chinese food. The couple decided to open a pizza shop, Taste of New York, in West Des Moines in 2014.
A growing mini-empire, with the original space waiting in the wings
The West Des Moines move is the latest step in a quiet expansion that now includes Waukee and Pleasant Hill, where the Pizza Bar by Taste of New York that opened in 2025 layers cocktails, TVs and a game room onto the brand’s pizza-first identity.
The Savellis describe each location as its own concept — Waukee with a drive-thru, Pleasant Hill built around a bar-forward model and game room and West Des Moines evolving into a more polished, full-service hub for the original brand.
Back on Bridgewood Boulevard, the original West Des Moines footprint won’t sit idle for long. Lou and Joy plan to keep that space for a future concept once plans are finalized. For now, though, the attention is on opening the expanded restaurant, finishing out the bar and party room and giving regulars the same slices and knots they crave in a bigger, more comfortable setting.
Where to find Taste of New York
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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: Taste of New York opens new flagship location in West Des Moines
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
