Main Street Cafe & Bakery

Our Go to restaurant in town, especially when you’re not sure what you’re hungry for. Locally owned, affordable, and wide variety of tasty dishes. Try the brisket Mac and cheese– you won’t be disappointed

Had the salad and soup combo (chicken avocado Cobb and broccoli cream cheese) it was very good and tasty!

I have eaten breakfast at their restaurant in Dallas, but never have eaten lunch at Main Street. I ordered the blackened chicken salad which came with a creamy Parmesan dressing. Delish! I don’ usually order salads, but for some reason felt compelled that day and was not sorry. Spicy chicken and with creamy dressing was a perfect combination. I highly recommend it.

When you first walk in you notice the crafty signage and calm atmosphere in the restaurant. Breakfast is by far my favorite meal here where I haven’t ordered something I haven’t liked!
I often come here to work on school before heading into work, so their hours are incredibly convenient and their owner is almost always around making sure you are always taken care of!

This place has wonderful options and the staff is amazing. They are hlpful, quick, friendly, and deserve to get tips. There are many other local options where the food might be good but the help stinks. This place is the package.

Love this place. Great food and atmosphere. Neat little café in Ankeny. Menu is extensive for a café. I’ll be back for sure!

I’d give Main Street 6 stars if I could. This place blows Panera and Palmers out of the water. The food is good, the prices are reasonable, and the service is friendly. My family eats here often and we’ve yet to have something we haven’t thoroughly enjoyed. Ankeny needed this place.

Update — told the owner I love the place and that I’d left a glowing Unilocal review. He sent a MASSIVE free piece of cake to my table. This guy is a gem, and his staff is just as awesome.

This place is amazing! We came here as a large group over lunch and were treated so kindly! Cannot say enough positive things about this fun place, friendly staff, and wonderful owners! They go above and beyond to make you feel welcome. Their desserts are to die for and lunch was tasty too. Can’t wait to get back in town and get another caramelita!!! Thanks for a great experience!

I have breakfast there about once a week. They have some choices that are different from the standard fare. It costs a little more than fast food joints but the food is higher quality. The service is fast. Parking is plentiful and free. I like it.

Love coming here for breakfast with my man on the weekends. Order at the counter, seat yourself and get your own silverware/​condiments/​coffee. Love their biscuits and gravy, cinnamon rolls, breakfast burrito and variety of coffees! Super cute baked items and a variety of seating options. Haven’t been disappointed yet.

I am overjoyed that another decent restaurant has opened up in Ankeny. I am very tired of having to drive to Des Moines or West Des Moines for a decent bite. I was so excited in fact that I visited Main street three times in two days. I visited twice for breakfast and once for dinner. Let me break this restaurant rating into sections:
Décor/​Ambience/​Hangoutability — 5 Stars. the interior designer here did an AMAZING job. Seriously amazing. I want to spend hours here with a cup of coffee and slices of cake.
Breakfast — 4 Stars! The have one of the best breakfast burritos that I have ever had. It had chorizo, breakfast potatoes, eggs, and cheese. Definitely the best breakfast burrito I have had in Iowa. I am knocking breakfast down 1 star from a 5 because they couldn’t figure out if my order came with fruit or not. One day it did and the next day it didn’t. Not a big deal, but if you want 5 stars it has to be perfect.
Dinner — 2 stars :(Let down here for dinner. Arrived at 730 pm one evening to a mostly empty restaurant. My kids ordered the macaroni and cheese, I ordered their truffle burger and my wife ordered a salad with soup. The macaroni was cooked long past al dente. It was soggy limp and the sauce badly needed salt. The bread served with the macaroni was dense. Not close to a baguette, a far cry from La Mie and Panera even outshines their bread. My wife’s salad was okay… but it takes a lot to mess up a salad. My truffle burger was also okay but I could tell that the burger patty was previously frozen. What brought this experience down to two stars were the cookies that ordered for our kids. As a bakery I expect a lot from their cookies, It’s the simplest thing to make and if they can’t get that right I am concerned. We ordered the andes mint cookie and the salted caramel cookie for our kids. They were both cloyingly sweet and tasted stale like they had been in the display case for awhile. Too bad really.
SUMMARY — come for breakfast and their coffee. DON’T COME FOR DINNER and skip the cookies, but do order a slice of almond joy cake because that was divine.

Absolutely beautiful place! If I had to find words to describe this place it would be Panera Bread meets Starbucks meets Noodles and Company. Great place for breakfast and lunch, the menu is not extensive, but the food is great!
There are several bakery options with delicious coffee for quick grab and go’s. There are also restaurant quality entrees for those who wish to sit and enjoy great food. The atmosphere is definitely a coffee shop feel with many individuals keeping to themselves. The décor is very clean and modern, very inviting.
We had the Mac&Cheese and Panini sandwich which both blew our expectations of this place. Wonderfully prepared and tasting food. We went and got a cookies&crème cronut for dessert, it tasted okay. The coffee was excellent as well! If you are looking for a place with good food with a place to lounge (coffee shop style) this is the place for you!

Very good food that is fresh and not greasy. All breakfast meals can be made with any type of bread you like. Service was friendly and the food came out incredibly quick. The coffee is delicious and they have a large selection of pastries and desserts that looked incredible. The restaurant was very clean and they had staff walking around taking empty dishes and wiping down tables as people left. I wish the breakfast sandwiches came with potatoes or fruit but you can add a side if desired.

I spend a lot of time in Ankeny exploring, using internet, and making calls from random coffee shops. My favorite is by far Main St (trust me I’ve tried everywhere). They have a nearly overwhelming selection of food, AMAZING desserts, and of course, coffee. The space is massive, the staff is super friendly, and you can always find a good table.
Honestly, if you’re stilling hitting up Panera or any other generic deli sort of place in Ankeny, you’re doing it all wrong. This is the place to be (oh, it’s locally owned!).

Attention Ankeny residents: you don’t need to go to Panera every time you have a hankering for fresh salad, soups, sandwiches, and mediocre coffee!
(I didn’t have their coffee — this review only covers food)
Main Street café and bakery is everything you want in a local breakfast or lunch spot. I had their wicked Thai soup and a chipotle chicken panini. Great stuff. Great ambience and surprisingly not very crowded.
Their bakery items look grand and I cannot wait to go back!
Please support this business.

I feel bad only giving a 2 star review after reading so many other great reviews, and going in with high hopes. I definitely plan on trying it again, because the smoothies and cronuts sounded fantastic, and everyone there was super friendly. I tried the tomato, spinach, and egg flatbread, but it wasn’t what I had hoped for, it needed *something*… My husband tried the breakfast burrito and had the same thoughts. He also tried the mocha, but said it was watered down. The strawberry cheesecake tart was delicious! I am wondering if we just made bad choices for breakfast? I’ll be back to try it again, because I still have high hopes and love the fact they have a drive through.

Recently started eating here for lunch. The menu is really great, I highly recommend the Cuban. I like that breakfast is available anytime.
The décor is upscale and simple, plenty of seating indoors and outdoors. Staff is friendly and helpful. You really can’t go wrong here, save room for dessert!

Absolutely charming! From the lighting to the exposed ceiling to the beautifully done brick walls, this is my dream home in café form. To top it off… the service and food are the real stars.
I have driven by here a few times, always wishing I had time to stop. Today I finally made it for lunch. Arriving shortly before noon, there was already a line but they were very efficient and I was ordering within just a couple of minutes. Mariah was quick and friendly when taking my order and by the time I filled my drink cup and sat down my food was delivered.
I arrived hungry and settled on a classic favorite… Mac-​n-​cheese. Portion size was just right and it was perfectly rich and creamy without being too rich. It included two nice pieces of French bread that I could not stop eating.
I was also given a sample of their strawberry bar that sadly was pretty bland and could use a little icing. But definitely will not stop me from coming back and trying other yummy little treats like the chocolate sour cream bundt cake that keeps calling my name from the front counter.
Very glad I stopped and look forward to enjoying again with friends and maybe even enjoying on a date night with my hubby who loves sandwiches and is sure to find a favorite here.

Wow! What a beautiful place for brunch or coffee or really anytime! Kind of a cozy industrial type feel with exposed ceiling beams and lots of stone work!
Love that you have room to actually sit and enjoy your food and drinks. And they do have drinks, coffee, tea, beer, wine, soda. Wow!
Amazing service! Super friendly staff!!! And amazing food! Their breakfast sandwich sand pastries are wonderful as are their frozen coffees!
I will definitely be back again to this wonderful addition to our local area businesses!!!