Savor Scout › Cities › Iowa › Ankeny, IA
Where to eat in Ankeny, IA
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A few places to eat in Ankeny
- TJ’s Bagels Bagel Shop · 0.1 miles
127 N Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny - Sweet Swirls Rolled Ice Cream Ice Cream Shop · 0.2 miles
303 SW School St, Ankeny - Tropical Sno Ankeny Shaved Ice Shop · 0.2 miles
410 N Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny - Bonfire Restaurant & Bar Italian · 0.3 miles
410 S Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny - The Fighting Burrito Mexican · 0.3 miles
502 N Ankeny Blvd Ste 5, Ankeny
The closest few by distance from central Ankeny, not a ranking — local places listed ahead of chains. Listings from Overture Maps open data (September 2026); hours and openings change, so check before you go. Want one picked for what you're craving instead? Ask Savor Scout in Ankeny.
The food scene in Ankeny
Open listings put 160 places to eat within 2 miles of central Ankeny, 37 within a ten-minute walk (half a mile). The most common: pizza (23), Mexican (14) and bar & grill (9). 12 are fast-food counters; the rest are sit-down restaurants, cafés, bakeries and takeaway spots.
What stands out in Ankeny is Mediterranean — a type that is listed here at about 3 times the national rate.
By type of food — tap one for what to order and how to spot a good one:
Pizza 23 Mexican 14 Bar & grill 9 Sandwiches 8 American 8 Bakery 8 Ice cream 6 Chinese 5 Burgers 4 Donuts 4
The food in Ankeny
Ankeny does not have infinite options, and that brings its own problem: you have been to most of them, and picking again is somehow still hard.
Savor Scout picks one restaurant in Ankeny and tells you why it picked it. Say what you're craving and it reads menus and reviews for that specific dish, rather than sorting places by overall star rating. Free, runs in the browser, and one search needs no account.
Eating out in Ankeny
Ankeny has a population of about 51,567. Somewhere this size rewards knowing which places are actually worth the trip. Savor Scout searches up to 35 miles around Ankeny, so places just outside the city are still on the table when they are worth the drive.
How well supplied is Ankeny?
Ankeny sits in Polk County, where the Census counts 401 full-service restaurants, 384 limited-service places, 108 cafés and snack bars and 133 bars — 1,026 places to eat or drink in all. Ankeny makes up about 10% of the county's population.
That is 20.8 per 10,000 residents, comfortably above the national median of 19.4. Enough range that the deciding takes longer than the eating. Sit-down and counter-service places are close to balanced, with the edge to sit-down.
Those county figures also cover Des Moines, West Des Moines, Urbandale, all within Savor Scout's search radius from Ankeny.
County-level counts from the US Census (2022) — how we got these numbers.
What are you craving in Ankeny?
- tacos in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- pizza in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- sushi in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- burgers in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- ramen in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- wings in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- chinese food in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- italian food in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- thai food in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- mexican food in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- barbecue in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- seafood in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- brunch in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- indian food in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- sandwiches in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
- noodles in Ankeny — what separates a good one from an average one
Near Ankeny
- Des Moines, IA — about 9 miles away
- Urbandale, IA — about 9 miles away
- West Des Moines, IA — about 12 miles away
- Ames, IA — about 21 miles away
- Cedar Falls, IA — about 81 miles away
- Waterloo, IA — about 83 miles away
Campuses in and near Ankeny
Each has its own page: what is within walking distance and a few places to start with.
How this differs from Google Maps and Yelp
Maps and Yelp are directories: they rank everything nearby and leave the deciding to you. Savor Scout makes the call and shows its reasoning — the match score, what it beat, and the evidence behind the pick. The underlying place data comes from the same public sources, so the difference is the selection, not the data.
Guides
- What to eat when… — 30 guides by situation, from a first date to a hangover to a group of twelve.
- Food guides — what separates a good taco, ramen or pizza from an average one.
- Eating out with a restriction — allergies, halal, kosher, vegan and more.
- Near a campus? — food around 637 US universities.