'Curb' your appetite at this new restaurant in Beaverdale that was once a food truck

A former food truck has moved into a new space in Beaverdale serving all of its popular dishes and expanding its menu with pizza.

Curbin Cuisine, located at 2713 Beaver Ave., opened on Nov. 1 in the former spot of GoodSons Pizzeria. It's owned by husband-and-wife team Misty and Jarrod Fontanini.

The restaurant serves globally-inspired dishes like fry baskets, sandwiches, wraps, quesadillas, salads, kids' meals and desserts.

Curbin Cuisine had its start as a food cart in 2013 at the Beaverdale Farmers Market and Beaverdale Fall Festival. Before they knew it, they were being asked to cook at the Clive Festival and Johnston Green Days.

"The cart became too small for what we needed and that's when we got the food truck," Misty said. In January 2015, the pair bought a food truck. "By that May, we were out on the streets with it."

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Curbin Cuisine was also featured at The Hall in West Des Moines. The truck served food from The Hall's opening night in October 2017 to February 2019. "It helped us to gain exposure," Misty said. "We got a following because of the food and it helped keep us going through the winter."

Curbin Cuisine was voted in the top three of the Best of Des Moines food trucks in Cityview for the past two years. And now, Curbin Cuisine is the official caterer for the country music performers and crew every year at the Guthrie River Ruckus in Guthrie Center.

But it's always been the Fontaninis' goal to have a restaurant. They sold the food truck and now they have their own eatery with 50 seats and five employees. 

Menu highlights

Curbin Cuisine inherited the Baker's Pride double-decker pizza oven from GoodSon's that can cook six pizzas at a time, so it's now featuring a new line of pizzas on the menu. All the dough and sauces on the menu are homemade. 

Here's a look at some of the most popular items on Curbin's menu:

• Jamaican Jerk Chicken Sandwich — A big pile of pulled jerk chicken tossed with jerk sauce and topped with a pineapple and mango Caribbean slaw on a toasted ciabatta bun ($8)
• PB & J Fries — A big boat of crispy fries with drizzles of Thai peanut sauce and chipotle-raspberry jelly with cilantro and toasted sesame seeds ($8)
•  Thai Chicken Crunch Wrap — Slow-roasted pulled chicken with a fresh slaw mix, cilantro, chow mein noodles and cheddar-jack cheese all wrapped up in a flour tortilla with a hoisin ginger sauce ($8)
• The Little Iowa Pizza — Red sauce with mozzarella, beef, corn, bacon, onions and drizzled with barbecue sauce 
• The "Muy Thai" Pizza — Red sauce with mozzarella, chicken, matchstick carrots, cilantro, red onion, bean sprouts and crushed peanuts, drizzled with peanut satay and hoisin ginger sauces

Pizzas are also available in build-your-own 9-, 14- and 16-inch sizes ($9, $12 and $16) with plenty of toppings for customization for $1.50 each. Homemade Fontanini sausage is $2. 

Gluten-free crust is $14 for a 10-inch pie and all wraps and sandwiches can be made into a basket without bread for more gluten-free options.

Another vegan and a gluten-free option is the SPQB — or sweet potato quinoa black bean burger — served with lettuce, tomato, red onion and chipotle aioli on a toasted ciabatta bun ($9).

Desserts include fall-inspired ones like lemon bars and pumpkin-chocolate chip bars (cookies, $1; bars, $2). Also, sweet pizzas are available made with local honey from St. Charles, cinnamon sugar and homemade icing (14-inch, $18; 16-inch, $20). 

About half of the ingredients on the menu are purchased locally at markets like Golden Land Food Mart, but Jarrod said that will change when the next growing season rolls around. All vegetarian and meat patties are hand-pattied and never frozen. 

A newly-launched lunch special includes a slice of pizza and a drink for $5 or two slices and a drink for $8 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Non-alcoholic beverages like Coca-Cola products are served at Curbin, along with Gold Peak unsweetened tea.

Curbin also makes its own popular strawberry-mango lemonade and during the summer, it will feature fresh homegrown watermelon limeade.

Delivery will be available on Fridays and Saturdays from 5-9 p.m. in an 8-mile radius with a $20 minimum order. Curbin Cuisine is currently running a special — a free beverage with any food purchase. 

The best birthday present ever

Owners, Misty, 38, and Jarrod, 37, Fontanini signed the lease to their new restaurant on Jarrod's birthday, Sept. 14. 

Misty, a Newton native, and Jarrod, originally from Des Moines, met online nine years ago and have been married for five. They had their first date across the street from the restaurant at Saints.

Misty has a background in marketing with a degree from DMACC and currently works for Hy-Vee on contract scheduling in-store food demonstrations and sampling for national food brands.  

"I love to cook, but I'm more into homestyle cooking," Misty said. "I like cooking for big groups of people at once. Thanksgiving dinner is my baby."

Jarrod, on the other hand, has been in food service since he was 14 and is self-taught. "I started at a Hy-Vee Italian Express and then worked for different restaurants from there throughout Des Moines," Jarrod said. "I learned from all the kitchens I worked in."

He helped open the now-closed Gateway Market in West Des Moines and also worked at Mojo's on 86th, Greek House Chefs in Ames and spent 10 years at Briarwood Club of Ankeny. 

Jarrod did take a break from the kitchen to get a degree in graphic arts in Florida at St. Petersburg Community College while working at Orange Blossom Catering. 

Over the summer, Jarrod participated in Culinary Fight Night, a cooking competition against four other local chefs. 

Even though they sold the food truck, Jarrod Fontanini said he is still open to owning and operating another food truck in the future. But for now, they have landed back in Beaverdale where they wanted to be.

"This is home for us," Misty said. "This is where we started with our food cart and people who have come in have said, 'You're home!' It's circling back to where we started." The couple lives in Des Moines with Misty's three daughters. 

Curbin Cuisine

Location: 2713 Beaver Ave., Des Moines

Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; closed Sundays and Mondays.

Contact: (515) 635-0090; curbincuisine.com; Facebook