First Iowa McAlister's Deli Opens Friday In West Des Moines

WEST DES MOINES, IA — Friday the 13th is going to be a lucky day for the first 50 people in line for the grand opening of McAlister's Deli in West Des Moines. The restaurant will give each of those guests a $50 gift card and T-shirt to celebrate the opening of the fast-casual restaurant's first location in Iowa.

One person's name also will be drawn at random to win a $100 gift card in a contest that extends to the restaurant's Facebook page. (Learn more about that below.)

But Thursday could have been considered a decent "consolation prize" for hundreds of others as the restaurant held a sneak preview and gave every customer a free entree, drink and cookie during a three-hour lunch promotion. A line formed out the door, beyond the building and into the parking lot. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from West Des Moines Patch, or click here to find your local Iowa Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The Iowa restaurant is operated by The Saxton Group, the largest McAlister's franchisee with 74 restaurants, and is the ninth the group has opened this year. A tenth will open next month in Liberty, Mo., and Saxton already has plans for about 10 Iowa sites in the next few years, marketing manager Amy Dickey told Patch. Its next restaurant will be at the former Earl May Nursery and Garden Center site at 5910 Douglas Ave. in Des Moines.

Chase Kelly, Saxton Group's regional director of operations for Missouri and Iowa, said Thursday that the opening here was like none he had seen. "Usually we end up with SRO's — standing room only — but today I've seen people sit with people they don't know, just inviting someone to pull up a seat," he told Patch. "We never see that. This is awesome."

The restaurant started in Mississippi and is predominantly located throughout the South. Iowa is its 28th state. Nationwide, franchisees operate 400 McAlister's Deli sites.

Dickey said McAlister's hand-crafted sandwiches and "giant spuds" are menu staples, along with a selection of eight to 10 salads. Special seasonal menu items change each quarter.

But McAlister's teas are probably the chain's best known feature. Tea is part of the Southern culture, the chain notes on its website, and McAlister's brews fresh throughout the day. The restaurant says it's a combination of steaming-hot filtered water, premium tea leaves, pure cane sugar, special crystal-clear ice, an over-sized lemon wedge — and an iconic extra-wide red straw — that yields "the perfect sip."

McAlister's Deli

Address: 455 S. 64th St., Suite, 100, West Des Moines (in the Premier Shoppes)

Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

Information: 223-4404, mcalistersdeli.com or on Facebook

Kid's meals: 12 and younger eat for 99 cents all day, every day, when they dine in or $2.49 for carryout.

Order ahead: McAlister's app is available online.

Photos by Melissa Myers, Patch