Spaghetti Works, a popular and long-standing business in Des Moines’ historic Court Avenue district, closed abruptly because of concerns with violence in the neighborhood, the company’s president said today.

The restaurant, at 310 Court Ave., closed on Monday. A sign posted in its window announced the closure to passersby.

Shelly Stokes, the president of the Omaha-based company that ran the restaurant, said the face of Court Avenue has changed in recent years and that a “family restaurant no longer seemed viable.”

“We’ve been there for 45 years,” she said. “We’ve been there when the floods came through. We’ve been there through remodels, the Hy-Vee being built. There have been so many changes to downtown, and a lot of them are really good changes. But unfortunately after we got back from COVID we saw the face of Court Avenue change to more of a bar district and there were some safety concerns.”

Those concerns have resulted in a loss of business for the restaurant, Stokes said.

“I think Des Moines has adopted the attitude that Court Avenue is a dangerous place,” she said. “And unfortunately for us you don’t bring your family into a dangerous place. So with all that’s gone on … it was just a death sentence for us. There was nothing we could do to come back from that.”

According to Des Moines Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Paul Parizek, the Court Avenue district has seen a decrease in both crimes and calls for service.

There was a 47% decrease in assaults in 2022, and so far 2023 is on pace to see another decrease in those numbers, Parizek said in an email.

Despite the decreases, the Court Avenue district, along with other areas of the community, “has experienced some ‘rebound’ pains as recovery from the pandemic continues. Instances of high-profile criminal incidents in the District certainly impacted the perception of safety there.”

Stokes said the restaurant industry is facing a lot of challenges, but the company’s restaurants in Nebraska have overcome those challenges, whether it be staffing or supply issues, and are successful.

“Those challenges are industrywide, all of us deal with it, but when you add on top of that the change factor and that people were afraid to come down to Court Avenue, it was just too much,” she said.

Stokes said there were potential applicants for jobs who didn’t come in because they thought Court Avenue was unsafe.

“We’re working with the other businesses in the area about that fact. It’s not unsafe, but how do you change that?” she said. “How do you change that perception? And then when you do and there’s an incident, how do you change it again? There have been enough incidents that people in Des Moines have decided that Court Avenue isn’t safe anymore. Bars can put up with that, but a family restaurant can’t.”

Stokes said that while violence did not happen inside the restaurant or outside its door, it did occur nearby and created a sense that the neighborhood isn’t safe.

Spaghetti Works closed at 10 p.m., which was before most of the crimes occurred, but Stokes said it still was affected by the perception that the area is unsafe.

“The safety issue was really closer to 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., and most of our patrons wouldn’t be out then. They’d be in bed by that point. But when you hear about a shooting you don’t think about a time, you just hear ‘shooting.’”

There are no plans to reopen the restaurant elsewhere in the metro area, Stokes said.

“I’m sure someone is going to contact us,” she said. “I’m not saying it wouldn’t be a thought, but right now we don’t have anywhere that we’re looking at.”

Spaghetti Works owns the ground floor of the building it is located in. The upper stories, which were converted into residential space, have separate owners and the closing of the restaurant does not affect them.

Stokes said space will be put on the market.

According to the Polk County assessor’s website, the restaurant occupies 7,999 square feet on the ground floor. It has an assessed value of $879,000.

Stokes said the decision to close without notice was made because they didn’t want a rush of customers who wanted to come in one last time and create a demand that the staff couldn’t handle.

The restaurant employed between 50 and 60 people when it closed, and Stokes said they are working to help hourly workers find other jobs. Some staff is being retained to help with the restaurant’s closing, including packing up and cleaning the space, she said.

Todd Millang, majority owner and operator of Johnny’s Hall of Fame at 302 Court Ave., Roca at 208 Court Ave., and Shorty’s, also at 208 Court Ave., said he spoke with Stokes earlier today, and was disappointed to see Spaghetti Works close but understood the decision.

He said he believes concerns about safety and violence are more perception than reality and said more needs to be done to change that.

The Greater Des Moines Partnership, the city of Des Moines and Polk County partnered last year to hire California–based consultant Responsible Hospitality Institute to conduct an assessment looking at a variety of issues in the Court Avenue district.

Tiffany Tauschek, chief operations officer of the Greater Des Moines Partnership and president of Downtown DSM Inc., said results of that study should be available in the coming weeks.

“The Partnership and several community partners have worked with Responsible Hospitality Institute on a study to identify ideas for the safe and vibrant growth of the Historic Court District,” she said in a statement provided to the Business Record. “The study is in its final stages of stakeholder review and will be released in coming weeks with proposed action steps.”

Millang, who is also a partner in Malo, located a few blocks west of the Court Avenue district at 900 Mulberry St., said the city’s decision to ban alcohol sales after midnight in bars located in the Court Center building had a big effect on business in the neighborhood and added to the perception that it was unsafe.

“That perception caused by some of the violence in the late-night hours after close reverberated throughout everything. And when Court Center lost their ability to operate after midnight, it [created a perception] it was all of Court Avenue and painted a really bad picture and we felt it pretty heavily, especially at Johnny’s.”

In a statement sent to the Business Record, city officials said the policies affecting the Court Center building, including closing at midnight, complying with noise regulations and instituting a no-loitering policy, “went a long way in curtailing late night, early morning incidents on Court Avenue.”

City officials said they were disappointed in Spaghetti Works’ decision.

“It’s a bit disappointing … since steps have been taken and improvements [are] being made to provide residents and visitors a safe and entertaining venue in the Court Avenue District,” the statement read.

Millang said he would not hesitate to send someone down to Court Avenue, “but I would tell them not to be there at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m.”

He said he believes the Spaghetti Works space should remain a restaurant and he left the door open to buying the space to make sure what goes in is a right fit for the district.

“I don’t want to open any new bars and restaurants myself but I’m someone who would be open and give some consideration to buying the property and being a landlord, and that would be just so that I could make sure it’s the right fit with a tenant there.”

“We win or have bad days depending on how everybody else is doing and what’s going on downtown,” Millang said.

Stokes said Spaghetti Works is sad to leave the Court Avenue district, and hopes that something can be done to change its image.

“As I look around, downtown Des Moines has changed,” she said. “The face of it changed. The security of it changed and the businesses that occupy the spaces down there have changed and they have brought in an element that has struck fear in Des Moines.”