Marina Mercantile

The place is a gem. Reasonably priced wine selection at wine store prices with no corkage fee if you order food >$30. Food was very good quality as I understand wife cooks. She is good. Will return for certain!

Marina Mercantile is a wonderful addition to Des Moines! I'm so happy we have a place like this. I'm from the Bay area and we had wine bars and cute little shops all over, so Marina Mercantile was a much needed addition! I have brought several friends here that were visiting from California. My husband and I have also done date nights here. We even met another couple that was also doing date night and kept in touch with them and became friends! Brenda, the owner has also helped me with numerous occasions like my daughter's birthday party with creating her a custom cake. In addition, Brenda has also helped me with cupcakes (the caramel ones are just divine!) for parties at the house and a more recent event was my birthday. They went above and beyond and actually delivered the cake to me while I was getting my hair done at Salon Michelle next door, just so I can make it on time for my own birthday party because I was running behind! Now, that's customer service and going above and beyond! They really saved the day and the cake was delicious and beautiful! Can't wait to continue coming here and telling all my friends and family about it!

This was an absolute amazing experience. We came for lunch and got the smoked salmon tray, the dates wrapped in bacon and the olive oil and nuts. All so fresh. I had an awesome mocha. 5 star recommend thanks Brennan who works at the front for being so nice and efficient!

Had afternoon tea with a friend and it was absolutely lovely! Bought a handful of non alcoholic beverages to take home. The owner took great care of us and made my friend's tea time bites dairy free and listened to my dislikes when making our tea towers. Will be back for sure!

Went with a friend for afternoon tea. The tower was full of beautiful and delicious sandwiches, scones, and sweet treats. I don’t eat dairy, and they were able to offer me some excellent replacements. Could easily have been vegan accomodating, too. The tea options were great. You can smell the options before you choose your pot of tea. I actually bought the tea I had with lunch, I liked it so much. The inside is cozy snd sweet. We were there to chat, but there was another table who were playing chess. The service was attentive, but let us enjoy our time. The gift shop is a hidden gem. Will be back!

I love this place. My partner and I come here at least once a week for a drink or a coffee or both. Everyone who works here is great and I also love the market for both the specialty food items and the cute Des Moines themed merchandise. Since we're regulars, we build up Lulas pretty quickly and have cashed them in several times for free meat and cheese plates. I've also done the tea party one time for my mom's birthday when she was visiting and we all loved it. All the pastries made in-house by Brenda were delicious and it was a really special event for her. I highly recommend the cinnamon rolls when they are available on Saturdays!

I came here for afternoon tea and loved it! There aren’t a lot of places nearby where you can get a full afternoon tea, gluten free anything, clotted cream, or a large selection of quality teas - but to have all of those things in one place?!?! Freaking magical. The gluten free tea had all the components of the regular tea but gf. Some items were substituted, but I felt no compromise in quality or variety. The price is also very reasonable. I can’t wait to go back!

The owner is a very sweet lady who made us feel like she was welcoming us into her home. The table was set with a white table-cloth and a proper tea setting. On the end of the table was a large selection of small sample bottles of the tea options. You take a sniff of each and decide which ones you wanted to try for the day. The tea tower, as usual with these sort of things, at first didn't look like much. Holy cow were we stuffed when done, though! The cucumber sandwiches were light and refreshing. The other sported jam from PacNW berries. The pastries were made in-shop. She made little donuts filled with creme, and chocolate truffles to die for. And of course there were the obligatory scones and clotted cream. I like that she made them shaped as smaller biscuits so you weren't faced with this ginormous piece of crumbly pastry. Made it easier to spread the cream. 😉 The tea itself - so many yummy flavors! I had the Peach Cream first, a nice black with just the right amount of sweetness. My friend started with the Victorian Cream which featured a hint of lavender with fruit (black). Then we had the Masala Chai, which was perfectly balanced in flavors (green). By then we were too full of tea to try any more. You can see the devastation we left in the attached photos. 😉 After that we wandered the shop a bit. The seating area is both light and intimate, with some comfortable looking booths scooched into a section under a lower ceiling. There's also a short bar section (3 or 4 seats?); belly up and sip some good tea! Display cases of their original sandwiches, cheeses and meats (we've so gotta try their meat & cheese board next time), and European treats. And yes, the tea is available to take home and brew. All-in-all it was a lovely experience and an indulgent way to spend a weekday afternoon. Now I'm hungry again.