Early Bird brings its brunch fare of tot poutine, bird tots and breakfast nachos to Ankeny

Early Bird, the brunch specialist restaurant that serves breakfast nachos, tot poutine and Bird Tarts in spiced blackberry jam or caramel-pecan filling in West Des Moines, takes it mimosas and bloody Marys on the road.

The 2-year-old restaurant plans to open a second location in Iowa in Ankeny, according to co-owner Kendall Owens.

Anyone who’s tried to dine at Early Bird Brunch probably ended up waiting, unless they booked a spot on Yelp’s waitlist service. On Mother’s Day, that wait time stretched to five hours by 10 a.m., Owens said.

A second Des Moines-area location in Ankeny could alleviate some of those wait times. By August, the restaurant that originated out of Omaha plans to open at 1520 S. Ankeny Blvd. in Ankeny, Owens said.

The new location features 155 seats, including space on a four-seasons patio, along with more room to wait for a table and additional leg room, Owens said. The hearty menu, kitschy pictures, and bright and cheery color scheme remain the same. Construction should be completed on the built-from-scratch location by the end of June.

“This is about 30 percent bigger,” Owens said. “We’re tightly packed in with seats in West Des Moines. This will alleviate all of that.”

More: 19 great brunches to try in the Des Moines area right now, including Early Bird, Eatery A

What's on the menu at Early Bird Brunch?

Early Bird serves brunch daily and since it debuted, fans have ordered favorites such as the No. 16 with three blueberry pancakes drizzled in a lemon glaze and topped with cream cheese and streusel or the waffle cordon bleu Benny with grilled chicken, smoked ham, Swiss cheese, poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce on top of mini waffles.

Other favorite dishes include the A.M. Pot Pie with sunny-side-up eggs, pork sausage gravy, and hash browns; cinnamon roll pancakes; chicken and waffles; chicken fried steak or chicken; and El Gordo Morning Burrito, a massive dish stuffed with cheddar cheese, scrambled eggs, hash browns, black beans, and pork carnitas.

The restaurant even has gluten-free options such as When Pigs Can Fly, a flight of bacons; several omelets; and breakfast tacos. Vegan choices include tacos and a hash that use vegan chorizo and vegan cheese. Even the bread at Early Bird except honey wheat are egg and dairy free.

Owens recommends the Orange Booziest cocktail, a riff on an Orange Julius with North 40 Vanilla Vodka, orange juice, sweet cream, and orange. The restaurant also offers bloody Marys, mimosas, sangria, and coffee cocktails including the Biscoffee with salted caramel whiskey, butterscotch schnapps, Irish cream, and chilled espresso with caramel and a cookie rim.

Owens and his business partner Trisha Goode opened the West Des Moines location in May 2021.

Early Bird also has three locations in Omaha and Papillion, Nebraska, with a fourth opening soon in Lincoln, Nebraska.

What other brunch restaurants are headed to Ankeny?

Mullets, the Des Moines-based roadhouse restaurant with breakfast fare and a penchant for all things business in the front, party in the back, already plans to open a second location in Ankeny's Uptown.

The original Mullets at 1300 S.E. First St. in Des Moines across the river from Principal Park — where the Iowa Cubs minor league baseball team plays — offers breakfast dishes such as an eggs Benedict, wake ‘n’ bake pizza, omelets, salmon hash browns, and the Morning Mullet with two eggs and hash browns served over a half order of biscuits and gravy.

More: Breakfast specialist Mullets with its cheeky decor plots a second location in Ankeny

The Breakfast Club, the brunch restaurant with novelty dishes in the East Village in Des Moines and West Glen in West Des Moines plans to open in a new building in the Prairie Trail area, co-owner Joseph McConville told the Des Moines Register.

Last June, The Breakfast Club opened in West Glen in West Des Moines with new dishes such as breakfast eggrolls with bacon, potatoes and eggs inside; stuffed French toast with a cornflake breading and cream cheese inside; a deBurgo Benny with a medallion of beef and deBurgo sauce smothering a poached egg; and the breakfast fried rice with fried eggs.

More: Head to West Des Moines for The Breakfast Club's new location with pineapple upside-down pancakes

Where to find Early Bird Brunch in West Des Moines

Location: 9250 University Ave. Suite 107, West Des Moines

Contact: 515-528-2212 or earlybirdbrunch.com/des-moines-iowa

Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Early Bird Brunch plans to open a second restaurant in Ankeny