Orlondo's Came Back for the Soccer Crowd. Grimes' Weekend Food Map Now Runs on the Multiplex Schedule.

"I think this would be a good spot," Bobby Felice told the Des Moines Register this spring, about the Grimes location where his uncle's restaurant was about to reopen. "It serves the right market."

The market he meant was youth sports. The Register described the new Orlondo's at 1601 N.E. 12th St. as sitting "just off soccer fields that bustle year-round with whistles and cleats and families looking for somewhere better than a drive-thru once the game ends." A restaurant with 45 years of history in Des Moines came back next to a city-owned sports complex, and its owners talked about the location in terms of the crowds those fields bring. That tells you something about how Grimes eats on weekends now.

A 45-Year Pizza Name Built a Kitchen Around the Final Whistle

Patrick Orlondo Renda opened his first place in 1978, when he was 23. He told the Register he spent 25 years near Drake University and 20 more on Des Moines' south side along the bike path. There was also a West Des Moines location, which his family ran. The south-side location was known for cyclists on the Bill Riley Trail who stopped for pizza on the ride back. Orlondo's closed in July 2019, with a line out the door through the last day.

The Grimes version is set up for a different customer. In the Register's spring preview, the floor plan has a small dining area and a counter-style bar. Appetizers go out one window, pizzas go out another, and boxed orders wait in a hot box. A front patio of about 60 seats was planned, though no report since opening has said whether it was finished. Drinks are beer and wine only. "We're not trying to be a bar," Felice said. In August, the Register's new-restaurant roundup called it "a family-friendly space built for soccer-tournament crowds, fast service."

The menu is the old one. Thin-crust pizza is baked in a stone deck oven, on regular white, whole wheat or rye crust. Cavatelli, meatballs, Italian sausage and the Italian beef special salad are back. So is the creamy Italian dressing that has been sold in grocery stores for years. The rye crust is used for a Reuben-style pizza around St. Patrick's Day, with smoked corned beef, Swiss and sauerkraut.

On opening day, June 11, so many people came that the kitchen ran out of ingredients and closed early. The phone number listed in the Register's August roundup is 515-537-2533, and calling ahead is the simplest way to check hours before a tournament weekend.

The Complex Grimes Ended Up Owning

The fields behind that pizza order belong to the Hy-Vee Multiplex Powered by the City of Grimes, at 1000 NE Heritage Dr. The facility's site lists 12 full-size 11v11 soccer fields, 18 baseball and softball fields, and 36 batting cages and bullpens.

It began as a private project. Hope Development and Realty started GrimesPlex, and in spring 2022 the company gave the land and $12 million to the City of Grimes. The city took ownership and took over the lease with Sporting Iowa. A city update that September estimated construction at $20 million. By 2024, the Register and CITYVIEW were describing the finished development as a $31 million project. Part of the complex opened in fall 2023, and all of it was open by spring 2024. In late 2024, the city approved a five-year naming-rights deal with Hy-Vee at $100,000 a year.

In July 2024, Grimes' marketing manager told CITYVIEW that tournaments were booked every weekend and fall practices ran practically every weeknight. In the Register's November 2024 report, the city counted 2.1 million visits to the Multiplex and nearby businesses combined after the partial opening. That same report said a Tru by Hilton, a retail center and a Chipotle were under construction nearby. The 2.1 million figure combines the facility with the businesses around it, so it isn't a count of people at the fields. It does show that by late 2024 the city was already measuring the Multiplex and its commercial neighbors as one area. Orlondo's arrived about 18 months later.

Two Concession Stands and a Restaurant a Short Drive Away

Inside the gates, Destination Grille is the official concession partner. It runs stands at the north and south ends of the complex, serving walking tacos, BBQ sandwiches, cold drinks and craft beer. Destination Grille says the stands are open during most tournaments and weekend games. Hours vary and generally follow peak event times, so the field schedule decides whether the stands are open.

The company's restaurant is on East First Street in Grimes. Destination Grille describes it as a short drive from the Multiplex, with room for a full team and an extensive gluten-free menu. A January 2026 Register photo gallery of neighborhood favorites included its lobster corndog and steak-tip gnocchi.

That gives one local operator both the sideline food and a sit-down dinner after the game. Orlondo's is now a third option nearby, built mainly for takeout.

The Rest of the Fall, Weekend by Weekend

Since the schedule decides when concessions open and when Orlondo's gets its biggest rush, here is what the Multiplex's 2026 calendar shows for the rest of the season.

Event hours on the calendar are 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. The soccer tournament on Oct. 17–18 is the season's last scheduled one. The previous one, Sporting Iowa Fall Cup weekend, ran Sept. 25–27 with brackets from U9 through U19. On the four other weekends, the soccer fields have league play and the diamonds have a tournament.

When the Other Sports Complex Is Busy Too

Grimes has a second sports campus, and three city events this month put it on the same days as Multiplex play:

1. Today, Oct. 3. The Grimes Fall Festival runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the South Sports Complex, with food trucks. A Kids Markets listing adds a market of crafts and small businesses run by children during the same hours, at 750 SE James St. The Multiplex has league and tournament play the same day.
2. Sunday, Oct. 25. The city's Trunk or Treat runs 2 to 4 p.m. at the South Sports Complex, 750 S James St., with businesses and city officials handing out candy. That is a Multiplex league-and-tournament weekend.
3. Saturday, Oct. 31. Citywide trick-or-treat hours are 6 to 8 p.m. That is the first day of the season's final calendar block, when Multiplex play runs until 7 p.m.

If you're planning a family dinner on any of those three days, expect both sports complexes to be busy around mealtime.

Off the Multiplex Clock

Not every Grimes food stop depends on the field schedule. East First Street has a few that run on their own:

• Once Upon an Apple Pie opened its first storefront at 312 E. First St. after years at metro farmers markets, CITYVIEW reported in September 2025.
• Buffalo Wild Wings GO opened Oct. 1, 2025, at 2250 E. First St., a smaller format focused on takeout and delivery.
• European Taste, the bakery owned by Alina Dvorschii, moved to 250 Destination Drive, Unit 600, and held its grand opening there in January.

Takeout counters, a pie shop, a bakery and a pizza kitchen with separate pickup windows are all businesses that work well with drop-in and carryout traffic. That is the kind of traffic a 12-field soccer complex and 18 diamonds bring to Grimes most weekends from March into November. The Orlondo's comeback is the clearest example so far. Renda once fed cyclists on the south side, and in Grimes the menu is the same but the expected customer is a team heading home from a game.

If you live near the Multiplex, the field calendar affects more than dinner plans. It's part of what a home on that side of Grimes is like day to day, and part of what a buyer will ask about when you sell. If you'd like to talk through how nearby amenities and traffic affect value in your part of Grimes, Christopher Lewis is glad to help. Let's Connect.