First the pandemic shut down restaurants in March 2020. Then by July 2020, the Continental lost its space on East Locust Street in the East Village, where it specialized in small plates, cocktails and live music since 2005.

Almost two years later, owner Jennifer DuBay returns to the Des Moines dining scene with a revamped version of The Continental in a new space in the East Village. The restaurant and lounge that leans into New Orleans-inspired dishes takes over the former Dirt Burger space at 407 E. Fifth St.

“We love the East Village and we couldn’t pass this up,” she said.

DuBay says she spent the better part of two years looking for the perfect place to reestablish the restaurant and lounge. “It’s less than a block away,” she said from inside her new location that’s just around the corner from The Continental’s home for 15 years.

Now instead of a shotgun-wide footprint, The Continental features a bar at the far end of the space that seats about 60 with four-top tables, a long, slim shared seating area for communal dining that looks out onto Fifth Street and low-slung chandeliers overhead. Black walls, a smattering of gold-rimmed mirrors, a black-and-white image of Cary Grant smoking and Brigitte Bardot playing cards line the wall.

Her husband Kevin runs Reclaiming Iowa, a West Des Moines furniture shop that uses reclaimed wood. He used former barn wood for the bar top and other furnishings.

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Familiar touches return as well — a painting of Napoleon, the jukebox in the corner, and the dark and seductive environment with little candles giving the space a cozy vibe.

At the front, floor-to-ceiling windows look out on a small patio that during the long days of summer stretch the daylight into the dining room later into the evening.

DuBay said share plates were always popular. Favorite dishes from the old menu return, including melon and prosciutto crostini, truffled mushrooms, pomme frites, a roasted pear salad and blackened chicken sandwich. As the kitchen gets settled into its routine, more familiar favorites may rotate in.  

Pommes frites come with options such as loaded with queso blanco and garlic ranch, Sicilian with spicy house marinara and mozzarella, or South of the Border with queso blanco and chorizo.

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Newcomers include fried mozzarella on a stick, baked goat cheese and a double mash burger, what DuBay calls a take on an In-N-Out Burger with two crispy patties and a secret sauce (and thankfully not the wimpy and soggy fries at In-N-Out).

For dessert, she now has beignets, the fried dough pieces dusted with powdered sugar.

Much of the menu is a tribute to New Orleans, from the beignets and blackened tilapia.

Of course, cocktails were always a staple at The Continental, and many favorites such as the all day bloody mary or maria return for $9. Seasonal spritzes such as a Southern Belle with sweet tea vodka and mint or Unicorn Juice with vodka and Prosecco go for $10.

DuBay also created summer jars of cocktails that start with a base, like watermelon and basil or raspberry and mint, then add vodka, gin, rum or tequila muddled in a Mason jar and topped with San Pellegrino.

Jazz takes over the restaurant on Saturday nights from 8 to 11 p.m.

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The vegan restaurant Dirt Burger closed at the end of 2021 with the intention of reopening. The restaurant that occupied the Fifth Street space for two years does not have a new location.

The Continental's former space at 428 E. Locust St. will become Bar Nico, a coastal Mexican restaurant from Jason Simon, the owner of the East Village American restaurant Alba, Mediterranean-inspired Eatery A on Ingersoll Avenue and Detroit deep dish pizza specialist Parlor in Beaverdale. 

Find it: The Continental, 407 E. Fifth St., 515-528-2300.

Bar open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Kitchen open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday with $6 pomme frites, red sangria and mojitos; $7 melon and prosciutto crostini, spicy meatballs, and Newly Fashioned cocktails; and $5 well drinks and draft beers, among other dishes.

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