I can’t believe it’s taken me a year to get to this place that claims they make a Quad City-style pizza here in the Twin Cities. (The Quad Cities are two cities in Illinois and two cities in Iowa – depending on who you ask)(if you ask people from East Moline, they’ll say they are one of the Quad Cities, but it’s a lie)(The Quad Cities are my home – the Illinois side – if you didn’t know.) I’ve read the articles and seen it on FoodBeast, but I had to try it myself.
They’re also known for this dill pickle pizza called the Kinda Big Dill Pizza, which had my curiosity piqued.
D.Rough and I popped in there tonight and couldn’t decide which pizza to get, so we got a medium dill pickle pizza and a medium taco pizza. We got the taco pizza so I could give a full comparison to the actual Quad City version that I grew up eating pretty much weekly. We were told there would be an hour wait, which to me means that this place is doing killer business. Thankfully, they steered us to the bar next door to have a beer or two while we waited for our order. They would text us when our pizzas were ready and we could head back next door and eat them in the pizza shop. We went next door and had our beers and came back around the hour point to check it out. We walked in and our pizzas were ready.
Then, the owner noticed I had a 309 area code on my phone number I left and came out to ask why I had a Quad City area code and we chatted a bit. REALLY good guy and proud of his work. He IS doing killer business here, which is great, and I’m thrilled to hear it since all of my QC friends and family need to check it out.
What is Quad City style pizza? There are multiple places in the Quad Cities with this style – Harris Pizza, Frank’s Pizza, and The Pizza Joynt. The main thing is that it’s cut into strips. D.Rough refers to this as “you forgot to complete the Minnesota grid”-style slices. It also has a very specific mozzarella cheese blend. It also has a very distinct crumbled sausage mixed with a lot of fennel. Those are the main points, but I’m sure there are also some finer points with the crust and such, but I won’t go into that here. Let’s talk food.
The taco pizza is just like home. It’s a sausagey pizza turned sort of into taco meat, covered with cheese and lettuce, and then covered with dorito-style tortilla chips on top. You have to ask for small packets of Heinz taco sauce to go with it, as well. That’s crucial. And yes, QC Pizza does have the taco sauce packets by request. It’s so good and messy. Be forewarned: the QC strips are floppy and you’ll lose all of your toppings until you figure out the proper grip – one hand on the end crust and one hand supporting the impending flop. That’s just how we eat them, deal with it. If NY pizza can be eaten a certain way – with a fold – then QC-style pizza can be eaten a certain way, as well.
The dill pickle pizza was even better than I expected. It’s got a garlic sauce on it instead of the traditional red sauce and the pickle slices are covering this thing. There’s also some ham in there, so think of this like a pickle roll-up pizza or a Cubano pizza (minus the mustard – but now I wonder if they have mustard, which would be brilliant). There’s lots of dill sprinkled on the top as a seasoning. The whole thing is amazing and a fantastic idea. I’m glad we tried it! I would highly recommend it and we will for sure get it again.
Note, QC Pizza isn’t cheap like Little Caesars or Domino’s. You’re getting a hand-tossed and crafted pizza with some unique flair. A few bites into these pies and you’ll forget about the price and your face hole will be extremely happy.
I also loved that all the photos on the wall are of Quad City landmarks. Tugged at my heart strings a little, to be honest.
The verdict is a resounding YES, that it does accurately represent Quad City pizza legends and is, in fact, just as good as those places I grew up with. Dennis, thank you for bringing the taste of home back to Minnesota with you. I really appreciate you saving me a six hour drive every time I need a taste of home. Great job on these pizzas!!!
4 comments:
I was so excite to see your posts this week! We always love reading your thoughts on local food. Have been curious about this pizza place. Been a while since we had some good ole taco pizza.
Great article. I graduated from MHS ‘99 but have been living in the TCs pretty much since 2000, minus a year here and there. Dennis is pretty spot on with his pizza but has taken the small niche of QC-style pizza and made it his own by introducing different masterpieces such as the Kinda a big dill pizza. I wish him many years of success! When people ask why would I drive ~45 mins one way just for pizza, I challenge them to try it, even offering to buy. It’s just that good and it really reminds me of home.
The pizzas are really good. That being said, the taco does not come close to Happy Joe's.
We found a QC Pizza place here in peoria and it has the sausage and tatortot pizza. It is just like home.
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