"Quad Cities style pizza"

As a native of the Quad Cities (the Rock Island/Moline/East Moline, Illinois & Davenport/Bettendorf, Iowa metropolitan area), I grew up eating pizza from Frank's, in Silvis Illinois.

Occasionally, we also had pizza from Harris Pizza in Rock Island.

Both are delicious (although I prefer Frank's), and until recently, I've never seen the kind of pizza they make anywhere else: it has a thin, bread-like crust (far superior to the cracker-crust common in Chicago and St. Louis thin crust pizza); it is cut in long thin strips (instead of squares, like in Chicago or in wedges, like on the east coast), and if you order sausage, it is covered in an even layer of spicy, fennel-spiked ground up Italian sausage -- not small individual pieces of sausage, but an even coat all over the pie.)

Anyway, I love this pizza. And recently, I came across a place in Cedar Rapids, IA selling "Quad Cities style" pizza. I tried it -- it was pretty good.

My question is simple: does anyone know the origin of this kind of pizza? Is it truly unique to the Quad City area?

Thanks

Doug Mose

While I think that the crust may differ, the sausage treatment makes it sound a lot like the pizzas I get in New Bufallo and Michigan City.

No, there is not a new city in Michigan. I meant New BUFFALO.

My dad is from the Quad Cities and my grandmother is still there... all those trips and I've never been introduced to this? Were there any places on the Iowa side of the river? My grandparents used to be in Bettendorf, and now my grandmother's in Davenport. The only local pizza I remember was Happy Joe's but it's probably been 20 years...

Harris has several locations including at least one in Iowa (Bettendorf). I too grew up with Frank's. Not surprising you missed it, since it a true hole in the wall. I usually get takeout when I go to see family, but a few years ago I ate in the restaurant and it hadn't changed in the 20+ years since I'd been there.

As for the pizza, it is unique to the QC. Frank's sign says "Napoli Pizza" - but I am not sure if that helps with the origin. The crust is definitely a cut above saltine-cracker style thin crust. Harris is pretty good, and there used to be a similar place (FT Pizza & Subs???) that had a similar style pizza. Also very fond of Happy Joes but it's a bit different - similar crust but the toppings are different (the Taco Joe is a truly heavenly experience that should be tasted at least once!)

One of the highlights of childhood trips to my grandparents' house in Silvis was pizza from Frank's. Even though I haven't had it in years, it still is my favorite pizza.

Frank's definitely brings back a lot of good memories. One thing that always puzzled me as a kid was that pepperoni was not available as a topping. Cheese, Sausage (a continuous layer of crumbled sausage), or Mushroom (featuring canned mushrooms that somehow work). I suppose there were other toppings/combinations (onion?) but those are the 3 I recall. I did notice in recent years they have added pepperoni - which may literally be the only change. Oh, that and you can get bottled beer now (it used to be just in cans). Frank's also serves up a decent fried chicken & Italian Beef. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the QCs and want to avoid the chain places.

While I'm on a Silvis eats kick, the Ice Cream Palace restaurant (ICP to the locals) is a few doors down the street and serves up very good Mexican food. As with Frank's, don't let the exterior fool you!

Interesting thread. Though I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, my mom's side of the family resided (and still resides, to a large extent) in the QC. As my uncle managed (and at one point had an ownership interest in) Happy Joe's, their pizza typically was the highlight of our many trips to Rock Island.

To this day, both Happy Joe's sausage pizza, as well as the Taco Joe, is some of the best pizza I've ever had. It's a shame that Happy Joe's never succesfully expanded into the Chicago suburbs (at one point, they opened a store in Aurora, with plans to expand along the Fox River -- into Batavia, etc. -- but it never got off the ground). There is a Happy Joe's in Galena, and my wife and I love going there when we are up at Eagle Ridge.

I was never a huge fan of Harris Pizza, but my mom definitely is, and so is my uncle (the Happy Joe's guy...It's his favorite -- go figure). Although I don't get to the QC very often these days, my mom and dad almost always get Harris when visiting family in the area. To the best of my knowledge, there's nothing similar to this pizza being served anywhere in the Chicago area.

Just stumbled in on this, great thread! I have an office in Davenport and i hit up Whitey's ice cream whenever I can. I little ways off from the Quad Cities is Manny's with locations in Savanna and Fulton. Great thin crust pizza and tacos!

Having lived in Morrison, IL for the better part of 3 years I can honestly say that one of the oddest, yet astonishingly good pizzas I had was the spaghetti pizza at Happy Joes. I don't know what it is, normally I would prefer the traditional pepperoni pizza at Manny Too in Fulton. I will also say that the Taco Joe is another very good pizza, just not quite the spaghetti one.

scanz wrote:Having lived in Morrison, IL for the better part of 3 years I can honestly say that one of the oddest, yet astonishingly good pizzas I had was the spaghetti pizza at Happy Joes. I don't know what it is, normally I would prefer the traditional pepperoni pizza at Manny Too in Fulton. I will also say that the Taco Joe is another very good pizza, just not quite the spaghetti one.

Have you tried the spaghetti pizza at Angelo's in Sterling?

I, too, just stumbled across this, in a search to see if Frank's has a website, yet.

I lived in the QC until I was 12, and moved to DSM. I still have family there, so I'm back from time to time.

My husband is in Chicago, for the weekend, so he will be stopping by the Bettendorf Frank's to pick up a load of "half-bakes", on his way home.


If you don't know about this, Frank's will half-bake your pizzas then freeze them, for easy transport. It's the only way I survive!

It strikes me that Franks is the PERFECT kind of place for Jan and Michael Stern to feature in one of their columns in Gourmet magazine.

Does anybody (maybe one of the forum moderators?) know how to contact them?

Franks (and Quad Cities-style pizza) really is a unique, midwestern food treasure that deserves wider recognition.

Blown Z wrote:

scanz wrote:Having lived in Morrison, IL for the better part of 3 years I can honestly say that one of the oddest, yet astonishingly good pizzas I had was the spaghetti pizza at Happy Joes. I don't know what it is, normally I would prefer the traditional pepperoni pizza at Manny Too in Fulton. I will also say that the Taco Joe is another very good pizza, just not quite the spaghetti one.

Have you tried the spaghetti pizza at Angelo's in Sterling?

No, haven't tried it at Angelo's, I'm guessing it is even better than Happy Joe's then?

They are both very good pizzas! I'm in Sterling now and I'm having a serious hankering for pizza and tacos from Manny's Too!

DougMose wrote:It strikes me that Franks is the PERFECT kind of place for Jan and Michael Stern to feature in one of their columns in Gourmet magazine.

Does anybody (maybe one of the forum moderators?) know how to contact them?

Have you checked out RoadFood.com? I don't know how visibly active they are on the forums there, but it's a step in the right direction. It looks like a nice board, but I have all I can do to keep up with LTH, so I haven't spent much time looking at RoadFood.

Blown Z wrote:They are both very good pizzas! I'm in Sterling now and I'm having a serious hankering for pizza and tacos from Manny's Too!

Ok, now I am really wanting some spaghetti pizza and Manny's Too tacos...think it might be a road trip weekend with a side trip out to get Whitey's

For the QC being what it is there are some very memorable foods. I was born and raised there - finally leaving when I was about 23. My folks are still there.

With most places being relatively inexpensive - it is a pleasure to eat and drink there.

Certain places that ring a bell:

Whitey's Ice Cream - Multiple Locations
Golick's Meat Market - they have a great road-side grill during the summer. Davenport
City Limits - great breakfast (wonderful biscuits and gravy). Rock Island
Pizza and Subs - my first experience with a Calzone - and still one of my favorites (although it has been a few years since I've been there). Rock Island
Le Mekong - Vietnamese
Blue Cat Brew Pub - Rock Island "District"
Jalepeno's - Moline
Ice Cream Palace (mentioed above)
Habanero's (never been but it was opened by the same people as Jalepeno's) - Moline and Davenport
Plucker's - Wings and beer - Davenport

Oh man - The nice thing about the QC is you can get anywhere you need to be in 15 minutes which opens up a lot of dining options.

Oh man - I completely forgot Jim's Rib Haven in Rock Island.

DougMose wrote:As a native of the Quad Cities (the Rock Island/Moline/East Moline, Illinois & Davenport/Bettendorf, Iowa metropolitan area), I grew up eating pizza from Frank's, in Silvis Illinois.

Occasionally, we also had pizza from Harris Pizza in Rock Island.

Both are delicious (although I prefer Frank's), and until recently, I've never seen the kind of pizza they make anywhere else: it has a thin, bread-like crust (far superior to the cracker-crust common in Chicago and St. Louis thin crust pizza); it is cut in long thin strips (instead of squares, like in Chicago or in wedges, like on the east coast), and if you order sausage, it is covered in an even layer of spicy, fennel-spiked ground up Italian sausage -- not small individual pieces of sausage, but an even coat all over the pie.)

Anyway, I love this pizza. And recently, I came across a place in Cedar Rapids, IA selling "Quad Cities style" pizza. I tried it -- it was pretty good.

My question is simple: does anyone know the origin of this kind of pizza? Is it truly unique to the Quad City area?

Thanks

Doug Mose

I had a similar pizza to this style at John's Pizza in Whiting, IN a few weeks ago. They cut it in strips, the sausage was an even layer of ground up sausage all over the pizza, and the crust could be called breadlike, yet thin. However, neither my girlfriend or I liked it very much.

Ram4 wrote:John's Pizza in Whiting, IN ...cut it in strips, the sausage was an even layer of ground up sausage all over the pizza, and the crust could be called breadlike, yet thin.

I know there used to be a few up in that area
throughout my childhood of the 70's and 80's,
that seem to fit the description. One that I
recall fondly was "Domino's" in Portage, IN -
before the national chain came to town and
they were forced to become "Dominic's". I
loved their fennel-rich crumbled sausage.

Quad Cities style pizza is some of the best in the world.
other places brag about their Pizza but the QCA is better than most as far as Pizza goes
we just dont Boast it.

Quad Cities style Pizza parlors include:

Franks (silvis location is the origional)
Harris Pizza (Rock Island)
Yankee Doodle aka Schultzy's (moline)
Stashu's Deli (Moline)
Poor Boy's (rock Island)
Clints (moline)
Sluggers (Silvis)(doesnt use so much Fenel seed)

other notables that arent really QC style but local grown Pizza Joints:
Shorty's (east Moline)
Happy Joes (several Quad Cities locations, best taco pizza)
Pizza and subs (calzones are there best thing)
Alfono's Pizza (rock island) good but inconsistant.
Wise Guys (Davenport)

im missing a few but these ones are the best

Shorty's Pizza is probably the best bang for the buck...they are in the Watertown area of east moline.
they have the Best BLT pizza ever....get it with the mayo on the crust.

Franks is the Origional.....they are the Grand'daddy
Best Sausage Mushroom Pizza...and the Mozzarella they use is the best.
everything else is a spinnoff.

you cant go wrong with any of the places.
Franks is the king
Harris is 2nd
everything else is a close 3rd

i know this is an old one...but i stumbled on it in a google and had to post.

I grew up in the QC and went to Frank's a few times, and it was excellent, but my allegiance was always to Happy Joe's Taco Pizza. They claim they were the first in the midwest to popularize it (maybe the country? doubtful, but I don't know). Something about that tangy sauce, buttery but not too thick crust, and strange mix of toppings (beans and lettuce?!!) was just magic.

My family moved away so I don't make it back very often but I might have to make a road trip.

Also, I heard that Jim's Rib Haven has gone downhill, but I can't confirm. Le Mekong is always worth a stop. Whitey's is a must.

Just going to stop now before I slobber all over the keyboard.

No offense, but the Quad City discussion's focus on taco and spaghetti pizzas isn't very motivating. Also, photos or it didn't happen.

When discussing the fine pizza from Rene G rec'd Maria's in Milwaukee a convo of other great tavern style pizza parlors in the Midwest evolved, many of which are named Frank's and in that conversation Rene G mentioned...

Rene G wrote:Ram4's quote (above) mentions Frank's in Appleton. I'm completely unfamiliar with that one but hope to check it out soon. Coincidentally, I'm putting together a post on a different Frank's, a fifty-some-year-old place that serves what I consider the best Midwestern tavern-style pizza I've had.

...and then after a few more posts back and forth between some tavern pizza parlor seekers, HE spilled the beans and said...

Rene G wrote:The place I (a "he", by the way) will post more about is Frank's Pizza in Silvis IL. It's already been discussed in the Quad Cities style pizza thread.

Now that right there was enough to skyrocket Frank's to the near top of my list of places I need to get to. So then a while after that I had the pleasure of meeting Peter and having a few cold ones one night late last winter and again he had brought up how good Frank's was (which I had forgot about) and that was all I needed to stuff it amongst the little closet of space I have in my memory just in case I ever find myself going thru the Quad Cities or for some odd reason, staying there. Since Rene G is a wealth of information on the great regional under the radar longtime spots I am sure his report will be outstanding and much more resourceful than mine, however I mentioned my memory and didn't want to forget about another gem of a rec from Rene G.


a locals favorite in the Quad Cities area

In the quote from Rene G above there is a link to another thread about Quad Cities style pizza and it has some background information on Frank's. When it comes to tavern pizza joints from the 50's they all have similar vibes inside and look great from the outside and there were no exceptions to this legitimate stereotype with Frank's. It was pretty easy to find and when you walk up you can see the pizza makers in a large window busy at work making pies. We were there on a Saturday a little after 8p so there were a good amount of people but I think we missed the family rush before that but there were still about 30 people dining in. There are two cafeteria like dining rooms on each side of the bar which is in the middle. As always I took my seat at the bar.



Outside of Frank's (top) Views from my seat at bar (bottom)

After taking our seats the friendly waitress asked if we wanted anything to drink and we order our usual's and she asked us for id. That was fine as it sparked up a conversation with the older Harley riding dude sitting next to me at the bar who said "that cant be anything but a good thing if your over 21". Frank's doesn't have any beer on tap (all bottles and cans) and no pop from the fountain, all cans at this old school favorite. He was there on his bday for his favorite meal, a small cheese pizza from Frank's which he said he has been eating for 51 years. We did some shots for his bday and then ordered some rounds and I took a look at the menu. In the Quad Cities style pizza thread it mentions a place that claims to have created the taco pizza and I was surprised and intrigued by a taco pizza on the menu at Frank's. But this being my first time I already knew what I was getting and that's a large sausage pizza, my standard order at these old school Midwest pizza parlors. Frank's pizza comes in two sizes and they are different in shape and crust. After a few drinks the Harley dudes small cheese came and he offered us both of us a slice and I happily accepted and he raved on about how good it was. However for some reason didn't eat the crust, which I thought was excellent, leaving the leftovers from each piece on his plate like he must of done on his 1st visit 51 years ago. No, I did not ask him for his unwanted pieces of crust.


Small cheese pizza from Frank's

I thought the cheese slice was excellent and would of been happy had we ordered that. I anxiously awaited the arrival of our large sausage. As you can see in the pic above the small is a round pizza similar to the standard pizza pies found around the country. It certainly however didn't taste standard. But the large pies come sliced in that odd way of long thin strips. Some from LTH are familiar with this style that is popular in Calumet City and NW Indiana, specifically John's Pizzeria. I was a fan of John's when I went there and with Rene G's personal rec. of Frank's I knew I was a fan before I took a bite. So then our pie and arrived, piping hot, so I ordered another one and let it cool for five mins. My girl mentioned they were "pizza bread sticks" and was excited to try (she loved it) and was wondering how the hell I knew where to eat at every dot on the map .


Large sausage from Frank's Pizzeria


Pieces of Frank's pizza, I like the middle ones (more meat)

The odd way of slicing is not the only somewhat unique thing about Frank's pizza, the other being the loose sausage. Something about loose meat in the Midwest, we love it. They make their own blend and I am a fan of this style, though not as much of the tavern style sausage found at many Chicagoland favorites, I still really like it. Frank's sausage was off the chart, I wish they stuffed this stuff into hog tubes and sold it next door or something. It was loaded with fennel and full of spice, I mean real nice amounts for a heat head like myself. Even before loading the red pepper flakes on my pieces it was spiced to perfection with a perfect amount of zing.


Up close of the goodness

I didn't dig too deep but there isn't too much around the WWW about Frank's. It seems the best info is from the Quad Cities Pizza thread from LTH (linked above). In that it mentions that this (Silvis) location is the original, which it damn sure felt like. This also meaning they have a few more spots in the Quad Cities area. I hope this thread can attract some lurkers or web searchers who have a little something to dole out with us and if I had to make an educated guess, I would assume Rene G has some interesting tidbits to share. Big ups to him and the rest of LTH for another gem of a find and please do keep them coming, I love them.


Quad Cities style pizza

Frank's Pizzeria
711 1st Ave
Silvis, IL 61282-1042
(309) 755-0625

That sausage sounds just the way I like it.
What is the sauce like - not overly sweet?

SCUBAchef wrote:That sausage sounds just the way I like it.
What is the sauce like - not overly sweet?

The sausage was just my style. Nah the sauce wasnt too sweet but the sausage was def. the strongest tasting part of the pizza and that was fine by me. They dont lay off with it and each middle piece has a bunch in every bite. Good stuff.

With regard to pizza at happy Joe's, I can't believe noone has mentioned the Canadien Bacon and Sauerkraut...wonderful.
Not pizza but droolworthy nonetheless is the MagicMountain at Ross's.

Can anyone think of a hole-in-the-wall pizza place in Davenport, south of Locust St. in the general area running from where the Harris Pizza place and the Eagle's grocery store are, past St. Ambrose a ways? It was a couple blocks south and I seem to recall a bar or two in that general area. I had a killer sausage/jalapeno pizza there and I think it was carryout only.

For those interested in a Quad Cities style pizza place slated to open in Chicago in March 2011 along with the latest project from Bleeding Heart Bakery, please check this thread in the Professional Forum

Clints in Moline, bowling alley pizzeria, gotta love it.









QC sausage pizza - small:



I really liked this pizza, crumbled sausage with nice flavor, good ammoutn of cheese and sauce, and a crisp browned crust underneath. I liked the long slices of pizza.

Clints Pizza
4204 Ave of Cities
Moline, IL.

http://www.clintspizza.com

hitting Frank's in Silvas this Saturday.