quad cities style pizza in the DSM area

[Tenacious E]

The barstool thread and its pizza app had me poking around for rankings in the DSM area. I was surprised at some of the rankings. Then I remembered there was a quad cities style pizza joint that opened in West Des Moines. I personally think qc style pizza is almost the worst style of pizza, with the only worse style being the crap they serve in St. Louis. Googled it and it was Hometown Pizza. Permanently closed, despite people here posting it was good version of the style. Curious if @torbee had a chance to try it.

 

[83Hawk]

The barstool thread and its pizza app had me poking around for rankings in the DSM area. I was surprised at some of the rankings. Then I remembered there was a quad cities style pizza joint that opened in West Des Moines. I personally think qc style pizza is the worst style of pizza, with the only worse style being the crap they serve in St. Louis. Googled it and it was Hometown Pizza. Permanently closed, despite people here posting it was good version of the style. Curious if @torbee had a chance to try it.

Not surprised it closed. It was overpriced to begin with.

Had it twice. First time....it was awful. Wife and I both thought it was terrible (I had eaten Harris pizza, which is good). Nowhere’s near enough sauce. Threw most of it away.

I tried it again months later by myself. A co-worker friend who is from Bettendorf recommended getting extra sauce and having them “turn it twice”. It was much, much better. But customers wouldn’t know to ask that.....therefore they paid premium price for bad pizza.

 

[Tenacious E]

Not surprised it closed. It was overpriced to begin with.

Had it twice. First time....it was awful. Wife and I both thought it was terrible (I had eaten Harris pizza, which is good). Nowhere’s near enough sauce. Threw most of it away.

I tried it again months later by myself. A co-worker friend who is from Bettendorf recommended getting extra sauce and having them “turn it twice”. It was much, much better. But customers wouldn’t know to ask that.....therefore they paid premium price for bad pizza.

You lost me at Harris being good... Kidding. Can't skimp on the sauce and if you charge premium prices you need to execute.

 

[83Hawk]

You lost me at Harris being good... Kidding. Can't skimp on the sauce and if you charge premium prices you need to execute.

I actually prefer Uncle Bill’s over Harris.

 

[jasonrann]

I am too lazy to go find the other threads about this. What is QC style pizza? How is it different? Agree with @Tenacious E that St. Louis style is shit not fit for a dog.

 

[TJ8869]

I am too lazy to go find the other threads about this. What is QC style pizza? How is it different? Agree with @Tenacious E that St. Louis style is shit not fit for a dog.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_City-style_pizza

 

[Mat_Hawks]

I am too lazy to go find the other threads about this. What is QC style pizza? How is it different? Agree with @Tenacious E that St. Louis style is shit not fit for a dog.

 

[jasonrann]

Dick.

 

[Tom Paris]

I actually prefer Uncle Bill’s over Harris.

Pizza Shack for us. It's my favorite of the QC Style.

 

[Tenacious E]

I am too lazy to go find the other threads about this. What is QC style pizza? How is it different? Agree with @Tenacious E that St. Louis style is shit not fit for a dog.

Do you like a pizza with a flaky thin crust? Or do you like a deep dish pizza with a buttery rich crust? If your answer to either the preceding are yes, then the quad cities style is not for you. Rather, you will be biting into a thick hard chewy crust with a malty flavor. It typically has sausage that resembles rabbit turds, although Torbee calls them sausage pillows. I can get past that, just not the gross crust. And this is what it looks like:

 

[jasonrann]

Do you like a pizza with a flaky thin crust? Or do you like a deep dish pizza with a buttery rich crust? If your answer to either the preceding are yes, then the quad cities style is not for you. Rather, you will be biting into a thick hard chewy crust with a malty flavor. It typically has sausage that resembles rabbit turds, although Torbee calls them sausage pillows. I can get past that, just not the gross crust. And this is what it looks like:

I am typically in the thin/crispy as you can get it kind of crust. I occasionally do a Chicago deep dish from Rosati's, but that's maybe once every couple months.

 

[Pepperman]

Not surprised it closed. It was overpriced to begin with.

I now wish I had tried it. I didn't realize it had closed already... but you're correct that their pricing was pretty outrageous from what I remember. When there are plenty of cheap pizzas on the market, you better have a really great product to be charging $20+ per large.

 

[83Hawk]

I now wish I had tried it. I didn't realize it had closed already... but you're correct that their pricing was pretty outrageous from what I remember. When there are plenty of cheap pizzas on the market, you better have a really great product to be charging $20+ per large.

You didn’t miss anything by not trying it.

 

[Tenacious E]

I now wish I had tried it. I didn't realize it had closed already... but you're correct that their pricing was pretty outrageous from what I remember. When there are plenty of cheap pizzas on the market, you better have a really great product to be charging $20+ per large.

Here in the metro we get Rosati's all of the time and pay 20 to 25 per pizza. Worth every penny!

 

[lucas80]

My understanding was it cannot be true QC style pizza unless the water of the Mississippi is used to make the dough?
I've only had QC style pizza in my life once, and it was decades ago. I was in Davenport with a friend, and his dad stopped to get a pizza for the drive home to IC. He kept exclaiming about the sausage topping, "They look like little shits"!
1

 

[Tenacious E]

I am typically in the thin/crispy as you can get it kind of crust. I occasionally do a Chicago deep dish from Rosati's, but that's maybe once every couple months.

Related to weight loss thread and lack of progress, this past week we ordered Rosati's. Standing there to pay and they said they were selling the frozen deep dish ones for $5. I got one. Holy moly that was the best frozen pizza I've ever had. Pretty much tasted like their fresh made deep dish. Not even a close second out there in the frozen pizza world.

 

[jasonrann]

Here in the metro we get Rosati's all of the time and pay 20 to 25 per pizza. Worth every penny!

100% correct. I can turn a 10'' pepperoni into 2-3 meals.

 

[Tenacious E]

My understanding was it cannot be true QC style pizza unless the water of the Mississippi is used to make the dough?
I've only had QC style pizza in my life once, and it was decades ago. I was in Davenport with a friend, and his dad stopped to get a pizza for the drive home to IC. He kept exclaiming about the sausage topping, "They look like little shits"!
1

I maintain the most authentic "quad cities" QC-style pizza you could have would be to have it be a white sauce pizza with catfish. That way you would get that real mississippi river flavor to combine with the disgusting crust.

 

[jasonrann]

Related to weight loss thread and lack of progress, this past week we ordered Rosati's. Standing there to pay and they said they were selling the frozen deep dish ones for $5. I got one. Holy moly that was the best frozen pizza I've ever had. Pretty much tasted like their fresh made deep dish. Not even a close second out there in the frozen pizza world.

You have to be shitting me?! I could have bought a couple. I'll have to stop by the one I typically order from. It's just a pain because it's not very close to my house.

 

[jasonrann]

I maintain the most authentic "quad cities" QC-style pizza you could have would be to have it be a white sauce pizza with catfish. That way you would get that real mississippi river flavor to combine with the disgusting crust.

And you would have no problems shitting either.

 

[Tenacious E]

You have to be shitting me?! I could have bought a couple. I'll have to stop by the one I typically order from. It's just a pain because it's not very close to my house.

I didn't even know there were doing it. The woman in front of me bought a couple. I got to the register and asked if they were really selling them for $5 or did she have some kind of crazy coupon. She said no they were $5. Not sure if that was some kind of one-day promotion locally or what. I should have purchased all of them.

 

[Tenacious E]

100% correct. I can turn a 10'' pepperoni into 2-3 meals.

That sounds about right. I ate about 1/2 of it and wished I stopped at 1/3. Very filling and rich.

 

[jasonrann]

That sounds about right. I ate about 1/2 of it and wished I stopped at 1/3. Very filling and rich.

The good thing at least is I can get it delivered!

 

[Pepperman]

Here in the metro we get Rosati's all of the time and pay 20 to 25 per pizza. Worth every penny!

We ordered their thin crust once and I thought it was really good, but I haven't yet tried their deep dish. Sounds like you and Jason are fans though.

 

[Tenacious E]

We ordered their thin crust once and I thought it was really good, but I haven't yet tried their deep dish. Sounds like you and Jason are fans though.

I am a sucker for the sauce/tomatoes/marinara on top and the buttery crust. So so good.

 

[GOHOX69]

We need qca pizza in the ica (iowa city area). Instead, we now are getting freddy's, had a teddy's and five guys boogers. How many fricking booger places do we need? We need qca pizza and a decent gyro joint. Oasis doesn't count.

 

[jasonrann]

We ordered their thin crust once and I thought it was really good, but I haven't yet tried their deep dish. Sounds like you and Jason are fans though.

The deep dish is every bit as good as Pizzeria UNO or Lou Malnati's in Chicago. Delicious stuff. I was also surprised at how well it reheats. A couple slices on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees reheats nicely without burning.

 

[JWolf74]

I maintain the most authentic "quad cities" QC-style pizza you could have would be to have it be a white sauce pizza with catfish. That way you would get that real mississippi river flavor to combine with the disgusting crust.

Is the catfish locally sourced?

 

[Tenacious E]

Is the catfish locally sourced?

I am convinced time travel is real and Cousin Eddie in the vacation movies was based off of Davenport catfish man.

 

[ConvenientParking]

The location sucked dong IMO for the endeavor. It was way out in the boonies of WDM Grand Ave. It gets local Hy Vee traffic but is out of the way for the vast majority of the metro. Something novel like that would do better downtown or somewhere like Ingersoll. Hell, even actually by Jordan Creek would be better.

 

[ThorneStockton]

I had Rosati's for the first time this past weekend, I thought it was pretty solid. I also liked the flyer that they included. Event pack #5 might even be enough to satisfy OP's mom:

 

[PerkyForHerky]

Do you like a pizza with a flaky thin crust? Or do you like a deep dish pizza with a buttery rich crust? If your answer to either the preceding are yes, then the quad cities style is not for you. Rather, you will be biting into a thick hard chewy crust with a malty flavor. It typically has sausage that resembles rabbit turds, although Torbee calls them sausage pillows. I can get past that, just not the gross crust. And this is what it looks like:

I maintain the most authentic "quad cities" QC-style pizza you could have would be to have it be a white sauce pizza with catfish. That way you would get that real mississippi river flavor to combine with the disgusting crust.

 

[HawkBlocked]

That looks disgusting.

 

[HawkBlocked]

That, too, looks disgusting.

 

[Moral]

Do you like a pizza with a flaky thin crust? Or do you like a deep dish pizza with a buttery rich crust? If your answer to either the preceding are yes, then the quad cities style is not for you. Rather, you will be biting into a thick hard chewy crust with a malty flavor. It typically has sausage that resembles rabbit turds, although Torbee calls them sausage pillows. I can get past that, just not the gross crust. And this is what it looks like:

If you manage to eat QC style pizza crust after being in the fridge for a day then you will be able to chew through steel. That ish cures like cement.

 

[Jimmy McGill]

The Quad Cities is to pizza what North Platte, Nebraska is to fresh lobster.

 

[Tenacious E]

The Quad Cities is to pizza what North Platte, Nebraska is to fresh lobster.

Another way to look at it is the quad cities is to pizza,* as Grand Island, Nebraska, is to grand islands.

*Happy Joe's excepted

 

[Fan In Black]

"sausage pillows"

 

[Tom Paris]

If QC Style pizza is so terrible, why do we have so many places selling it? It's not my favorite, but it's bread, meat, sauce, and cheese. Yeah...that's gross. People who say they hate it are trying to be trendy. Is it different? Yes...but disgusting? C'mon. It's like people who can only drink Coke but no other cola. It's freaking cola.

 

[GOHOX69]

The Quad Cities is to pizza what North Platte, Nebraska is to fresh lobster.

So you're saying North Platte has delicious lobster? I can dig it I love qca za.