(This college football season, Arizona football beat reporter Justin Spears is trying out popular restaurants in towns the Wildcats are playing in. Up first: "The Great Plains Sauce and Dough Company" at Iowa State)
AMES, Iowa — On the corner of Main Street (Iowa State's version of Tucson's Fourth Avenue) and Douglas Avenue in downtown Ames sits The Great Plains Sauce and Dough Company — or simply known as "The Great Plains" or "The Best" pizza.
Restaurant: The Great Plains Sauce and Dough Company
Food: Pizza and sandwiches
The rundown: The Great Plains Sauce and Dough Company was founded in 1979 and serves pizza by the slice or pies spanning from 10-14 inches, along with turkey, pepperoni and bacon sandwiches.
For the lovers, The Great Plains also has heart-shaped pizzas, which was added to the menu in the 1980s for Valentine's Day.
The Great Plains has four specialty pizzas, but their most famous one is the The Great Plains Taco Pizza, which they prefer to serve on thin crust for a tostada feel.
Instead of marinara sauce, The Great Plains Taco Pizza uses mild taco sauce and then adds ground beef and cheese before baking it. After it bakes, they add chopped lettuce, crushed Dorito-looking tortilla chips, more cheese and tomatoes.
According to its website, "we have been producing and serving a pizza product that is unmatched in central Iowa, and from what many of our long-time customers tell us, unmatched anywhere."
The order: The Great Plains Taco Pizza and M&M oatmeal cookie
The final verdict: This is more about the taster than the provider. It's like being in a loving relationship for so many years and then becoming single again; you have high — maybe even unfair — expectations for the next partner. We're spoiled in Tucson. The Mexican-style food is among the best in the U.S. The spices and Sonoran-style ingredients are a taste that's hard-pressed to find anywhere else, especially in the midwest.
The Great Plains Taco Pizza was underwhelming, but it was a step above Taco Bell's Mexican Pizza. Sometimes you need to spin the block and give someone a second date after a mild (no pun intended) first date, so we ordered their M&M oatmeal cookie, which rivals Los Angeles' Randy's Donuts as the best sweet treat of the This Ain't Tucson series, which started in 2023. The Great Plains, which had great customer service, receives a 6.9/10 score.
