I Pine for Happy Joe’s Taco Pizza, the Culinary Relic of My Iowa Youth | Bon Appétit

"A beloved regional Midwest pizza-and-ice-cream chain founded in 1972 by Joe Whitty (who described himself as “not unhappy”), it is especially treasured in eastern Iowa for its quirky signature pies, including a Canadian bacon-and-sauerkraut pizza and a BLT pizza topped with extra Canadian bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a mayo drizzle. Its crown jewel and best seller is the taco pizza: a crispy-bottom, puffed-edged crust blistered with a thin layer of tomato paste, layered with refried beans, melted cheese and tomato sauce, seasoned ground beef or sausage (optional), crisp lettuce and cubed tomato, and finished with a blanket of slightly crushed, proprietary nacho-style tortilla chips. The pie is served with packets of the mild, almost ketchup-y “Spicey Joe” taco sauce (available in bottles online), and evokes strong nostalgia — a Proustian madeleine for many locals — while also standing as an example of how regional American food adapts another cuisine’s flavors for local palates; as Iowa’s Latino population has grown, some now see it as a relic of an earlier, less authentic approach to Mexican flavors. The brand’s boxes, festooned with a cartoon likeness of the founder, contribute to its homespun identity." - ByAnn Friedman