The Iowan Pizza Chronicles: Attempt #42 - Great Plains Sauce & Dough Company

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Attempt #42 - Great Plains Sauce & Dough Company

Menu Board

The Venue

129 Main Street

Ames, IA 50020-6388

(515) 232-426337

Since 1979 the Great Plains Sauce & Dough Company has been baking pies for Ames, Iowa. Iowa State college students often remark about trying their pizza, and we happened to be in the area to give them a try. The restaurant itself seemed a little cramped, with a small upstairs, bathrooms downstairs which felt like an old basement due to the limestone walls. The prices were a little high compared with Cedar Rapids, but that is expected in a college tow-pizza is quite popular. The thing that stood out to me was the varieties of dough! You can have the same pizza prepared over 6 different ways dough types for thin and 3 for thick). You can check out their menu here: http://www.greatplainspizza.com/menu.html.

The Prairie Special, Large 14",
New Orleans Style Crust, $20.55

The Pizza

Chicago Style: No

Crust Thickness: Thick, Average, and Thin

Types of dough:

1. Denver Style - Rolled-edge whole wheat crust

2. Sam's Recipe - Classic thin, white crust

3. New Orleans Style - Thick, white crust

4. Oat Style - Rolled-edge oat flour crust

5. Thin Denver - Whole wheat twin to Sam's

6. Idaho Style - Thin, Softer texture potato flour crust

Our group consisted of 6 participants, so we ordered three large (14") pizzas; two one topping and two specialty.

The Prairie Special - Pick a crust style and we'll top it with sliced pepperoni, our own special pork sausage, fresh diced onions, and fresh diced green peppers (large 14", New Orleans style crust, $20.55)

The Buffalo, Large 14",
Thin Denver crust, $22.20

The Buffalo - We load sliced pepperoni, our own special pork sausage, fresh diced onions, fresh diced green peppers, fresh sliced mushrooms and sliced ripe olives on your choice of crust. (large 14", Thin Denver crust, $22.20)

Meat - Cheese, sausage, pepperoni, bacon bits, Canadian bacon (large 14" Thick Oat crust, $22.20)

The Verdict

The pizzas served and you have to deliver it to your own table, along the red pepper, cheese, silverware and napkins. They were cut into triangular-shaped pieces. They take about 20-30 minutes to prepare, so it might be wise to either call ahead if there isn't a line. Meat was the clear favorite amongst the participants scoring over 60% of the votes. The pizza's crust was excellent, we performed a 'lift test' on the slice of meat and the toppings did not slide off nor did the crust buckle. Pretty much everyone loved the flavor of the oat crust, its heartiness and unique taste helped the meat pizza rise in popularity among out group. The pizzas were excellent after a long day, I would highly recommend it if you are in the area!