This is kind of a 2 for 1 food adventure. Back in June I went on kind of a boredom road trip with no real destination in mind. In fact, I don’t know that I really went anywhere. My initial thought was maybe to go to Denison and the Donna Reed Foundation. It is a place in Iowa I’ve never checked out and I do love Donna Reed. And she doesn’t come with all the unfortunate baggage of say, John Wayne. And she did win an Oscar for FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, but why she is eternal is because of her role as Mary in the greatest Christmas movie ever made, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE.
However, road construction on US-30 west of Ogden made me go north instead. I ended up in Humboldt where I ate at a pizza place that’s pizza probably almost everybody reading these words has eaten at… Pasquale’s Pizza. Their frozen pizzas can be found in about every grocery store in central Iowa. Meaning Hy-Vee and Fareway. But their pizzas are also found in many small bars that don’t have a kitchen to make their own pizza but can throw a frozen one in an oven.
However, many people probably didn’t know that the same frozen pizza in their grocery store also has a restaurant you can eat at.
Here is some info from their website:
Brothers Mario and Pasquale knew their mama’s delicious pizza sauce was too good to just keep in the family. So, they started Pasquale’s in 1959 —one of the first pizzerias in Iowa. Thanks to that authentic Italian flavor and the highest quality ingredients, Pasquale’s Pizza is a local legend more than 65 years later. We bring that same restaurant quality to our frozen pizzas, making them a hit in the frozen food section of grocery stores and proudly served in pubs and bars throughout the country.
https://pasquales.pizza/
But I also ended up in Webster City and had a shake from a Mexican ice cream place in Webster City. The way I got there was also a bit of an accident. I really wanted to hit up The Dariette in Fort Dodge, but when I came back through Fort Dodge, it hadn’t opened its doors yet. So I headed west on US-20 and found Chicago Style on the Googles.
Here are some pictures from the trip:
I take these pictures for Carla.
Pepsi!
Sausage, Mushroom, Pepper, and Onion
Cookie Monster Shake!
Here is a little known fact about Webster City, they have an incredible collection of sculptures in their town park!
I want this sculpture so bad!
MY OBSERVATIONS
THE GOOD
- Obviously the Pasquale’s restaurant pizza is quite a bit better than the frozen pizza. I like a good Pasquale’s frozen pizza, but if I’m on the frozen pizza job, I’m a hardcore Lotzza Motzza (if you aren’t from the midwest, that is spelled correctly) guy. Although I will also throw a We Will pizza pie in the oven if I have one on the freezer. Although truthfully I don’t eat many frozen pizzas these days.
- Pasquale restaurant pizza reminds me of a homemade pizza. That is a compliment in my book. I love a good homemade pizza and I need to crack out my pizza oven sometime very soon.
- I think my favorite part of the pizza was my favorite part of the pizza.
- They serve Pepsi products. In a gross Coke class, but that doesn’t affect the flavor.
- So about the ice cream. And you know I have the Ted Lasso policy on ice cream: Ice cream is the best. It’s kinda like seeing Billy Joel perform live. Never disappoints.”
THE BAD
- I like bigger chunks when it comes to pizza toppings. They weren’t sparse, but they were tinier than I like.
THE UGLY
- I don’t know I have anything that I would classify as ugly here. it is hard for me to complain about a pizza, but I didn’t like it enough to say I was sad it was so far away.
THE DAMAGE
- I actually paid cash. In both places. So I’m not sure what the damage was. But a 12 inch 3 topping pizza is $15.49. A 4th topping is $1.50. Plus tip and a canned soft drink. I’ll call it $30. And I can only guess at the price of my milkshake. But it was under $10.
THE VERDICT
- Graded on a scale of AVOID AT ALL COSTS, EVEN AVOID THE SIDE OF TOWN IT IS ON to I WOULD GLADLY DRIVE SEVERAL HOURS TO EAT THERE, I would give it I WOULD EAT THERE AGAIN. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there, but if I was in Humboldt and in need of some food in my tum-tum, I would go there. Same for Chicago Style.
HOW DO YOU EAT THERE?
- Pasquale’s – 607 13th Street North – Humboldt, Iowa
- Monday – Thursday: 11 AM – 8:30 PM; Friday – Saturday: 11 AM – 9 PM; Closed on Sunday
- Chicago Style – 608 Des Moines Street – Webster City, Iowa
- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 11 AM – 8 PM; Wednesday: 1 PM – 7:30 PM, Sunday: 11 AM – 7:30 PM
Next Sunday’s food adventure will involve eating on a lake. Or next to one, to be more precise.