Happy Joe's

Happy Joe's Pizza & Ice Cream Parlor is an American pizza parlor chain based in Bettendorf, Iowa. The restaurant chain was founded in 1972 by "Happy" Joe Whitty, a former Shakey's Pizza manager. Its 61 restaurants are located in the Midwestern United States (in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin).

The menu at a typical Happy Joe's comprises a wide selection of pizzas, baked pasta dishes, hot sandwiches, ice cream and soft drinks. Their pizzas come in thin crust, deep-pan, and Chicago-style varieties. Many locations also feature a buffet and salad bar.

The restaurants are geared toward the family, and children's birthday parties are frequently held there. For those celebrating a birthday, a server will bring out a complimentary sundae for the honoree, blow a bugle horn and – after announcing the honoree's birthday – invite everyone to sing "Happy Birthday".

Each place setting includes a placemat, containing word games, jokes and artwork submitted by customers (who receive a free large pizza if their submission is used). Many Happy Joe's restaurants also have arcade video games and a viewing window to allow younger children to watch a cook make their pizza.

Happy Joe's claims to be the first pizza restaurant to offer a taco pizza (a pizza with refried bean/tomato sauce, cheese, lettuce, tomato and taco chips). After a franchisee suggested adding tacos to the menu, Whitty invented the restaurant's best-selling product, the Taco Pizza. [http://www.visitquadcities.com/2004/for_the_media/nr_made_in_qc.html]

The executive chef of Happy Joe's is Robert Lewis, a diabetic who has written two books about cooking with diabetes in mind to the consumer. [http://radishmagazine.com/stories/display.cgi?prcss=display&id=313799] [www.diabetieshealth.com] [www.happydiabetic.com

The Happy Joe's location on Gilbert Street in Iowa City, IA was destroyed by a tornado on April 13, 2006, part of the Easter Week 2006 Tornado Outbreak Sequence. [http://press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060703/NEWS01/607030323&SearchID=73263135319096]

Recently Happy Joe's has begun to offer pizza delivery through FedEx to most points in the continental US. [http://store.happyjoes.net]

Happy Joe's has recently come out with a line of breakfast pizza.

External links

* [http://www.happyjoes.com Happy Joe's website]