The mighty Mississippi River cuts through the heart of America. In space between Iowa and Indiana, the river takes a turn steeply westward. Here, in a previous century, urban settlements were stimulated by riverboat traffic, forming the communities that would later grow into the cities we recognize in the modern era.
After the Civil War, the towns of Davenport, Rock Island, and Moline began to develop a collective identity, and common culture. The area began to be styled as the “Tri-Cities.” As East Moline grew into equal stature, the name evolved to Quad Cities. Then as Bettendorf rapidly grew in the post-war boom, it was included as a fifth city – but the “Quad Cities” name still stuck. Quint Cities just didn’t have the same ring to it.
As the Industrial Revolution developed in the United States, many enterprising industrialists looked to the Mississippi River as a promising source of water power. The combination of energy and easy access to river transportation attracted entrepreneurs and industrialists to the Quad Cities for development. In 1848, John Deere moved his plow business to Moline. His business was incorporated as Deere & Company in 1868. Today, over 150 years later, it still remains the largest employer in the region.
Featuring a generous dose of malty syrup in the crust, a heap of fennel-laced sausage, and a sauce that’s spiked with red pepper flakes. Although the inventor of the style is in dispute, some credit the innovation to a pair of Italian brothers named Frank and Tony Maniscalco, who opened several restaurants in the area. Others claim the Maniscalos originated the style 200 miles away in Calumet City first, before relocating it to Quad Cities.
Rock Island’s Harris Pizza staked their own claim to the style, copyrighting the term, “The Original Quad Cities Style Pizza.” Whether you believe it’s truly the original or not – the fact that Harris Pizza has been carrying the Quad Cities Style torch for over 50 years is one fact that is not in dispute.
The hearty Quad Cities pizza is a working man’s pie. Both comfort food, and calorie-loaded fuel for long hours of both work, and recreation common to the area.
Once a conservative amount of sauce is added, in comes the sausage—a custom blend seasoned lightly with fennel, red and black pepper that is finely ground on premises, cooked down and then drained, leaving an already lean blend even leaner.
A pound of sausage is said to end up on every pizza; a large Harris sausage pie can weigh around four pounds—because of the lean blend, and the draining process, there’s no soggy, greasy mess at the bottom. (If there is, you’ve chosen the wrong pizza parlor.)
There is some speculation the area’s German immigrant population had an influence on the popularity of sausage in their local cuisine
In Davenport, one longtime purveyor of the Quad Cities style pizza is Dean Creech. Buying the business from namesake founder Bill has been slinging Quad City pies for years.
Although the basic Quad Cities pizza is heavy on cheese and sausage, in more recent years, an evolutionary tangent has added an inexplicable wrinkle to recipe. A twist from South of the Border has become wildly popular among residents of the region.
Take a basic Quad-Cities Pizza, add lettuce, diced tomatoes, and yes – if you can believe it – nacho flavored Dorito’s! And you get the inexplicably popular Quad Cities Taco Pizza.
