Happy Joe's

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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 consists of 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 waitress 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 is the first pizza restaurant to offer the 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. [1]

Among the more unusual menu items is the "Happy Joe's Special" pizza. It is an unusual combination of Canadian bacon and sauerkraut.

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.[2]

The Happy Joe's location on Gilbert Street in Iowa City, IA was completely destroyed by a tornado on April 13, 2006, part of the Easter Week 2006 Tornado Outbreak Sequence.[3]

Recently Happy Joe's has begun to offer pizza delivery through FedEx to most points in the continental US.[4]