The pizza that Des Moines never forgot

La Pizza House opened in 1952 and closed its doors decades later. Its recipes, and the devotion of its customers, never left.

On the southeast side of Des Moines, at 1013 S.E. 14th Street, there once stood a restaurant that defined pizza for an entire generation of Iowans. La Pizza House wasn't a chain. It wasn't a concept. It was a place — built by two men, sustained by loyal regulars, and remembered by nearly everyone who ever pulled into its parking lot.

Russ Reel and Abbie Polito launched the operation in 1952, reportedly out of a neighborhood grocery store where the Politos had been quietly experimenting with pizza recipes. That first location — a grey building at 1017 S.E. 14th — eventually gave way to a larger space next door that could seat groups of any size across multiple rooms. By that point, the restaurant had become something close to an institution.

A style unlike any other

Ask anyone who ate there what made La Pizza House distinctive, and the answer usually comes in threes: the pizza, the "Roquefort" dressing, and the onion rings. Bright orange, fried fresh, served propped open in big boxes whether you were dining in or taking out — those onion rings were as much a ritual as a side dish.

The pizza itself defied easy categorization. Fennel-forward Calabrese-style sausage went down first, followed by sauce and cheese, with more sauce ladled on top. The crust — fermented, flavorful, neither cracker-thin nor bready — drew comparisons to what you might find in Rome or southern France rather than anything produced in the American Midwest. The restaurant also baked its own bread, which made the sandwiches worth ordering on their own terms.

"The legacy still lives on at Abbie's. The pizza? Nearly identical. Still one of my favorites."

What the legacy looks like now

The original La Pizza House is gone, but its recipes survived. Abbie's, located in Bondurant, carries on the tradition using the original formulas. The onion rings are a touch thinner, and the vivid orange color has faded somewhat — but the pizza remains nearly identical to what generations of Des Moines diners grew up eating.

With the recent passing of Albert "Abbie" Polito, both of La Pizza House's founders are gone. What they built, however — a specific flavor, a specific feeling, a specific smell — has proven more durable than the building itself. That, in the end, may be the most honest measure of what a restaurant can accomplish.

Some places outlast their addresses. La Pizza House is one of them.