La Pizza House: A Slice of Des Moines Memory

How one small restaurant became a timeless staple in Iowa’s pizza scene.

If you grew up on the south or east side of Des Moines, chances are La Pizza House was your pizza place. It was that kind of spot — a neighborhood legend. Started back in 1952 by Russ Reel and Abbie Polito, it first lived in a modest gray building at 1017 S.E. 14th Street. That original spot stood for decades, right next to the bigger restaurant most of us came to know and love at 1013 S.E. 14th.

Some smells just stay with you. For me, it’s La Pizza House — the pizza, the blue cheese (or as they proudly called it, Roquefort dressing), and those unforgettable bright orange onion rings. That scent is burned into my brain, and honestly, I hope it never leaves me.

There was a time I got a little food-snobby — I’d correct people, saying “Technically it’s blue cheese, not Roquefort, since it’s not from France…” But I let that go a long time ago. Nitpicking like that just gets in the way of enjoying something great. Because La Pizza House was never about culinary technicalities — it was about flavor, tradition, and comfort.

And while the pizza, the dressing, and those onion rings were the stars, their sandwiches were secretly just as incredible. They even baked their own bread. If you knew what was good, you’d split a sandwich as an appetizer — because there was no way you were leaving without tasting all the classics.

I heard the Politos originally ran a small grocery store and started experimenting with pizza there before opening the restaurant. They stayed in that first building until around 1961 or ’62, then expanded into that bigger space with multiple dining rooms. That place could fit your whole family — and probably your cousins too. I loved it like family.

And those onion rings… big cardboard boxes, propped open just enough to let out the steam. Fried fresh whether you were eating in or grabbing takeout. And the pizza? Still one of the best I’ve ever had.

Iowa’s pizza scene is no joke — really. I’ve got 20+ favorites. We’ve got New York slices, Chicago deep dish, Detroit squares, tavern-style, Des Moines-style, coal-fired pies, New Haven crusts — even my own coal oven pizza at Centro. I love it all.

But my forever favorite?

La Pizza House.

It was its own thing — a style you couldn’t quite compare to anything else. Sausage heavy on the fennel, sauce and meat first, cheese on top, then a second hit of sauce spooned over everything. The crust was something special too — chewy, flavorful, more like the bread I’ve had in Rome or the French countryside than typical American pies. That mid-century bread recipe magic — you don’t forget it.

The spirit of La Pizza House still lives on at @Abbie’s, over at 210 Lincoln St. NE in Bondurant. The onion rings are a little thinner now, not quite that same neon orange — but still made from the original recipe. And the pizza? Almost identical. Still one of my top picks.

After a surgery a while back, I was on a restricted diet, and a friend offered to bring me Abbie’s. I turned it down — and I still regret it. We now refer to that day around here as “the time I said no to Abbie’s pizza.”

It won’t happen again.

With the recent passing of Albert “Abbie” Polito, he’s now up there with Russ Reel — hopefully in a pizza-filled heaven. One where the air smells like roasted fennel sausage, the onion rings are always crisp, and that crust? Always perfect.

Russ and Abbie are gone, but the feeling they created — that joy, that flavor, that place — it’s still here. I’ll never forget the sight of that old sign on SE 14th Street. It felt like coming home every time I saw it:

“Russ & Abbie’s La Pizza House.”

Some places just stay with you.

This one always will.

— George