This is part of our series that celebrates America’s Favorite Neighborhood Restaurants. We asked 80 of the most interesting people we know to reveal the local spots they love the most.

When you grow up in a small town, progress is marked by the arrival of new national chains. But the opening of a new Panera or Chipotle is a fleeting thrill. A deeper source of pride lies in regional restaurant franchises. And none is more beloved in eastern Iowa than Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream. Founded in 1972 by a man named Joe Whitty who was “not unhappy,” the primarily Midwest chain offers a signature Canadian bacon and sauerkraut pie (“Sounds unique, tastes great!” the website says reassuringly) and a BLT pizza that my father loves, which features more Canadian bacon, plus lettuce, tomato, and a mayo drizzle on top.

Happy people at Happy Joe's. Photo by Jennifer Silverberg

But its crown jewel—and best seller—is the Taco Joe pizza. I regularly fantasize about this pizza, which I order whenever I’m home to visit my family. I’ve forced many friends and lovers who grew up outside the Central time zone to try this feat of Midwest culinary innovation, and they invariably hate it—even, improbably, the stoners. But my taste buds developed in symbiosis with taco pizza, so it will always be delicious to me. It is my Proustian madeleine, carrying me back to the ’80s and ’90s in eastern Iowa.

The taco pizza is a textural experience. It’s crispy on the bottom and puffed around the edges, blistered with a thin layer of tomato paste. Above that, refried beans, cheese, and tomato sauce melt together into a gooey sameness. Then there’s seasoned ground beef and sausage (although you can also order it without the meat, which I always do) topped with crunchy lettuce and cubed tomato. And, over everything, a blanket of crispy slightly crushed tortilla chips. These chips are the subject of much local speculation. They might be Doritos “taco” flavor or perhaps a generic “nacho cheese flavored chip.” Online, some have wondered if they are a proprietary item made just for Happy Joe’s, but that theory doesn’t hold up. A regional pizza chain is not manufacturing its own flavored tortilla chips. (Update: The chips are, the chain confirms, "a proprietary item made just for Happy Joe's.")