The Great Plains Sauce & Dough Co.

Ames, United States

4.3

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 515-232-4263
Website:
greatplainspizza.com
Address:
129 Main St, Ames, IA, 50010
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
1.4 miCyRide
2.3 miBrown North Stop
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating
No
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
No
Caters
No

Today

Today 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
4:30 pm – 12:00 am
Closed now
Local time (Ames) 14:42 Thursday, 12 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
4:30 pm – 12:00 am
Tuesday 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
4:30 pm – 12:00 am
Wednesday 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
4:30 pm – 12:00 am
Thursday 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
4:30 pm – 12:00 am
Friday 11:00 am – 12:00 am
Saturday 11:00 am – 12:00 am
Sunday 11:00 am – 11:00 pm

Description

History

Established in 1979.

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20 reviews of The Great Plains Sauce & Dough Co.

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Place rating: 5
Coralville, IA
Great pizza with an immense amount of cheese! Who doesn’t love cheese? Vegans… who apparently also enjoy the pies here! Well worth checking out if you’s around!
Place rating: 5
Havertown, PA
the yeasty smell of their dough as soon as you walk in tells you this place has great dough. I moved form Ames 16 years ago and every few years when i find myself back there i make a point of stopping in again for lunch or dinner. Always get the thick wheat crust and squirt some honey on it after eating the slice all gone.
Place rating: 5
Tempe, AZ
Went Back to Iowa to visit family. Had to go here and get a pie! Amazing. Whole wheat thick crust pepperoni and the crust covered with honey. Should be 10 star, The first time ever when he was 35 years ago and I have been hooked !!
Place rating: 5
Jersey City, NJ
My brother had raved about this place so when we came to visit him, of course this was our first stop. The pizza was fantastic! I’m not a fan of thick crust pizza but I am a huge fan of their thick crusts, especially the Denver. Probably the only thick crust I’ll eat ever. The pizza was so delicious we ate there three times during our one week visit at Ames! Unfortunate that this kind of pizza is not available near my hometown… but that means we’ll be stopping by every time we visit Ames! Great pizza, great seating!
Place rating: 5
Fort Worth, TX
I’m a HUGE pizza fan and I can say that this is one of the best pies I’ve had. This place can compete with any deep dish pizza joint in Chicago! Eat honey with the crust and you’re in for a pleasant surprise.
Place rating: 1
Omaha, NE
Ridiculous!
Avoid this place like the bubonic plague!
Service? Slow!!! Rude!
Pizza? Mediocre at best
Price? For the quality? Terrible!
60+ min for a pizza??? Really???
Won’t be back!
Place rating: 5
Ames, IA
If you like cheese, you’ll like Great Plains Pizza. Pizza by-​the-​slice for lunch is as delicious and convenient as it gets. house-​made pork sausage, YES PLEASE! It’s the only topping that doesn’t get lost in the pounds of mozzarella.
Longtime local business, keeping Ames small in the ways that matter.
Place rating: 4
Manhattan, NY
Lots of good crust options and you get a TON of pizza (no one in my party of 3 was able to finish more than 2⁄3 of the small pizza we each ordered). And, apparently you should drizzle honey on the crust?
Place rating: 5
Omaha, NE
This is and always has been some of my favorite pizza in the world. The sausage and cheese is just the beginning of the greatness. The dough is always amazing and unlike anything I have had. As you will see, everyone puts honey on the crust because it is like a dinner roll.
Every time I am in Ames, GPSD is on my list.
Place rating: 4
Ames, IA
I haven’t been inside the restaurant, but I’ve had a co-​worker order it for delivery. It was by far the most different type of pizza I’d ever had. Delicious, yes. The honey on the crust? Far out and like nothing I’d ever experienced but I went with it. Definitely for a different type of palate, but it’s tasty. I’m still sticking with Jeff’s Pizza personally, but if someone else is buying I’ll take a slice!
Place rating: 3
West Des Moines, IA
Little too much for me for pizza. I am a thin crust person, I had their heavy crust pizza. TOOOOO heavy for me. I wasn’t fond of the concept of eating crust with Honey.
Place rating: 5
Knoxville, IA
I hear the commercial for Great Plains Sauce and Dough on the radio all the time, so I figured I would check it out for lunch while in Ames.
It’s seat yourself and you go to the counter to place your order. They don’t have a wait staff, just bus service. So if you need something you have to get it which is OK. The staff at the counter are very friendly and helpful, it can be hard to decide if there is a line and you feel rushed. You can also kind of watch them make your pie.
We decided to try two different pies:
The taco was on a white thin crust that the staff recommended, an excellent choice. The crust was a perfect crisp thin crust with plenty of toppings. The perfect taco pizza.
The second pizza was the Prairie special which was on a wheat thick crust. This was also a great pizza and the crust is perfect for dipping in the honey. The pizza had plenty of toppings, we switched the sausage to ground beef. Excellent.
The oatmeal monster cookie was amazing if you have any room left.
They also serve draft beer by the pitcher which is a perfect side with a pizza pie.
Great place for lunch!
Place rating: 5
Des Moines, IA
Stopped by Great Plains S&D after a muddy mountain bike race for the Iowa Games. I hadn’t been to GPSD in several years — maybe ten? I recalled the honey bottles to drizzle on the thick, hearty crust. Well I wasn’t disappointed. It was better than I remember! They are known for their «Denver» style thick, wheat crust. It’s very filling and even after a bike race I could only down two slices from a large (hey leftovers never hurt). I don’t want to know how many calories are in a slice but I don’t care. Loads of cheese and adequate toppings. Don’t forget the honey for the crust — it’s a nice sweet touch after tearing through all that cheese. Beware the pizzas come out hot and that blanket of cheese traps the steam quite efficiently. It’s easy to burn your mouth and ruin an otherwise pleasant meal. The staff was very nice in my experience. The guy asked why I was all muddy and in bike clothes. He even asked if the pizza was good later. Very nice guy! They were attentive to my refills and request for a to-​go box. Place was pretty quiet on a Sunday lunch so the wait for the pizza wasn’t bad. If you’re in Ames and looking for a different kind of pizza head to Great Plains! I plan to try the potato crust the next time I’m up there. I couldn’t pass up this treat while I was in Ames and I’m glad I didn’t.
Place rating: 5
Ankeny, IA
Probably the best pizza in the state of Iowa. Go in there hungry and get any of the thick crusts. They put enough cheese on there for 2 pizzas. Love the honey as a dipping for the crusts. The atmosphere is a classic small town pizza joint that is great. A great stop for anyone going to Iowa State or just visiting thru downtown Ames! Great lunch special also
Place rating: 2
La Grange, IL
Everyone who says this place is good has obviously never had real pizza! Please believe that.
Heard about GPSD and wanted to see what the hype was about. Overall it was «eh» but I am also a hard pizza pleaser because of my Chicago roots.
You order upfront and pay before you even see your food (which I’m not a fan of). Then, when your number is called you retrieve your pizza (s). When I went up to the counter to refill my drink, I was ignored by 4 other employees and had to wait until the counter girl was off the phone.
There’s a couple different crust choices. We went with one «Denver» crust style and one «sam’s» crust which is thin white crust. The Denver crust is thick wheat and it’s also dense and gritty. I heard that GPSD’s thing is that you dip the crust in honey. This strange tradition does not make their disgusting crust taste any better. The honey is of poor quality and the dough does not compliment the pizza itself, let alone cheap honey.
The sauce was tastey, but nothing special.
The tomatoes I got on my pizza were from a can. They also don’t have many topping choices.
I am giving this mediocre pizza joint 2 stars solely based on the concept and because of how clean their kitchen was kept. Also, the employees keep up with cleaning the dining room.
I left the restaurant unsatisfied and angry at myself for dropping $ 30 on 2 crappy 10″ pizzas. Will not be going back ever. It’s just not worth it.
Place rating: 5
Des Moines, IA
I think Great Plains Sauce and Dough Co. helped me go Vegan. WHY cause I had one to many 11:30pm late night large Denver Crust Great Plains Pizza’s with about a pound of cheese on each Pizza, I probably reached my quota of Cheese in life!
I got to say Great Plains is my second favorite pizza I have had in my life!
I Love the crust, I used to love how much cheese was on it, I loved the taste of honey on every slice! It was like an awakening to what PIZZA could be! When I moved to Ames in 1999 this was a place I had to come at least once a month for pizza!
Even when I became Vegan in 2005 and I would order my 4 veggie pizza with no cheese it was still better than any pie around, just because that whole wheat crust is incredible!
They have potato and regular flour crust as well.
They do slices at lunch, and now have an upper deck seating. The line is sometimes out the door for slices and good luck getting a seat on a Saturday during football season! But there is a reason for all of this! The pizza is out of this world and I dare you to eat an entire large, I have done it before and it’s a Man Vs Food test to the max! It’s hard to stop when it taste that good!
Some times the service puts you off a bit, but I can handle a cranky hippie college kid when they are feeding me something this good!
Place rating: 4
Urbandale, IA
This is a great locally owned and operated pizzeria. The service is always great, I doubt the owners would tolerate anything less from their employees. Great Plains has very unique crust for their piazzas, the most popular is which is the Denver (a thick wheat crust), which must people I know dip the crust in honey and eat it. Other options include think wheat crusts, potato crust, and your standard white crust. The restaurant is small and has a rustic décor, but there is an upstairs to make a bunch of available seating. Great Plains is definitely one of Ames most notable establishments. During the lunch hour they do piazza by the slice.
Place rating: 5
Ridgewood, NJ
It’s where to go in Ames!
Great spot for grabbing a slice of pizza. Also a nice place to meet a friend for lunch.
It is very unique. Be sure to have someone help you with putting honey on your crust if it’s your first time there!
Be sure to get a cookie or two– the oatmeal and the chocolate chips are amazing!
Place rating: 2
Ames, IA
I really don’t understand the love for this place. In fact, I am only giving it 2 stars because there is lots of seating and the service is nice. The pizza is just bad. Very bad.
I don’t want to sound snobbish, but here goes: I grew up in New Jersey and New York and I know good pizza. This is not good pizza. Heck, it’s not even really pizza. The pizza here is like 3 different ingredients that happen to coincide, but not complement each other, in one dish: sauce, crust, cheese. Layering these three things does not make pizza, my friends. First, the crust is hard as a rock and tasteless. The sauce is like tomato paste out of a can, and the cheese layer is thick, dense and overwhelming. Who puts cheddar on a pizza? Blasphemy!
The bottles of honey on the tables should serve as fair warning. What’s the honey for, you ask? For dipping your pizza crust. I know, I know. I’m shaking my head, too.
If what I’ve written actually sounds appealing, then maybe this is your thing, but I just can’t even. Can’t even!
Great Plains claims they serve «Denver-​style» pizza, but there’s a reason why that style has not taken off in the rest of the country the way NY and Chicago style have.
Place rating: 5
Austin, TX
I may not be objective about this pizza, since I decided from a young age that this is my favorite pizza in the world.
We ordered an Italian sausage on thick wheat (Denver) crust. Especially on the thick crust pizza, never order extra cheese at Great Plains. The thick red sauce is covered with a thick layer of dense cheese. The crust is delicious and yeasty and makes a great dessert when you drizzle honey over your leftover crusts.
Just a tip for those who like crisp pepperoni like I do. You might want to choose another toping when ordering a thick-​crust pizza at Great Plains. While I’m usually a fan of pepperoni, I like my pepperoni crisp as it comes out from a super hot oven on a thin crust. Since thicker pizzas require cooking at a lower temperature in order to cook all the way through without burning, and Great Plains puts on so much cheese, peperoni gets cooked buried in the cheese.