Zipp’s Pizzaria shuts doors, will open food trailer soon

Lines and waits for food were long, but to those who love Zipp’s Pizzaria in Adair, they were worth it last week.

Owners Jim and Tammy Zimmerline announced earlier in May that they would be closing their restaurant on the 10th anniversary of when it opened, May 27.

Instead, Zipp’s will soon transition to a food trailer model. Jim will outfit a 28-foot trailer, that is on its way, to make made-to-order pizzas at various locations and community festivals around the region going forward.

Staffing issues and the ability for the Zimmerlines to have a more free schedule were both factors into their decision of closing the restaurant. Right now, they will likely keep ownership of their building so they have a certified kitchen.

Jim likened owning a restaurant to milking cows.

“When you have milk cows, they have to be milked every day at the same time, and it’s like that,” he said. “It was a hard pill to swallow that we were closing, but it’s nice when it’s over. There toward the end it was pretty tough.”

Jim said that up until the pandemic, Zipp’s never had staffing trouble, other than when high school kids couldn’t work due to school activities. Now, Zipp’s has had a mostly adult staff because it has become harder and harder to staff high-schoolers.

People also weren’t applying for jobs that were available. Even on at least one of Zipps’ last nights open, they weren’t at an optimum staffing level.

“People say that you need to pay a living wage, but you have to have the butts coming through the door to apply, and there’s no butts coming through the door to apply,” Jim said. “I get tired of begging people, and I’m not going to beg people.”

In reality, Jim looks back and didn’t think his pizzaria venture would last two years when it opened. He had food service experience from managing the Happy Chef in Adair at a young age. He had business ownership experience from a lawn care business he has run for 31 years.

“People thought that a pizza place wouldn’t succeed. In a town of 800 people, they’re probably right, but it’s totally different than what anything else is,” Jim said. “It proves a point that you can do something and be a draw or destination point by doing something in a small town, making something, not of yourself but of your features and what you’ve got going on. You’ve gotta have those places where people want to go and eat because it’s unique and really good. I got very lucky. It wasn’t all me.”

Perhaps some things that set Zipp’s apart from other pizza places were the dough that was made in advance, not on the day it was used to make a pizza. Zipp’s used provolone cheese, not mozzarella. Vegetables were fresh and were chopped right in the kitchen. Meats were fresh and largely locally sourced. On the menu were over 25 speciality pizzas. Many of them will stay on the menu on the food truck, a few won’t.

In 2016, Zipp’s was voted best pizza by Travel Iowa. In 2018, it was voted third-best pizza in central Iowa by KCCI television. In 2019, 2020 and 2020, it took second-best pizza in central Iowa in the KCCI contest.

“I’m more excited about this food trailer than I was the restaurant. Here’s the deal, I didn’t do this to win a bunch of awards, I did it because I wanted to do it. My wife allowed me to do it, bless her heart,” Jim said. “We got a lot of accolades, but of those accolades, I didn’t expect any of them. I didn’t expect to do what we’ve done or the following. I think the trailer will give me renewed vigor to go out and do this.”