When Great Plains Sauce & Dough Company, 129 Main St., first opened its doors in May 1979, only two kinds of crust styles were offered – thin white and thick wheat. Now, after more than a million pounds of cheese and years to fiddle with dough recipes, owners Gordie Meyer and Al Warren have come up with some mouthwatering recipes – and a loyal following.

Meyer and Warren never planned on owning a pizzeria. They wanted to open their own bar and deli. But when Sam Pagliai of Pagliai’s Pizza was ready to sell his eatery on Main Street, Meyer and Warren took a chance. Since the restaurant already had everything needed for a pizza place, Meyer and Warren went into the pizza-making business with no prior experience.

Meyer and Warren were in their mid-20s when they opened Great Plains, and are still going strong. It took them some time to learn about the business, but Meyer said Pagliai was a huge help.

Great Plains pizza has been available at other locations in the past. Meyer and Warren opened one in Cedar Falls, but it only lasted about a year. Later, they had one open in Campustown for four years.

“We only did good business eight months out of the year,” Meyer said.

During the summer months, students weren’t around to bring in business. Meyer said they didn’t lose any money, but they just broke even. They closed up shop and decided to just focus on the Main Street location.

Great Plains uses hearthstone ovens set at 550 degrees, which quickly crisp the bottom of the crust. Meyer and Warren were challenged to come up with a dough recipe that would work for their ovens.

“Once you get used to working with recipes, it’s easy to tweak them,” Meyer said.

In addition to the famous crusts, Great Plains is also known for the generous amount of cheese used in its pizzas. More than 1,200 pounds of cheese are delivered to Great Plains each week. Meyer said on a fairly busy week, the restaurant can easily go through 1,600 to 1,800 pounds of cheese.

Great Plains isn’t all about pizza, however. It also offers customers sandwiches, soups, salads, desserts and beverages.

The restaurant has recently been going through some remodeling – the only major renovations that have ever been done to the establishment. A balcony has been added that will allow space for 20 new seats. The renovations began in January, and Meyer said they hope to have everything completed by the middle of April. Although they are adding more seating, they won’t be able to produce more food to match, he said.

“We are already running the capacity of our ovens,” Meyer said.

Since each pizza is made fresh and the dough rolled to order, Great Plains takes a little more time to make pizza than chain restaurants.

Great Plains has another factor working against it: The restaurant doesn’t have as much money for marketing as chain operations have. The products they serve have to be the primary marketing tools.

“Our products have to convince people,” Meyer said.

And they do just that. Meyer said they have customers coming in to eat who first came in when they first opened 28 years ago.

The restaurant has also inspired dedication in its employees. Once, when a former employee had a craving for the Great Plains’ famous dish, the restaurant shipped a pizza to her – in Oregon.

Great Plains employee Anna Duple likes her job because there is a laid-back atmosphere, but said everyone works hard to make it a great place.

“The owners care about our customers,” she said. “The rest of the staff tries to carry that on.”

Duple said they get a lot of regular customers and enjoy having so many return on a regular basis. She feels Great Plains is more personal with customers than other restaurants are.

Emily May, senior in Spanish, said she prefers Great Plains over other pizza restaurants.

“It’s not cheap, greasy pizza,” May said, “One piece fills you up.”