Remembering Bombfire Pizza

The tiny town of Sabula is Iowa's only island municipality; it's located in - not on - the Mississippi River just southwest of Savanna, IL. And for awhile in the twenty-aughts and twenty-teens it was home to one of the quirkiest, funkiest pizzerias in the country: Bombfire Pizza. I was fortunate enough to visit it in January, 2013, just a year before owner Tom Holman passed away.

At the time I'd been aware of Bombfire for awhile but hadn't come up with a way to visit. Fortunately, a longtime friend in Des Moines has a birthday party every January and that year my wife and I were able to attend, which gave me the opening that I needed.

Like countless other small River towns, Sabula got an early start before starting a long, slow slide into semi-obscurity. Bombfire was housed in a brick building very typical of the 1800s.

What's so funny 'bout peace, love and pizza?

The menus were pasted inside old album sleeves. This one wasn't my cup of tea; if I'm Singing Along With Mitch it's Ryder and the Detroit Wheels: "Jenny Jenny Jenny, won'tcha come along with me, WOO! Jenny Jenny! WOO! Jenny Jenny!"

It's been over 12 years so I can't recall specific details about the pizza other than the fact that it was as good as I was led to believe. No disappointment here, and bonus points for the tavern cut!

But there are lots of places that make good pizza. What set Bombfire apart was...well, see for yourself:

Bombfire was something else, and in an entirely good way. I'm glad I got the chance to visit.

After lunch we headed out of town toward Illinois on US-52. It was a beautifully sunny winter day - a "Kodachrome Day", as I like to say - so I stopped to grab a shot of Big Muddy. Or was it Big Icy?

Brrrrr!

Sadly, the Pratt truss bridge and steel deck on 52 were replaced by a modern arch bridge a few years ago.