Iowa pizzeria serves up breakfast pizza with Froot Loops and cheese

Remember when pineapple was one of the most controversial pizza toppings?

Fong’s Pizza, a pizzeria based in Iowa, is now gaining attention for its most recent addition to the breakfast menu: a Froot Loops pizza.

The pizza, which is listed as “Loopy Fruits Pizza” on their menu, consists of a sweet cream cheese sauce base topped with mozzarella and, of course, a layer of Froot Loops along with a drizzle of Greek yogurt and condensed milk.

The pizza, which is now a permanent pie at the Forest Avenue location of Fong’s Pizza, has become a controversial topic on social media. Much like Villa Italian Kitchen’s pumpkin spice pizza in and Rhino’s Pizzeria and Deli’s dill pickle pizza, people are perplexed by the combination of pizza and the sugary breakfast cereal.

After the Des Moines Register shared an article last week about the pizza and tweeted it out, Twitter users have had some interesting reactions to the topping.

“i take back everything i ever said about pineapple on pizza,” one Twitter user wrote, re-tweeting the original article about the pizza. “we must unite to fight this common foe.”

Another user wrote, “I love pizza and I love Froot Loops, but this is just wrong.”

Even DiGiorno got in on the action, writing, “Please do not disrespect the word pizza like this.”

Gwen Page, the co-founder of Fong’s Pizza, told TODAY Food that while the Loopy Fruits Pizza is new to the Forest Avenue location, it originally debuted at their Ankeny location five or six years back. Their first location opened up in downtown Des Moines 12 years ago and became a successful spot for late-night dining. When they expanded to their second location in the suburbs where the late-night business was less common, they decided to expand into breakfast, including breakfast pizzas, to appeal to the suburban community and families.

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“We wanted to provide an option that we thought would be fun for children because of the suburban market,” she said. “But also we love doing things that are just off-the-wall. Like what can we do to give people that truly unique experience? That’s what we strive for at Fong’s.”

Fong’s Pizza is certainly no stranger to having unique, out-of-the-box flavors on their menus. The downtown location moved into a space that was previously a Chinese restaurant. Customers would come still thinking it was the previous restaurant, so instead of turning the business away, Page and her team learned to adapt and innovate creations to provide the best of both worlds. This fusion led to the creation of their popular Crab Rangoon pizza, which was featured on Food Network’s “Best Thing I Ever Ate” as well as their General Tso’s Pizza on “Man v. Food.”

Page sees this pizza as a way to bring a smile to people’s faces. Throughout the pandemic, she has been using her platform to help the Des Moines community, especially healthcare and frontline workers, in an effort to follow her personal motto: spread kindness.

“I guess this — in its funny little quirky way because that’s Fong’s to a T — is a way of spreading kindness,” she said. “You look at this pizza and it’s a rainbow. It should bring a smile to your face, even in the form of, ‘Wow, that’s crazy, I gotta try that’ or ‘Wow, those guys are crazy! I can’t believe they’re doing that.’”

At the end of the day, Page understands that the Loopy Froots pizza isn’t for everyone.

“It’s one of those things where a lot of people are just going to say ‘Absolutely not, no way,’ and then there’s going to be nothing we can do to get those folks to try it,” she said. “I’m pretty impressed with the good portion of folks who are like ‘Oh, let’s go check it out.’ Life is for living. Go have that unique experience!”

The Loopy Froots breakfast pizza might not be their most popular menu item, but as Page says, it gets people talking and wondering what Fong’s Pizza might do next.

“It’s just a reminder to folks to be silly, live life, and have fun, because that’s really what this pizza is all about: having fun,” she explained.

Page’s goal through Fong’s Pizza is to be able to create memorable experiences for all of her guests, adding, “That’s why I’m in business, just connecting with people and making crazy, wacky pizzas!”