The Happy Joe's location on Gilbert Street in Iowa City, Iowa was destroyed by a tornado on April 13, 2006, part of the Easter Week 2006 Tornado Outbreak Sequence. A follow-up restaurant in Coralville was lost to floods in 2008, but it was rebuilt and continued to operate. In the mid-2010s, the chain debuted a new concept alongside the traditional restaurants called Happy Joe's Pizza Grille where you can get traditional American fare such as Rubens alongside their signature pizza and Joegurt. They also feature a small buffet featuring their pizzas as well. The chain also had a presence in Arizona with two since closed stores, however, a return to Arizona is in the works with plans to open more restaurants in the state in the future. On October 29, 2019, Happy Joe Whitty died at the age of 82 at the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice Center. In 2022, the chain has plans to expand their operations to the Middle East and North Africa. They have plans to open at least 25 new restaurants across Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. over the course of 10 years. The first locations the chain plans to openen in Cairo, Egypt, where they had one previously. In addition to the aforementioned stores, they also have two restaurants in Florida, their first in the Southern United States. They also have stores planned for Branson (their first store outside of the St. Louis Metro), an additional store in the St. Louis metro, and an as of yet determined location in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Cities floated for the proposed location include Grand Prairie, Cedar Hill, and Arlington, with plans to open in one of those cities before the end of 2023. This represents a milestone for the company as it will be their first minority-owned franchise in addition to being the first one in Texas. See also List of pizza chains of the United States Quad City-style pizza References External links 1972 establishments in Iowa Bettendorf, Iowa Buffet restaurants Companies based in the Quad Cities Companies based in Iowa Economy of the Midwestern United States Ice cream parlors in the United States Pizza chains of the United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1972 Restaurants in Iowa Iowa culture American companies established in 1972 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2022