A “Redhawk” pizza, loaded with meat, is served hot at Traer Pizza Palace in Traer, Iowa, December 27, 2022. The restaurant’s last day was August 9, 2025. PHOTO BY AUTHOR

The knight has seen better days.

I wouldn’t doubt the full-size suit of armor was at the entrance when Traer Pizza Palace opened under that name. After all, there was a theme to be had, and the building lacks turrets or a moat. Somewhere along the line, perhaps during the few years’ branding as Traer Pizza Team, its sword disappeared.

I don’t know for sure, though, because for me, the knight was always there and Pizza Palace was always there. It’s where I had my eighth birthday party; the back room had an arcade then. It’s where my family went on so many Friday nights before football games, and during the rest of the year for that matter.

Now, it won’t be.

In a Facebook post, the owners announced the final day would be Aug. 9, the Saturday of Winding Stairs Festival.

Signs of trouble had been around a while. A “Help wanted” sign has been in the window so long, Google Street View cameras caught it multiple times. Carryout-only days became common, then the norm. It closed on Sundays and Mondays. It closed when the owners went on vacation.

The owners are retiring, and the odds of someone else picking up the mantle are long. It’s really, really hard to run a restaurant, especially independently, especially especially in a small town. Dysart just lost its pizza restaurant, too.

It’s not just the deep-dish pizza we’re losing. It’s so much more than that. It’s the loss of a place where kids can have birthday parties, and where families who have relatives from out of town can go for supper, and where school sports boosters can get a deal because the business was included in a promotion.

Pizza Palace’s closure will be felt at North Tama sporting events. The closest pizza will be from Casey’s in Dysart, about 12 minutes away in good conditions. (Traer Golf & Country Club said on Facebook it has frozen pizzas.)

Occasionally, Traer was a two-pizza-outlet town — there was Paul Revere’s Pizza delivery/carryout in the early 1990s, and Gas-N-Grub later on had pizza and sub sandwiches — but not zero.

The decline in Traer’s dining scene over the past 30 years is staggering. That time frame started with the longtime Vesely’s Drive-In closing after a few years under a different name and ownership. The Ole Depot Supper Club is now merely an old depot. A Maid-Rite closed within years of opening, and an ice cream parlor two decades-plus later was even shorter-lived. A tiny diner on the south end of town, which operated under many names over many years, is not just closed but demolished. The same goes for Silver Streak Lanes bowling alley and attached restaurant.

Gas-N-Grub isn’t even a gas station anymore; the south-side property is owned by an HVAC company. At Traer Short Stop, one of two remaining gas stations, the kitchen is out of commission right now. At the other gas station, personal pizzas and hot dogs are only served until late afternoon.

The Junkyard Bar downtown sells food. The grocery store sells takeout hot meals at midday on weekdays, and it’s nearly as hard to hold on to a grocery store as it is a restaurant. Just ask the people over in Dysart. Otherwise, Traer’s last restaurant is La Terraza Mexican Grill & Seafood. Its owners also have locations in Tama, Toledo, and Cedar Rapids.

The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out two of Tama County’s most venerated eating establishments, the King Tower Cafe on the east side of Tama and the Big T Maid-Riteat the corner of U.S. Highway 63 and Business U.S. 30 in Toledo. Pinning down a list of remaining eateries in the county that have been around for more than 30 years, excluding “bars that serve food” and “gas stations that serve food,” is difficult.

The most famous is Rube’s Steakhouse in Montour, established in 1973. The most promoted might be the offerings inside Meskwaki Bingo-Casino-Hotel, which now include a Starbucks. The Hardee’s in Toledo dates back decades and next door to it is Mike’s Pizza.

In terms of more recent openings, there’s a Subway franchise in Toledo, which with the Hardee’s and delivery/carry-out-only Pizza Hut comprise the county’s entirety of chain restaurants. Spanky’s Restaurant and Catering serves breakfast and lunch at Tama Livestock Auction, but it came at the cost of the location in Gladbrook.

Traer is currently the sixth-largest town in Iowa without a Casey’s, and very soon it will be the fifth-largest. I didn’t mind not having one due to the impact it would have had on Pizza Palace, but now the door’s wide open.

Otherwise, it’s going to be a very dark night for pizza in Traer.

Jeff Morrison is the writer behind the website “Iowa Highway Ends.” He grew up in Traer and now lives in Cedar Rapids. A version of this column was originally published in the Between Two Rivers newsletter on Substack, betweentworivers.substack.com. It is republished here through the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please consider subscribing to the collaborative at iowawriters.substack.com and the authors’ blogs to support their work.