Greek's Pizzeria | Fishers, Indiana | August 31, 2012

greekspizzeria.com

Intro 

It's the Friday before Labor Day and my office let out a little early, which means I was able to pick up the kids earlier than usual, which means Wesley decided to grace us with his ginger presence for an early dinner (Sophia was off to the mall with a friend).

I've tried Greek's twice before. Once I met a friend for dinner at the Fishers location (strong first impression) and the other time I had lunch with a couple of coworkers at the newish location in Zionsville. Here's what the one in Fishers looks like...

As I understand it, according to my Ball State buddies, Greek's is a staple at BSU. The wall in their restaurant and their website communicates that Greek's started in 1969. This mini "chain" is comprised of 14 locations, and they are offering up franchise opportunities for a mere $18,500.

This blog is intent on finding local and independently owned pizza joints, and Greek's has certainly grown over the past 40+ years, but it still qualifies as a independent restaurant (as I define it).

So here goes...

Atmosphere

The Fishers location is cozy (small) and tidy. I've lived on the north side of Indy most of my life, but I don't know what was in this location before Greek's. However, it certainly doesn't feel like a chain or a "new" business. It actually feels like it's been a neighborhood pizza parlor for years, which is pretty cool. Ten tables on the inside, and a handful of picnic tables outside. We opted for the humidity-free indoor seating on a warm August evening. Since we got there early, we were able to beat the Friday night/Dinner/Labor-Day-Weekend rush.

Service

Fast. Friendly. Attentive. Of course, it didn't hurt that we were there early and hardly anyone else was in the restaurant.

Pizza (and breadsticks)

Our last post discussed the importance of ordering correctly, so we tried our best not to overstuff ourselves (always a challenge).

As usual, I checked in (and checked the tips) on FourSquare. Breadsticks are a given, and the Greek's breadsticks are, as my friend Kelly Gayer likes to say, double strong. Rather buttery and garlicky, but that's to be expected.

Pizza-wise, the crust was fresh and the cheese tasted, as advertised, to be made from "real milk." The sauce seemed to lean towards the spaghetti sauce flavor, versus the pizza sauce flavor, which I don't like as much.

Our pizza was half cheese and half specialty gourmet chicken wing pizza. According to the description on the menu, it seemed similar to a BBQ chicken pizza (which is what we were going for). Well, that's not really the case. The flavor was okay, but not really the BBQ chicken pizza we were going for. Wesley and I were tying to pinpoint the flavor and it seemed like it had Ranch Dressing or 1,000 island dressing on it (a combination of sweet and creamy). When Benjamin ate the last of piece of pizza at home, he asked if the pizza had mayonnaise on it (nevertheless, Ben said he really liked it). I don't think I'd order the "wings" pizza again, but the cheese half of the pie was quite good (same holds true for other toppings, I'm sure).

Verbatims from Benjamin:

"Very cheesy, so much better than Gramboli's (our first review)."

"Breadsticks are very awesome and very greasy."

(So, Ben, Greek's versus Puccini's??) "Puccini's wins." 

Verbatims from Wesley:

"Breadsticks are 1000X better than Hot Box. It's like eating a wet breadstick."

"The pizza is wonderfully delicious. The crust is greasy. Not the gross kind of greasy, the good kind of greasy... buttery."

"More butter is better. I still prefer Donato's. But Greek's is better than Puccini's. Puccini's doesn't feel fun, it feels healthy... which isn't fun. Greek's feels unhealthy and fun... the way pizza should."

Rating (out of 8 possible slices, with 4 being average)

Since this is only our third blog entry, I'm still trying to figure out the best way to weight and score each restaurant. Is price/value the most important factor? Atmosphere? Breadsticks? Most of my scores are based on the pizza, with the breadsticks playing an influential, vice-presidential role. That being said, I'd give Greek's 6.5 out of 8 slices.

A Note About Future/Past Reviews

Well, based on the varying opinions, I guess I need to go back and have each Holland give her/her personal rating. This will provide a broader pizza perspective, so you (gentle reader) can make your own assessment as it relates to elementary, high-school and 40-year-old-dad taste buds.

APeZZA | Corner of Fall Creek & Brooks School | August 24, 2012

apezzapizza.com 

Intro 

Week two of our pizza exploration project and, once again, Ben and I are the only two up to the challenge. This week: APeZZA, which is located between Scotty's Lakehouse and Mama Bears near the Geist Marina.

I had tried APeZZA on one previous occasion, based on a neighbor's recommendation, but hadn't really made an effort (for whatever reason) to try it again.


Shame on me, really, for not supporting a local restaurant so close to my home. Actually, after our dinner, I decided to do some post-meal research on the joint. Turns out, it's owned by Steve Wechter, who ran one of my all-time favorite burger joints (Famous Jacks), which shuttered operations a few years back. Read more about Steve here, if you're so inclined.

Atmosphere

It was a lovely Friday evening, so Ben and I opted for the patio seating. Of course, they also have seating inside as well. The place has a good vibe overall, some of which was probably spillover from the always-crowed Lakehouse next door.

Service

Start with one small pet peeve. They give you free refills, which is to be expected, but they make you fill up your own cup (even the first time). So we had to tromp from the patio into the restaurant to fill (and refill) our cups. I even asked for an ice water (to chase down my beer) and the waitress handed me an empty cup at my table. Not very customer friendly, in my opinion.

Very nice server, but it did take awhile for our pizza to arrive. But had I done my research beforehand (or had they done a better job of marketing themselves), I would have known that's to be expected. An AtGeist.com article informed me that their motto is "life it too short to eat cheap pizza".

And apparently their menu includes the following message as well:

"We could be like everyone else and get your pizza to you in 20 minutes. But if we did that our pizza would taste like the other guys. And honestly we just wouldn’t feel right about that."

But who reads a pizza menu that closely?

If you ask me (thanks for asking), I would recommend that the servers inquire whether it's a person's first time (often the case at let's-do-things-a-little-differently type restaurants like, say, divvy in Carmel) and explain the deal. They may also consider your classic table tent, which is a great place to communicate your brand message.

Pizza (and breadsticks)

Since this our second review, we're learning some things along the way. We have followed FourSquare recommendations both times, which is a good place to start, but may not want it to drive the entire decision-making process.

The breadsticks? In a word: stellar.

Larger and dough-ier than Hot Box stix (a good barometer for breadstick quality, in my opinion). They were a tad over-buttered, but delicious nonetheless. The cheese and marinara sauces were both top notch.

For the pie, we asked the waitress what the most popular choices were and she said Meat Lovers and the "Unmatched", which comes loaded with pepperoni, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, onions and green peppers. We opted for the latter, which was really too much after splitting an order of breadsticks between the two of us (one adult and one nine year old).

(Since I'm not a food critic, and I'm new to this, I forgot to take a picture of the full "Unmatched" pizza. Here are the messy remnants...no wonder I was so stuffed.) 

Of course, my teenage daughter (who didn't want to come along) texted me during dinner and asked if we had ordered yet (we had), so I got a cheese pizza to go for her. I had a slice of the cheese later  that evening, and it was really, really good.

On both pizzas, the crust was fantastic, a little browned on the edges with a fresh, wonderful flavor. I was trying to be adventurous by ordering the "Unmatched", but should have stuck with something a little less heavy (the green peppers and onions also take you down a very specific flavor path as well).

Verbatims from Benjamin:

"I didn't know it smelled so good because I was eating."

"Spicy (because of the sausage) but splendid." (I was challenging him to use different adjectives.)

"Almost as good as last week."

Rating (out of 8 possible slices, with 4 being average)

The breadsticks were, as I said earlier, stellar. Best in class. The pizza, had we ordered correctly, was outstanding. And the crust was distinctive and delicious. While Ben said he felt Gramboli's just edged out APeZZA, I would give APeZZA a 7 out of 8 slices (tied for first, in my pizza-blogging book). 

I would definitely recommend APeZZA, but be sure to order wisely.

We will be back (as soon as our tour de pies concludes...maybe sooner).

Gramboli's | August 17, 2012

grambolispizza.com

Blog Intro

My family and I have pizza at least once a week, and most Fridays. Our favorite, local, go-to joint is Puccini's Smiling Teeth. I love the fact that their name is odd and strange and their walls are adorned with cool posters done by a local artist. The first Puccini's opened in Indy in 1991. They now have 14 locations in Indiana and Kentucky.

I wanted to create this blog to 1) do something different with my kids, and 2) try some different pizza places around the Circle City. So, while Puccini's is still at the top of our list (for the time being), I'd like to introduce the first installment of Slices of Indy.

Of course, the big kids (Wesley & Sophia) wanted to hang out with friends on Friday night, so our party of four was down to a party of two (Ben and dad).

Gramboli's

When I was a kid, I used to ride my bike up to Shadeland Station, play a few games of Q*bert at Marsh, and then grab some pizza and root beer at Gramboli's Pizza. Honestly, I remember the pizza being really greasy, but really good.

Today, according to The Google, there are only two Gramboli's left in town (not sure how many were around during its heyday)—one at 38th and Mitthoeffer and the other on Pendleton Pike in Lawrence (which is where we went).

Atmosphere

Not the fanciest of places, but that's pretty much par for the course for a pizza place located in a strip mall. Lots of families and kids coming in and out on a Friday night, which is always a good sign.

Service

Our waitress was nice and attentive. No complaints here.

Pizza

We ordered the deep dish (following a tip on Foursquare), half cheese, half pepperoni. And it was okay. Overall flavor was decent, but the crust wasn't anything to write home (or to write on blogger) about.

Verbatims from Benjamin:

"This is really good. Thank you for taking me here."

"The root beer is really good."

"Cheesy and very thick crust."

Rating (out of 8 possible slices, with 4 being average)

Well, since this is our first review, and since the place was nice and the food was decent, I'd have to give it 4 out of 8 slices. For comparison's sake, I would give (our favorite) Puccini's a 7 out of 8.