Pearl Street Pizzeria & Pub | 65 E. Pearl Street, Downtown Indy | Visited: Friday, April 5, 2013

pearlstreetpizzeria.com

Intro

If you'll recall from an earlier post, we tried to go to Pearl Street Pizzeria & Pub before the Pacers home opener, but it was too crowded and we didn't want to miss tip-off. So, when Bruce White offered me tickets to the Pacers/OKC game (thanks, Bruce!), I thought we'd try our luck again and make our way down to Pearl Street (which is really more of an alley).

Located off of Penn, across from Scotty's, and just a long (Jordan/Bird/McDonald's Commercial/Game of HORSE) jump shot from the Fieldhouse, Pearl Street is someplace I may have never discovered had Bruce not brought it to my attention. But it seems to have enough awareness (from those that live/work downtown plus in-the-know sports fans) to do a brisk business.

As always, and not as often as I should, I try to eat, shop and buy local, and I will go back again based on this fact alone (oh, and the fact that their on-draft list was rock solid).


Atmosphere & Service  

We timed things perfectly, and found an open table, despite the fact that the place was bustling with gold-and-blue-clad patrons. They were even nice enough to seat/serve a few punks with DURANT emblazoned across their backs.

The atmosphere was pleasant, nice bar, with exposed brick and great downtown vibe. It's definitely a "locally-owned...cozy...back-alley restaurant" (their own words from their own website).

Pizza (breadsticks)

As I've said before in this blog, it's not always easy to compare pizza to pizza, especially with so many different styles and toppings (not to mention other factors that come into play). I've considered giving different ratings for different areas (pizza, sticks, beer selection, etc.), but that's complicating things and this is just supposed to be fun. So, I'm going to keep the rating system the same. For now.


Speaking of different factors coming into play, neither Ben nor I were especially hungry when we got there, which certainly has an effect on how "good" the food tastes. We did order breadsticks and pizza (plus two beers/root beers each), even though it was just the two of us. There were plenty of leftovers.

Although Pearl Street's "breadsticks" are called "breadsticks", I would say they're more like cheesy bread in stick form. A good, tasty appetizer for sure, but I wouldn't place them in the traditional bread stick category.

As for the pizza, we ordered half BBQ Chicken (because we liked it so much at Arni's) and half Hawaiian. Ben wanted the deep dish, and I think I've come to realize (as I've said before) I'm not a big fan of deep dish or pan pizza, which is another factor that obviously affects the taste (and therefore the rating).

Both topping combos came with cilantro, which added an interesting and distinctive flavor. Cilantro seems to make more sense on the BBQ half, but I'll have to give them credit for mixing things up a bit with their recipe. The crust was decent but, again, thick crust isn't my favorite. Overall, it was a good, filling, tasty pie. If I were more hungry, it certainly would have hit the spot even more. I will definitely be back (if only for a beer or three) sometime in the future.

(I asked the waitress why the beers were $5.04 on our bill, and she didn't have an answer. To her credit, she said she would ask her manager, but we needed to get to the game. Just found it kind of curious.)

Verbatims from Benjamin: 

RE the breadsticks: They taste like mini pieces of pizza.

RE the pizza: Spicy. Very filling. 

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

Dad: 6.0 (the BBQ Chicken Pizza was good, but not "better" than Arni's. But I'm giving Pearl Street the same rating for the combination of all factors.)

Benjamin: 7