Kinsey's Facebook Page (since they don't have a website) and
Urban Spoon (92% positive rating, if you're interested)
Intro We live in Geist (within the City of Lawrence), so Kinsey's is just a short five-minute drive from our house. It's on Broadway in McCordsville, which is basically Pendleton Pike...way east.
I think we once received a direct mailer (with some sort of coupon) promoting Kinsey's pizza, but the food photography was soooo horrendous, it really turned me off (even though we write a family blog on local/independent pizza places). So I'm either a pizza snob. A marketing snob. Or both.
Turns out, I was in McCordsville scouting for a client and my coworkers and I ended up at Kinsey's for lunch. Each of us had calzones, which were really quite good. Not Puccini's good, but pretty close. So, I told myself (and then my kids) that we should give Kinsey's pizza a try.
Of course, Friday night means the teenage Hollands have many other things going on. Wesley had band practice. Sophia was getting ready for a party. So, it was just me and Ben. Once again.
Atmosphere & Service
The atmosphere is pretty small town, in an older-and-slightly-dilapidated-strip-mall kind of way. But it was Friday night, so it was bustling with families and friends supporting this family-owned business.
Our waitress was very friendly and attentive, and even apologized for the longer-than-usual wait. It's amazing to me how many servers don't recognize the not-so-fine line between average wait time and "what the heck is taking them so long?"
The service and positive vibe (and decent food) more than made up for the time-warped interior.
Pizza (breadsticks)
Kinsey's has breadsticks on its menu, but we opted for the garlic knots instead, which were really quite good. And actually a lot less garlicky than, say, Hot Box breadsticks, which I love. Ben's comment about the knots was they were "thick", which is a decent description. Delish.
The pizza at Kinsey's is NY style. And huuuuuge. As demonstrated below by Benjamin. We ordered half Hawaiian and half cheese. With extra sauce. We should have left off the extra sauce because it made it super sloppy and we had a hard time eating it, even when "folding the pizza like Homer" (inside family joke). I had to use a fork. Ben just made a mess. The sauce was sweet and the crust (on the crust that wasn't doused in sauce) was pretty non-descript. Not overly flavorful.
The beer list, always an important consideration, was small. I ordered a Stella, which they were out of. And ended up with Sam Adams in a bottle. An agreeable alternative, in my book.
So, will we go back? Probably not. Puccini's is still our default favorite. And only four minutes away. Should you give it a try? If you're in the area... most definitely. It's good to know there's an above average, locally owned restaurant serving McCordsville and strongly supported by the locals.
Verbatims from Benjamin:
RE the pizza: Whoa! Crust is so thin, it's like spaghetti noodles. Messy!
Rating (out of 8 possible slices, with 4 being average)
Dad: 5.5
Benjamin: 5.0 (the crust was thin and "flopping around")
Nice review, Brice! I drive by that place all the time on the way up to see my wife's parents in Anderson and wondered if it was any good. The pizza sounds great. I think that place was a mom and pop diner called The Wagon Wheel up until a couple years ago.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jason. You should give it a try if you're driving by at lunch/dinner time. And I believe you're right about the Wagon Wheel... I had always wanted to try that place, but never got out there before it changed hands.
ReplyDeleteOh, and if you ever want to be a guest blogger, I'd be happy to add your review to the site. :)
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