Maria's Homemade Italian Pizza | Fountain Square | Visited: Friday, September 13, 2013

mariasoriginalpizza.com

Intro 

Apparently, I'd make a pretty lousy reporter. While I have deadlines every day in my business, it's been more than a month between our visit and this post. My apologies to Mr. Ernie Pyle and the I.U. School of Journalism (where I took several of my advertising classes, even though I was a Telecomm major).

So, not so hot-off-the-presses... 

Their sign says they've been around since 1955. And, according to their website, "...our homemade pizza has been a legend on the south side of Indianapolis. We're pleased to announce our new location in the heart of Fountain Square."

After fifteen seconds of journalistic research, I learned that this south side legend used to be called Antonia & Maria's Old World Pizzeria (after originally being called Maria's), located on Shelby Street near Garfield Park.

Not exactly sure when they made their move to Fountain Square, but it's one of the most understated storefronts you'll find (or not find). I've literally walked by this place a dozen times and it never really caught my eye.

Either I need to pay closer attention or they need to something to undo their incognito.
 
Atmosphere & Service

The service was mediocre and slow. And the atmosphere? There are so many amazing buildings and spaces in Fountain Square. For some reason, this isn't one of them. The interior isn't very welcoming. It's a hodgepodge of ugly vinyl tablecloths and forced decorations. There is a central area set up for guests to play games such as chess, with a nice fireplace as its centerpiece. But the space is just not laid out or designed with any sense of anything—in my humble yet opinionated opinion. It wouldn't take much to make this space so much more cozy, inviting and worthy of a repeat (and regular) visit. 

Pizza (breadsticks) 

Hmmm. The sticks. The sad, sad little sticks. Not the worst I've ever had, but not really even worth ordering. 

The pizza was a disappointing dichotomy, which is often the case with pizza places. They did have some interesting menu items. And, after the fact, I learned that they have a sauerkraut pizza, which has received some culinary kudos in various online reviews. We went with half buffalo chicken ("A buffalo sauce base, red onion, chicken, ground sausage and ranch or blue cheese dressing") and half cheese. The BC pizza was quite good, but the cheese pizza was a sad excuse even for something found in your grocer's freezer.

We were in a hurry (heading to the LC game at the dome) and there really wasn't a lot of good things to say, so this review is sans kids' verabatims.

Here's how we ranked the joint. I really hate to give independent places like this bad reviews. Maybe I'll go back and try the sauerkraut pie the next time I'm out in FS. Or maybe not.

Rating (out of 8 possible slices)

Dad: 4.0

Benjamin: 5.0

Sophia: 5.0

Wesley: 5.0