Noble Roman's Take-n-Bake P'za | 11725 Fox Road | Visited: Thursday, April 24, 2014

nobleromans.com

Intro

I have fond, delicious memories of Noble Roman's Pizza. 

Growing up on the northeast side of Indy, it was THE go-to pizza place. Old-school cartoons and black-and-white Three Stooges episodes on the projection TV. The giant window into the kitchen with a kid-friendly platform that allowed to you watch your pizza being made. Thick-crust pizza with giant dollops of tangy sauce. And, by far, the best breadsticks on the planet.

From an advertising standpoint, they pushed their pies (and burned their brand into my young, impressionable consumer mind) with a creepy-yet-lovable monster with tomatoes for eyeballs. (I tried finding some of the old TV spots, to no avail.)

Several years later, as a freshman at Indiana University, I would swing by the Noble Roman's on Kirkwood and wolf down two orders of breadsticks and a Coke before Finite Math on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Which really helped kick my Freshman 15 (and then some) into high gear.

As time went by, the Noble Roman's product (and, by default, the Noble Roman's brand) deteriorated. They started adding more QSR concepts in gas stations and C-stores—while their traditional locations kept getting worse and worse. The NR on 96th street (somehow) managed to remain open during its slow, downward spiral (though the sticks were still good). I often compared it to a rest area bathroom with free drink refills. It was that bad. The restaurant (and even the employees) were a disheveled mess. Not surprisingly, that location finally closed after a long, lingering battle with operational deficiency syndrome. 

Atmosphere & Service

Back to the present. 

Driving to and fro (fill in some destination in my busy driving-kids-around schedule), I noticed the NR P'za had opened its doors near our house, in the space formerly occupied by another brand that met its demise—Blockbuster Video. 

The exterior signage (above) is bold, graphic with a modern flair. The look is far removed from its traditional-looking predecessor, but that's okay. Makeovers, if done right, can help polish a tarnished brand. But the product/service needs to walk the talk as well.

I don't know if it's the franchisee's fault, but it seems like the interior would have been a lot better had they spend another $5,000 to $10,000 on their build out. Just sayin'. It seemed unfinished and not very well thought-out.  

So, with this whole take-and-bake thing, you're supposed to take the food and then bake it. 
We walked in and were greeting by a very friendly and helpful teenager. He explained the concept, wrote down our order, and handed the ticket to the folks behind the counter to make our "fresh" pizza.  

So far, so good. 

Grocery stores have employed the "put crap near the cash register so you make an impulse buy" for years. 
So maybe that's why NR has a six-foot shelf dedicated to pizza-related items, featuring everything from pizza-slice-shaped baggies to industrial-sized cans of cheese sauce to laser-guided pizza slicers. Tackiness and brand schizophrenia its best. 

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Honestly, I don't really 'get' the Take-n-Bake concept. I think I've purchased Papa Murphy's only once or twice in my lifetime. It makes no sense to me. It's not convenient to cook it myself and there's not really any big cost savings. And it doesn't taste any better than many other options out there. Someone, please, explain it to me. Thank you.]

Pizza (breadsticks)  

The breadsticks? I did detect a very slight vestige of deliciousness of days gone by, but cooking it in my own oven didn't come close to capturing the same flavor and texture. Crispy on the outside, sort of blah on the inside. #EpicDisappointment #SoNotWorthTheCarbs  

The pizza? Sadly, it didn't produce the synesthetic flashback I was hoping for, either. We didn't go with the classic deep-dish, but the hand-tossed was just a sad excuse for a pizza. The Hollands went with half cheese, half pepperoni, and it was just uninspiring. The rectangle pizza they served back in the day at Mary Castle Elementary (with the obligatory side of canned corn) had better flavor. I'm sure if you piled this pizza with toppings it'd be less offensive, but the crust, sauce and cheese were bottom notch. 

Verbatims:

Sophia: Okay...for frozen pizza. Good dipping cheese.

Ben: Not enough sauce on the pizza. The breadsticks taste like pretzels at a baseball game.   

Brice: Price was fairly cheap. So was the flavor. Never again. 

Rating (out of 8 possible slices)

Dad: 2.5 (tied for worst so far)

Benjamin: 4.5

Sophia: 4.0