Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel from the road, this time in Indianapolis. —The Mgmt.
[Photographs: Daniel Zemans]
Bazbeaux Pizza
334 Massachusetts Avenue, Indianapolis IN 46204 (map); 317-636-7662; bazbeaux.com Pizza Style: Thin-crust Oven Type: Gas The Skinny: The undisputed king of Indianapolis pizza serves up pies with good toppings and a tasty cheese mixture that are undermined by a thick flavorless crust Price: 12-inch pies start at $9.25
Since I started writing for Slice, I try to make it a point when visiting a new city to find either the best local pizzeria or one with a particularly longstanding local following. Finding the most popular is usually easy, but identifying the one commonly thought of as the best is often a challenge because there are usually so many divergent opinions on the question. That is decidedly not the case in Indianapolis, which I drove through this weekend. In that town, Bazbeaux Pizza stands alone in the hearts and stomachs of the natives.
From its founding in 1986, Bazbeaux was named the city's best pizza by Indianapolis Monthly every year for two decades. That streak came to an end in 2007 when the magazine found a new favorite and chose Dom DiCarlo's as the area's best pie. In 2008, the editors of Indianapolis Monthly did not weigh in on the best pizzeria, but the people voted and they chose Bazbeaux. It’s not just the mainstreamers who are on the Bazbeaux bandwagon: Nuvo, Indianapolis' alternative weekly paper, named Bazbeaux the town's best pizza this year.
Bazbeaux's menu includes a wide variety of specialty pizzas and one of the more interesting arrays of toppings I’ve ever seen, including snow pea pods and black bean dip. I went with the Bazbeaux Special, which comes with fresh basil, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. I made a significant modification in adding sausage, a decision I made both because I almost always try the sausage at every new pizzeria I try and because I thought the pizza would need something else of substance to balance out the sun-dried tomatoes.
The first thing I noticed when I saw the pizza was that it was cut in slices instead of squares. Someday, I hope to learn the origins and development of the square cut. We have it in Chicago and it’s prevalent throughout the Midwest, including Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Omaha and St. Louis, and even extends east to Cincinnati. It apparently exists in Indianapolis: Maria's, which has been serving Indianapolis since 1955 and was under consideration for my Indy pizza pit stop, cuts their pies into squares. But for whatever reason, Bazbeaux opts to buck local tradition and cuts their pies into the internationally better known 8-slice configuration.
Every pizza at Bazbeaux’s is topped with a combination of provolone, mozzarella and Pecorino romano, which results in a nice slightly tangy cheese layer that I really enjoyed. And while the cut of the pizza may have been out of place in the Midwest, the thick layer of the unique cheese combination was very much steeped in local dairy-loving tradition. The sauce had a very light sweetness to it and had small chunks of tomato, which added some nice light bursts of flavor. The application of fresh garlic was great – enough to balance out the rest of the pizza, but not so much as to overwhelm it.
The sausage was a good addition in that it definitely worked to balance out the sun-dried tomatoes, but in the grand scheme of sausage, it was not particularly good. Given that Italian Sausage is listed as a higher priced “exotic topping” on the menu, I was expecting particularly good things out of Bazbeaux’s sausage. And while it looked good – the fennel seeds were readily apparent – it tasted like a slightly above average processed sausage. Still, I appreciated the extra fat and chew the sausage added to the pizza.
Normally, when I have a pizza with good cheese, good sauce and decent to good toppings, I’m one happy little boy. But the crust at Bazbeaux’s was a massive disappointment. Anyone who reads my weekly missives with any regularity knows that I am pretty forgiving with crusts. I’ve had multiple pizzas that I think are delicious despite having decidedly unremarkable crusts that seem to serve little function beyond being edible plates. The problem with Bazbeaux’s crust is not just that it has the texture and flavor of an over-toasted piece of store-bought white bread, it’s that it was so thick. Not close to deep dish thick, but still thicker than a standard thin crust. Baxbeaux’s does offer it’s crust in thick or thin varieties and I did not specify when I orderd. I assume that I got the thicker one, but perhaps a reader more familiar with the three-location chain can fill us all in on that important detail as well as thoughts on other pizzerias worth checking out in Indianapolis.
When I was in Indianapolis in June, I visited Bazbeaux's Carmel location and reviewed it.
I also found the crust (I ordered the thin) to be a major bummer and am convinced it is a pre-made blank delivered to the pizzeria. It was like cottony-blugh tasteless.
I've been told Goodfella's is worth checking out. I'll be back in Indy in the not too distant future and plan on visiting a few more places there.
Oh, now I'm homesick! I worked in Indy for two years but lived in Muncie, so most of my Indiana pizza experiences are Muncie-based (Greeks is my fave). I don't recall noticing the crust at Baz, but I did love the topping variety. We typically ordered from Circle City, which is in Broad Ripple and close to my former office-- good but not necessarily "Serious Eats review" good.
Avoid Pizza King at all costs! It's like a $20 frozen Tombstone pizza.
As an Indy resident and pizza lover I cannot imagine a larger town having worse options for good local pizza. I've never been to downtown Orlando FL, but that's the only other large metropolitan area I can think of that probably has worse local pizza. Indiana certainly earns it's nickname of "crossroads of America" when it comes to Indy pizza: It's not a destination, it's a pathway to better pizza.
However, if traveling through Indiana, Rocco's Pizza and Pasta in South Bend is fantastic. It has wonderful toppings, a beautiful crisp crust, with a light airy interior. Anyone passing through the northern part of the state, or heading to South Bend for a Notre Dame football game this fall MUST take time out to find Rocco's.
I went to school in Indy and enjoyed Bazbeaux's Broad Ripple location many times. I'm a big fan of their wheat crust - I know it's nontraditional, but I liked it more than the regular.
I also lived in Indy for a couple years and had a few Bazbeaux's pizzas at the Broad Ripple location. Maybe the location makes a difference. Judging by the overturned slice, it looks like they use pizza screens with probably conveyor ovens. I am not a fan of the conveyor ovens, although occasionally there is a pizza place that can surprise me. I thought I remember the Bazbeaux's in Broad Ripple using standad gas Blodgett ovens, but we're talking early-to-mid 90's. My overall feeling about Bazbeaux's was about like yours: somewhat underwhelmed. I only went a few times, but whenever I was really craving pizza (which was at least weekly), there were not a whole lot of options in Indy. I think ndfan's assessment of the pizza options in Indy is pretty much right on. I tried Noble Roman's there once and never went back. I've heard there is a pub in town called Union Jack (or something like that) that supposedly has good pizza. As I recall, I had to resort to Pizza Hut too often when I lived in Indy.
To avoid getting anyone in trouble I will not say where, but one night we put a cooking stone on a conveyor oven and put the cooking settings to a 800°F with a 2:00 run. While the somewhat forlorn sounding squeeky wheeled run could have been about 15 or so seconds longer, the pizza itself turned out pretty good overall, and a literal moon shot better than the rubbish they usually cranked out at the 475°F and 6:45 run time usually used.
It was definitely a note to self, do not pick up red hot pizza stone with tongs after coming out of the oven moment.....crack!
Without trying to sound too harsh, I'll say this: Indpls has been getting pretty foodish pretty fast, and there is an ever-growing number of people there who know their stuff. However, that's all happened over a relatively few recent years. Because of that, the facts that Bazbeaux's (1) dates back to 1986 and (2) was a popular favorite for so long, are probably cause enough in themselves for lowered expectations. If you're looking in Indpls for the kind of food that might impress this site's readers, you'd better track down something that started up more recently (or much, much earlier, and didn't change with the times).
When I went to college in Indy, Bazbeaux was certainly my favorite in town, but like most poor students, it was more often Pizza Express for me. After living in Brooklyn and Chicago, I can't really go back to any of the pizza options in Indy. Even the Bazbeaux Special, which I used to LOVE, was a big disappointment when I went back a year ago. I'm hoping maybe they've changed the crust recipe or something because it does not live up to my memories at all.
@allot: Thanks, I didn't know that. How far across upstate New York does the square cut go?
@ndfanwabashman: Rocco's sounds delicious, but it's going to take a lot more than a Notre Dame football game to get me to South Bend. Perhaps if they rent out the stadium to two footballl teams that aren't grossly overrated every year, I'll make it there again.
@Mad Ernie and Pizzablogger: I can't be sure because I didn't look inside the oven, but it looked like a standard pizza oven to me. Pizzablogger, did you happen to notice what kind of oven Bazbeaux used?
@Barry Foy: Interesting theory. As I said in the review, next time I'm in Indy, if I'm getting pizza, I'm trying Maria's. Any place that's been open for 50 plus years and sells a sauerkraut pizza has to be good.
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Every pizza at Bazbeaux’s is topped with a combination of provolone, mozzarella and Pecorino romano, which results in a nice slightly tangy cheese layer that I really enjoyed. And while the cut of the pizza may have been out of place in the Midwest, the thick layer of the unique cheese combination was very much steeped in local dairy-loving tradition. The sauce had a very light sweetness to it and had small chunks of tomato, which added some nice light bursts of flavor. The application of fresh garlic was great – enough to balance out the rest of the pizza, but not so much as to overwhelm it.
Normally, when I have a pizza with good cheese, good sauce and decent to good toppings, I’m one happy little boy. But the crust at Bazbeaux’s was a massive disappointment. Anyone who reads my weekly missives with any regularity knows that I am pretty forgiving with crusts. I’ve had multiple pizzas that I think are delicious despite having decidedly unremarkable crusts that seem to serve little function beyond being edible plates. The problem with Bazbeaux’s crust is not just that it has the texture and flavor of an over-toasted piece of store-bought white bread, it’s that it was so thick. Not close to deep dish thick, but still thicker than a standard thin crust. Baxbeaux’s does offer it’s crust in thick or thin varieties and I did not specify when I orderd. I assume that I got the thicker one, but perhaps a reader more familiar with the three-location chain can fill us all in on that important detail as well as thoughts on other pizzerias worth checking out in Indianapolis.
13 Comments:
they cut pizza into squares in upstate new york too, actually pizza that looks remarkably like that one.
allot at 1:58PM on 08/26/09
Looks like a soulless frozen crust baked on a sad little screen. Yech.
ratbuddy at 1:59PM on 08/26/09
Good write up Daniel.
When I was in Indianapolis in June, I visited Bazbeaux's Carmel location and reviewed it.
I also found the crust (I ordered the thin) to be a major bummer and am convinced it is a pre-made blank delivered to the pizzeria. It was like cottony-blugh tasteless.
I've been told Goodfella's is worth checking out. I'll be back in Indy in the not too distant future and plan on visiting a few more places there.
Pizzablogger at 2:26PM on 08/26/09
Oh, now I'm homesick! I worked in Indy for two years but lived in Muncie, so most of my Indiana pizza experiences are Muncie-based (Greeks is my fave). I don't recall noticing the crust at Baz, but I did love the topping variety. We typically ordered from Circle City, which is in Broad Ripple and close to my former office-- good but not necessarily "Serious Eats review" good.
Avoid Pizza King at all costs! It's like a $20 frozen Tombstone pizza.
shalomblack at 3:36PM on 08/26/09
As an Indy resident and pizza lover I cannot imagine a larger town having worse options for good local pizza. I've never been to downtown Orlando FL, but that's the only other large metropolitan area I can think of that probably has worse local pizza. Indiana certainly earns it's nickname of "crossroads of America" when it comes to Indy pizza: It's not a destination, it's a pathway to better pizza.
However, if traveling through Indiana, Rocco's Pizza and Pasta in South Bend is fantastic. It has wonderful toppings, a beautiful crisp crust, with a light airy interior. Anyone passing through the northern part of the state, or heading to South Bend for a Notre Dame football game this fall MUST take time out to find Rocco's.
ndfanwabashman at 3:54PM on 08/26/09
I went to school in Indy and enjoyed Bazbeaux's Broad Ripple location many times. I'm a big fan of their wheat crust - I know it's nontraditional, but I liked it more than the regular.
jordyw at 4:04PM on 08/26/09
I also lived in Indy for a couple years and had a few Bazbeaux's pizzas at the Broad Ripple location. Maybe the location makes a difference. Judging by the overturned slice, it looks like they use pizza screens with probably conveyor ovens. I am not a fan of the conveyor ovens, although occasionally there is a pizza place that can surprise me. I thought I remember the Bazbeaux's in Broad Ripple using standad gas Blodgett ovens, but we're talking early-to-mid 90's. My overall feeling about Bazbeaux's was about like yours: somewhat underwhelmed. I only went a few times, but whenever I was really craving pizza (which was at least weekly), there were not a whole lot of options in Indy. I think ndfan's assessment of the pizza options in Indy is pretty much right on. I tried Noble Roman's there once and never went back. I've heard there is a pub in town called Union Jack (or something like that) that supposedly has good pizza. As I recall, I had to resort to Pizza Hut too often when I lived in Indy.
Mad Ernie at 4:39PM on 08/26/09
I grew up in Indianapolis and was never a Bazbeaux's fan. If you are still in Indy, try Eh! Formaggio at 5510 Lafayette Road. It's a far sight better.
fleurdesel at 5:43PM on 08/26/09
To avoid getting anyone in trouble I will not say where, but one night we put a cooking stone on a conveyor oven and put the cooking settings to a 800°F with a 2:00 run. While the somewhat forlorn sounding squeeky wheeled run could have been about 15 or so seconds longer, the pizza itself turned out pretty good overall, and a literal moon shot better than the rubbish they usually cranked out at the 475°F and 6:45 run time usually used.
It was definitely a note to self, do not pick up red hot pizza stone with tongs after coming out of the oven moment.....crack!
Pizzablogger at 5:55PM on 08/26/09
Without trying to sound too harsh, I'll say this: Indpls has been getting pretty foodish pretty fast, and there is an ever-growing number of people there who know their stuff. However, that's all happened over a relatively few recent years. Because of that, the facts that Bazbeaux's (1) dates back to 1986 and (2) was a popular favorite for so long, are probably cause enough in themselves for lowered expectations. If you're looking in Indpls for the kind of food that might impress this site's readers, you'd better track down something that started up more recently (or much, much earlier, and didn't change with the times).
Barry Foy at 6:55PM on 08/26/09
When I went to college in Indy, Bazbeaux was certainly my favorite in town, but like most poor students, it was more often Pizza Express for me. After living in Brooklyn and Chicago, I can't really go back to any of the pizza options in Indy. Even the Bazbeaux Special, which I used to LOVE, was a big disappointment when I went back a year ago. I'm hoping maybe they've changed the crust recipe or something because it does not live up to my memories at all.
@ndfanwabashman: I couldn't agree more!
Pauper Nick at 6:57PM on 08/26/09
@allot: Thanks, I didn't know that. How far across upstate New York does the square cut go?
@ndfanwabashman: Rocco's sounds delicious, but it's going to take a lot more than a Notre Dame football game to get me to South Bend. Perhaps if they rent out the stadium to two footballl teams that aren't grossly overrated every year, I'll make it there again.
@Mad Ernie and Pizzablogger: I can't be sure because I didn't look inside the oven, but it looked like a standard pizza oven to me. Pizzablogger, did you happen to notice what kind of oven Bazbeaux used?
@Barry Foy: Interesting theory. As I said in the review, next time I'm in Indy, if I'm getting pizza, I'm trying Maria's. Any place that's been open for 50 plus years and sells a sauerkraut pizza has to be good.
@Nick: What do you remember the crust being like?
Daniel Zemans at 7:24PM on 08/26/09
@Daniel: Bakers Pride gas deck ovens.....two sets of 2 deck set ups sitting side by side for a total of 4 ovens.
The pizzas at the Carmel location are cooked on a screen, as mine had the diamond cross hatching pathern on the bottom.
Pizzablogger at 9:51PM on 08/26/09