You needn’t ask around too much to find someone who believes Indianapolis has basically zero good pizza to offer, a take that seems fundamentally impossible (not to mention, joyless) yet is repeated in real-life and digital conversations alike.
The quality of a locale’s pizza scene is an endless source of debate in seemingly all but a precious few American cities. For what it’s worth, these are a few pizzerias that we believe have genuinely stellar pies. If you feel your favorite neighborhood spot has been unjustly omitted, you’re probably right – such is the highly subjective nature of our nation’s favorite takeout delicacy.
As a nod to the amount of slices in a typical delivery pie, here are eight Indy pizza spots worth checking out.
Bazbeaux
Three Indianapolis-area locations, bazbeaux.com
For Broad Ripple teenagers of the 90s, a stint in Bazbeaux’s Westfield Boulevard kitchen was something of a rite of passage – said Balena Cucina Italiana owner Manuela Pizzi of her adolescence, “Gotta put in your time at Bazbeaux.” The Indianapolis institution built its name on a willingness to put more or less anything on its pies, which range from a classic Margherita to Mexican- and Cajun-inspired renditions. Just when you think you’ve reached the known limits of topping innovation, here comes the crab.
Diavola
1134 E. 54th St., (317) 820-5100, diavola.net
Simple but strong ingredients are the modus operandi at this SoBro Italian spot. Diavola’s namesake pie boasts a silken sheet of mozzarella dotted with charred pepperoni, punchy sweet peppers and fresh basil leaves, all ringed within rolling hills of chewy bubbled-up dough. While I wholeheartedly endorse following one’s wildest imagination and morbid curiosities when it comes to pizza, stick to the classics at Diavola. I’m sure you’ll still have plenty of ill-advised 1 a.m. pizza orders ahead of you.
Futuro
19 Cruse St., (317) 360-4725, futuroindy.com
Home to a generous $17 weekday lunch special whose size would seemingly preclude anyone who ate it from getting any work done in the afternoon, Futuro has been slinging stout Detroit-style and crackery tavern-style pies on the north edge of Fountain Square since 2021. While its everyday menu keeps things fairly approachable, Futuro regularly veers into the golden-brown fringes of pizza craft with limited-edition toppings like summer peaches and dill pickles. Sometimes they’ve got a chili dog pizza. And why not?
Giorgio’s
9 E. Market St., (317) 687-9869, giorgiospizzatogoindy.com
Sometimes you want to savor a meticulously crafted Neapolitan pie glistening with olive oil and tradition, and sometimes you just want to absolutely demolish a thin-crust slice so large that even the time-tested fold method can’t keep its edges from drooping over your paper plate. Arguably no establishment can match Giorgio’s ability to rapidly shuttle large amounts of perilously hot cheese and red sauce into the hands of hungry lunch-breakers, and that bit of operational excellence earns this downtown mainstay a spot alongside its more artisanal counterparts.
King Dough
452 N. Highland Ave., (317) 602-7960; 12505 Old Meridian St., Carmel, (317) 669-2201, kingdoughpizzas.com
There’s so much good stuff going on in the pizzas at King Dough. The relatively steep prices are supported by tangy, fundamentally sound Neapolitan-style dough stretched to an ambitious 18-inch diameter to accommodate all manner of colorful, locally sourced ingredients. The fungi Ricky lines aged mozzarella and cloudlike whipped ricotta with spinach, hearty mushrooms, pecorino and red pepper flakes. It’s bright and punchy and salty and not quite like anything I’d encountered before, a wonderful reminder of just how many exquisite pizzas are out there to try.
Magoo’s California Pizza
4919 W. 38th St., (317) 293-4411; 10584 E. U.S. Highway 36, Avon, (317) 271-4411, magooscalpizza.com
I find it useful sometimes to think of certain pizzas as pizza and others as a genre of cuisine I call “flatbread with stuff on it.” In the latter category, Magoo’s may be the undisputed champ. The halal pizzeria’s unconventional creations include a buffalo chicken pie that was seemingly lab-engineered for Super Bowl parties and a chicken tikka pizza that feels like it would be an affront Indian cuisine and yet has been a prized fixture at multiple gatherings I’ve attended hosted by Desi friends.
Sam’s Square Pie
2829 E. 10th St., order.toasttab.com/online/samssquarepie
Former NFL SkyCam operator Jeff Miner’s east-side pizza shop almost instantly carved out a spot in diners’ hearts and stomachs after it opened in early 2024. That meteoric ascent is explained rather concisely by Miner’s Detroit-style pies, which begin with thick cakey slabs of dough bordered by a ribbon of salty cheese that fries to a golden crackle against the sides of a well-oiled pan. The quality of bread and relatively restrained toppings – red sauce, pesto, ricotta, hot honey – speak to Detroit pizza’s origins in Sicilian sfinzione, but each oversized and amply greasy mouthful of Sam’s Square Pie is pure Midwest magic.
I Tre Mori
8220 E. 106th St., (317) 436-8739, itremorifishers.com
Just a really fun place to get a pie. The chewy, black-bubbled crusts of Neapolitan tradition meet great floppy shavings of cured meat and a variety of curveball ingredients in the screaming-hot wood ovens of Italian-born pizzaiolo Sam Chamsine. Take the mystifyingly named “pizza Jonathan,” which pairs purplish paper-thin petals of salted beef with mushrooms, tremendously fatty double-cream brie and a scattering of semi-sweet walnuts. Eating good pizza is a joy; eating good pizza you never even knew you wanted might be even better.
Contact dining reporter Bradley Hohulin at bhohulin@indystar.com. You can follow him on Instagram @BradleyHohulin and stay up to date with Indy dining news by signing up for the Indylicious newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Best pizza in Indy? 8 spots to try around town, from NY-style to Detroit
Reporting by Bradley Hohulin, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Bradley Hohulin, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
