Bazbeaux Pizza

I'm not a large pizza fanatic. Anymore, pizza is overpowered by either sauce or cheese and you can't taste anything else. Now this isn't to say that I don't enjoy the occasional pie, it's just that I'm -very- picky about my pizza and whatever goes on it.

I tell you this so that when I say I could eat Bazbeaux on a weekly occasion and never get bored, you understand the full meaning of my words.

Bazbeaux has been declared Indy's best pizza since 1986, a tag line they proudly display and a badge they wear with the honor it deserves.

For this particular review, I went to the one in Broad Ripple, but they have several locations and I hope they continue to expand.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of my awesome pizza. When I went, I went with a friend and my mom and we sat outside. It was around 9pm and therefore too dark for any pictures to really catch.

I've ordered several different pizzas when going to Bazbeaux and tonight's choice was the Genova.

Now, I hate meat on my pizza. I don't know why but I just do and Bazbeaux caters to this dislike. You don't like something on their pizza? Substitute! In this case, there's no need. The Genova comes with cheese, light sauce, crunchy crust, eggplant, basil, mushroom, tomato and they recommend you add goat cheese-I second this recommendation.

All ingredients are fresh and you can tell. Nothing is mushy or has that 'thawed' texture (you know what I'm talking about, where the skin of the veggy is all wrinkled and stringy and...yuck!). The tomatoes are thick and firm, the mushrooms mix well with the modest sauce, the cheese strings when you pull it and the eggplant is melts in your mouth. Now with every Bazbeauz pizza, everything blends together well-you can pick out individual flavors but only if you try otherwise they blend together into one unique taste BUT one ingredient usually is the -seventh note-. That is, it stands out not matter what and is kinda like a kiss to the tongue.

For the Genova, this would be that basil. I can always taste it over the other flavors, not overpowering but more of a gentle 'hey there'. At least, the basil -would- be the sixth note if the pizza is ordered in it's default but I love goat cheese and goat cheese is a very strong cheese. Being a very strong cheese and that they just load it on the pizza, the goat cheese becomes the sixth note in this case.

I love goat cheese, I love the texture and the flavor(kinda of like a really strong ricotta) and I love it on my pizza. Bazbeaux is not stingy with their ingredients and more often then not it's falling off the crust since it's so heavy. Oh the crust! Bazbeaux has ruined me for anything then flat, crunchy crust! The crust is just a tool to get the actual pizza to your mouth for a Bandeau pizza-it's thin, crunchy and a light bread flavor that doesn't interfere with anything. The crust is not a filler like some delivery joints will do-you get three inches of crust and one inch of toppings. No, the filler here is the toppings.

Now the atmosphere. Like I said, we sat outside but I've been inside before. The decor is warm and colorful, a nice mix between positive and festive. That don't have much in the way of alcohol-it's either bottled beer or wine. The service is always superb. Everyone is very laid back but not to the point of where they're slow. They're casual and joking with their customers and will stop to chat readily.

Our own server with very attentive and friendly. I was surprised actually, seeing as we came so close to closing time that she still had energy after a full day's work, but she was sweet and attentive. I've never had a complaint about their staffing, and most likely never will.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some leftovers to warm up!

-Slash

Website: http://www.bazbeaux.com/index.html