The Daily Meal has been putting out their list of the 101 Best Pizzas in America since 2012. In all these years, only two Indiana pizza places have ever made the list: Mother Bear's Pizza in Bloomington, and The Missing Brick in Indianapolis.
Want to double check? Here are links directly to the lists from previous years: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.
In 2019, Mother Bear's Pizza in Bloomington, IN cracked the top 101 coming in at #99. That year the list only included pizza places from 30 states, so making the list at all is certainly an achievement.
The list for 2020 just came out yesterday, and it looks like the number of pizza places from Indiana has increased by 100%, that's right it went from 1 to 2 places! LOL. But overall, this is an extremely prestigious list. Do you know how many pizza places there are in the USA!
This year, in 2020, Mother Bear's Pizza made an astronomical climb from #99 to #59. Whew! That's a big move, considering some of these pizza places have been dominating the rankings for almost a decade. The article specifically names the Divine Swine pizza, and then cites the fact that Indiana University students have voted it best pizza in town for 10 years.
That's important to consider, since nobody from The Daily Meal has actually been to Mother Bear's Pizza. In the methodology section, they disclose that their ranking relies on Yelp, coverage by local journalists, and suggestions from readers.
Chris and I have been to Mother Bear's Pizza once in March 2014. It's a cozy and dimly lit place covered in wood panels like an old cabin. I'm not sure if they let people write everywhere or if people just do it anyway, but the walls were covered in names, short messages, and graffiti. Unfortunately, this was years before thinking to blog our pizza journey, so all I have are a couple photos of the interior and the fun memory of the night we saw Nikki Glaser perform at a live comedy club in Bloomington.
As for the second Indiana pizza place to ever make The Daily Meal's 101 Best Pizzas in America list, that spot goes to The Missing Brick at #53. After only being open for 16 months, The Missing Brick makes its debut way up the field!
I'm not surprised if The Daily Meal is using Yelp and local journalism to create their list, The Missing Brick certainly has a local buzz going. In fact our blog has been part of that buzz with our two posts: This Dope Pizza Joint Has It All, and The Trap Pizza Rising Star in Indy.
So there you have it, only two pizza places repping Indiana in the list of the 101 Best Pizzas in America. I guess on the bright side we're moving in the right direction after years of not even being on the list!