This is our Indy Pizza Blog 2020 Year in Review. Chris and I started pizza blogging in July, but I was able to generate a list for the entire year. I’m including our pizza stats and then some favorites and highlights in several categories below.
Methodology: I’m including each restaurant visited, number of visits, date, and amount spent. These are for restaurants only, not including frozen or home made pizzas. Dates are approximate because I’m using the date the transaction posted, not necessarily the day of the visit, so they are off by about 1-2 days across the board.
By the numbers:
In 2020 we went to 46 different pizza places, and for 23 of the places (50%) it was our very first visit.
In total we got pizza from restaurants 98 times in 2020, an average of 1.9x per week all year long.
We averaged 8 visits per month all year long, but our rate about doubled in the second half of the year with 5.8 visits per month in Jan-Jun, and 10.5 visits per month from Jul-Dec. This is because we were still in debt until March, and then got serious about pizza blogging in July.
Our most frequently visited place was Little Caesar’s (10) followed by Chicago’s Pizza in Fishers (8) and New York Pizza Garden (8), with honorable mentions to Aurelio’s Pizza in Fishers (7) and Hot Box Pizza (7).
We spent a total of $2,601.38 at pizza restaurants in 2020 for an average bill of $26.54 per place. Our most expensive single visit was $101.76 at Bad Dad Brewery because we got a few packs of beer to go.
We visited pizza places in 3 states, including Nevada (3), Ohio (2), and of course Indiana (93).
So if I didn't scare you away by now with the rundown of our year of pizza analytics, you can also find pivot tables in the above Excel doc.
Highlights and Observations
The best parts of pizza blogging this year have been breaking out of our routine, and having new places delight and amaze us - we had been missing out all along! It's also been amazing engaging with the pizza-loving community on Instagram, getting personal recommendations, shout outs, and meeting Indy area foodies online.
Favorite New-To-Us Places:
King Dough
Bad Dad Brewery
The Missing Brick
Re-Discovered How Much We Like Them:
Greek's Pizza
Pizza King
Bella Pizzeria
Passione
Jet's Pizza
Shout Out for Amazing Thin Crust:
Monical's Pizza
Shout Out for Amazing Breadsticks:
Fougasse bread at Bad Dad Brewery
Shout Out for Real New York Style:
Perillo's Pizzeria
Amore Pizzeria
Bella Pizzeria
Shout Out for Real Chicago Style:
Aurelio's Pizza
Rosati's Pizza
Shout Out for Overall Experience:
Perillo's Pizzeria
King Dough
Sirrico's Pizza (Las Vegas)
Memorable Moments:
The mini road trip to Bad Dad Brewery and feeling like city folk
Frosted mugs and patio to ourselves at Chicago's Pizza
Cute patio, historic building, and epic cheese pulls at Perillo's Pizza
The pay-it-forward wall at Fox's Pizza Den
The crazy bathroom and Mad Max vibes at King Dough
Realizing that aioli is basically mayonnaise at Mellow Mushroom
Eating gas station pizza off the hood of a car at Casey's Pizza
Chicken tikka pizza and Indian beer from Chicago's Pizza with a Twist
The row of Mercedes convertibles lined up outside Passione
Finding the entrance to Rosati's Pizza behind all that road construction
The cozy location and friendly service at Smoky's Concession Stand
Discovering that downtown Kokomo is artsy and cool
Feeling in-the-know drinking Old Style drafts at Aurelio's
Both dethroning our previous favorite frozen pizzas
Falling in love with mango margaritas and Dough Buds at The Missing Brick
Our Most-Liked Photos:
Appendix: List of Places We Went in 2020
Amore Pizzeria
Aurelio's Pizza
Bad Dad Brewery
Bella Pizzeria
Big Lug Canteen
Blaze Pizza
BoomBozz Tap House
Bronko's Pizza
Byrne's Grilled Pizza
Casey's General Store
Chicago's Pizza
Chicago's Pizza With A Twist
Di Fara Pizza (Las Vegas)
Donatos Pizza
Fox's Pizza Den
Gramboli's Pizza
Greek's Pizzeria
Halftime Pizza (Toledo)
Hot Box Pizza
Jet's Pizza
King Dough
Little Caesars
Marco's Pizza
Mellow Mushroom
Monical's Pizza
Mozzi's Pizza
New Bethel Ordinary
New York Pizza Garden
Noble Roman's Craft Pizza & Pub
Oscar's Pizza
Papa John's Pizza
Papa Murphy's
Passione
Perillo's Pizzeria
Pies and Pints
Pin-up Pizza (Las Vegas)
Pizza By The Harbour
Pizza Hut
Pizza King
PizzAroma (Toledo)
Pizzology
Puccini's
Rosati's Pizza
Sirrico's Pizza (Las Vegas)
Smoky's Concession Stand
The Missing Brick