Review: Bazbeaux, Indianapolis

Whenever I visit a new town, I typically investigate the top-ranked pizza places. However, on recent trips to Indianapolis, I didn't eat much pizza because very few places intrigued me. 

My only previous pizza experience here was an 'okay' Neapolitan pie at Napolese (where everything else was grade A). 

Nonetheless, on my third visit to this friendly Midwestern town, I decided I needed to gather hard data. Bazbeaux in downtown Indy is situated on attractive and quiet Massachusetts Avenue, an easy stroll from the convention center area.

On a warm autumn day, I chose an outside cafe table for my lunchtime visit. The interior was modern and attractive, but it didn't have that classic pizza-joint vibe you'll find in gems like Rubino's in Columbus OH or Lucca Grill in Bloomington, IL.

Interior at Bazbeaux

The staff at Bazbeaux displayed the usual Midwestern friendly attitude; service was excellent. The menu offered a good range of pizza options, and I chose a personal pie topped half with the house made Italian sausage and half with the house-made chorizo. The pie was $7.25, and the meat toppings were an additional $1.40.

A slice with Italian sausage

My pizza came out fairly quickly, and it was a smallish 10" size. The pizza sported a sturdy medium-thin crust which had a good crisp texture despite being baked on a screen. It was not as thin as a bar pie, but it was flat at the cornicione.

Outdoor seating along Massachusetts Avenue

The sauce was mild but a tasty role player. This pizza was prepared with a generously applied amount of mozzarella. It gave the kind of classic drooping stretchy cheese experience that some cherish, but I think that the pie was thrown off balance by an excess of this tasty cheese.

Chorizo-topped slice

The chorizo was a delightfully deep red spicy topping, but I enjoyed the house-made Italian sausage even more. Both were spectacular. Andouille is also available; these folks have some top-grade cured pork products as pie toppings.

Underside of crust - cooked on a screen

Overall, this was a reasonably well-constructed pie that may be worth the calories, but which falls short of amazing. The good crust was tasty and crisp-but-chewy but was the weakest link here. It lacked the great-bread character of top shelf pizza. Also, due to the cheese overload, I needed a knife and fork to eat most of it, even though it was not wet or soggy.

Bazbeaux's only real competition in town is Napolese, which has a better crust but where the execution is not consistent.  Both are good B+ grade pizzas. The great service and awesome salumi here makes Bazbeaux a worthy but not a can't-miss destination.