Some Guys Pizza
12552 N. Gray Road
Carmel, IN 46033
http://www.someguyspizza.com/
Whenever I review pizza on the North side of Indianapolis, people always ask me if I have tried Some Guys Pizza. Giving into peer pressure, I decided to give it a try. Upon walking in, you are greeted by a server and taken to a table. The interior is nice for a pizza place, but not as comfortable as most Italian Restaurants. Also, the color scheme is right out of the 1990s, and so is the website. They could use a little updating. At the time, we were one of two tables at 6:00 on a Thursday night, however take out business was steady.
What I Ate: Classic Pizza $14.25 for a medium. Sausage, Pepperoni, Mushroom and Extra cheese. In fact, my favorite pizza combination and the one I judge all others by. My wife ordered the Penne Vodka $11.95.
They brought out complimentary garlic bread. There were two different kinds, but they tasted very similar and were barely warm. I was thinking, “uh oh…screw up garlic bread and how are you going to make a decent pizza?”
The pizza arrived promptly and overall, it looked pretty good. There was a good amount of sausage, but it could’ve used a few more slices of pepperoni. The crust was slightly thicker than Donato’s and had a little bend to it. As far as the taste…eh…it didn’t blow my socks off. I found it to be a little bland. They could benefit from a dash of oregano or something…
On the other hand, I had a few bites of the Penne Vodka. I enjoyed the Vodka cream sauce so much that I put the leftovers on top of my leftover pizza. This was just sauce and noodles, no meat here.
Would I Buy It Again? Ehh…maybe? I wasn’t disappointed, I just didn’t love it. Here is the problem: Some Guys lacks a niche. If I wanted pasta and didn’t want to travel, I would drive a few blocks and hit Pizzology. If I wanted pizza in the area, I would probably just order whatever is on special from Jet’s or Donato’s. I have heard that they do an amazing Lasagna a few times a month and that might be worth a try. Maybe they shine outside of the standard ingredients, who knows.
-wibia
Tags: Food, Pasta, penne vodka, Pizza, some guys pizza
$14.25 sounds a little steep to me for a medium pizza. I realize you got 3 toppings and extra cheese, but with all the big chains running bargain deals right now (Papa’s has a large with any toppings you want for $10) do you think it was good enough to distinguish itself from chain pizza and charge the higher price?
What’s a ’90s color scheme? Does it look like The Max on “Saved by the Bell”?
I don’t think it’s fair to make a price comparison between fast food pizza and a locally owned place making their own dough and sauce from scratch, prepping their own ingredients, etc in house.
Okay, I’m going to interject here. I’ve almost written up a review on this place several times, but never got around to it on account of my general state of laziness. But I really like Some Guys, and here are some reasons why:
1) The lunch special is great – $7.95 for a small pizza with two toppings, and a salad. It’s a good amount of pizza too. You can cram the entire pie down your gullet, or do like I do, eat half of it and bring the other half home for dinner. Or to eat in the office at 3:30pm. However long you can stand to wait.
2) And the salad is pretty good – cheese, croutons, vegetables, and their italian dressing that’s a little sweet, which means that sometimes, it’s the salad I crave even more than the pizza. And that’s saying something. I really like that salad.
3) You can get meatball slices on your pizza, and you can’t do that most places. This lets me split the difference between a pizza and a meatball sub. Because who isn’t torn that they can’t order both anytime they’re in a place that offers both?
4) You can get both thick hand-cut pepperoni as well as regular generic pepperoni. The thick hand-cut pepperoni makes me recall the brick oven pizzerias of New Haven, Connecticut. The rest of the pizza isn’t as good as that (not at all), but I like having the option of premium pepperoni.
5) Their crust is pretty good – it’s not too thick, and not too thin. Admittedly, their sauce is not great, but it’s not bad either.
Some Guys is a great “date night” place for us. We can always get a table, and it’s quiet, and my wife can opt for pizza, pasta, a salad, whatever she wants. And yes, I’m told their Lasagna is great, and though I love Lasagna, I haven’t gotten around to trying it yet. I’m afraid to be disappointed by it, I think.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if I had to choose, I would choose Some Guys over Pizzology. Pizzology is good, but frankly, my tastes run a little plain, and I don’t think I can really enjoy all that Pizzology has to offer, given my hatred of onions, mushrooms, peppers, olives, etc. (it ain’t easy being me, I know). Some Guys is a little bit more plain than that, but offers the garnishes that I appreciate (better pepperoni, meatballs, etc).
@ Mike… Pretty close. Check out the website, you will get it quickly. I thought about using “The Max” but I was like…no one would get that?! It was less retro dinner style. It didn’t bother me, but I thought…wow, they haven’t touched these walls in years.
@Brent: Ya know, good question. A large would’ve probably been close to $18-$19, so I am not sure if it was worth double as much. However, I go to Roselli’s and it is around $20+ for a large 18 inch 3 topping and I think that it is tasty pie and worth my money!
@Erin: Good argument, but if I had a $20 bill in my pocket and I want pizza and need to feed 4 people, I am going to ask the question that Brent asked. I can get 4 Little Caesars Hot N Ready, 2 Papa John’s or 1 Independent. The good news is that all options are there for use to choose and each person can decide where they are on the Price V. Quality spectrum. Long live the free market!
I’m a fan of Some Guys. For myriad reasons, but I ike that they have long had a Bells beer on tap – and the pitchers, knock on wood, have been a fair price. As the Big Red Eater states, some of their topping selections are very worthy of praise (Claus’/Klemm’s pepperoni and sausage, some of the veggie options, pretty darn good BBQ chicken).
Sure, it maybe isn’t the best value. But that just comes with the territory of supporting a local, independent outfit. This blog has a rather fast food friendly approach that I appreciate – but the whole ‘what would I do with my $20 bill’ isn’t of the best logic, IMO, when you are comparing something made from scratch with chain schwag.
<> it is what’s wrong with this country!! But also is totally fair enough – if you’d rather have a quarter pounder with cheese than a boogie burger…
@ Tom H. I will easily sacrifice value for taste, but that is just me. There is always something in each market that sets the value price. Hot N’ Ready, $5 foot long, etc.. With burgers: McDouble is $1, Boogie Burger/5 Guys $6, Steakhouse/Fine dining $11. I would probably default to Boogie Burger in this example.
My problem with pizza is that there are very few independent pizza places in the middle market. I tend to support independent pizza as long as it is better than the chain equivalent, but it is increasingly difficult to find. On the North side, Roselli’s, Some Guys, Tony’s, Pizzology, Ale Emporium, Greek’s, ummmm….
I have to chime in with some much needed Some Guys love. I will admit that I am not the biggest fan of their sauce. To me it seems like it’s just a canned variety from someplace like GFS. It lacks any real punch and isn’t very tangy. It’s just there. However, the real star is the choice of toppings. I am a big-time cheese head and there’s not too many places around where you can order a pie and top it with premium choices like White Cheddar, Smoked Gouda, Swiss, Gorgonzola, Feta, Goat Cheese, or Asiago. Same goes for the meats and other exotics like Cajun Shrimp or Andouille.
While I will admit that when I head to this area and I’m wanting pizza I’ll either go to Pizzology or travel into the Arts District and grab some Bazbeaux…but Some Guys is a great place when you’ve got the family out and are looking for a good pizza and not wanting to battle a crowd.
Respect, Wibia (and Josh).
For my taste, I prefer Some Guys to Bazbeaux and Puchini’s – but I wouldn’t kick any of em out of bed for eating crackers.
“Why else would they be there, Cliff?”
You went to the wrong Some Guy’s Pizza. The one on Allisonville Rd. is much better, it just is. Also note that there are two types of pizza at the Allisonville Rd. Some Guy’s Pizza: Traditional oven baked and brick oven baked. In all my years of hitting up Some Guy’s Pizza on Allisonville Rd., I have always had just the regular traditional oven baked pizza.
I have been to the Carmel location twice. The atmosphere sucks compared to the Allisonville Rd. location. In addition, their pizza just doesn’t feel the same to me. The free bread really sticks out. Unless that is something recent, the Allisonville Rd. location has never offered free bread that I know of. I took my in-laws to Some Guy’s a few years back, and they really like it as well. Well, she decided to take some friends to Some Guy’s Pizza, but since they are up north, they went to the one in Carmel. She was disappointed, and agrees with me it is just “different.”
“On the North side, Roselli’s, Some Guys, Tony’s, Pizzology, Ale Emporium, Greek’s, ummmm….”
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We just tried a new place on the North side: Cool River Pizza. Very good pizza for the price we paid. We got an order of bread sticks (very good, very different) and a huge pizza and didn’t pay all that much. In fact, it was so much pizza, I ate the leftovers for both lunch and dinner the next day. Another place I had years ago that wasn’t too bad: Mellow Mushroom in Carmel. I have booked marked Tony’s and Roselli’s and will try them in the future.
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“but Some Guys is a great place when you’ve got the family out and are looking for a good pizza and not wanting to battle a crowd.”
If this is the Carmel location, then I would definitely say something is off with this Some Guy’s Pizza. The Allisonville Rd. location is constantly packed, especially on the weekends. If you go late, you will wait.
@ John Doe: Mellow Mushroom is a chain. They have great calzones, but their pizza never did anything for me.
You are right about Cool River, not a chain and I forgot that one. My brother likes it and it is on my list.
Bella Pizzeria and Magoo’s also missed my list. However, in a service area of about 100,000 people, there are 9 independent pizza places…. yikes.
@John Doe – I used to love Cool River when they first opened, but the last two times we went there we got really bad pies. I’m talking undercooked dough and the toppings just didn’t have much flavor. I don’t know if they were having 2 random “off” days, but I was really aggravated by the fact that I was paying a pretty hefty price for sub-standard pizza. I might give them one more chance, but I have to be compelled.
@WIBIA – The Bella Pizzeria is good at Clay Terrace. The one at Hamilton Town Center, however, is borderline Luca’s Pizza to me. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a good New York-style pie, but for whatever reason, each time we go the pizza looks to be several hours old and is very stale in taste. Doesn’t matter if it’s 2PM on a Saturday or 6PM on a Wednesday. Pepperoni-stuffed breadsticks and cheese are awesome, but I’m not going to a pizza joint for appetizers and side dishes. Dom Dicarlo’s in downtown Noblesville is a good pizza joint, and we had a pretty decent pie at Pizza Pie Hole on Cumberland Road, also in Noblesville.
@John Doe – true that, I’ve actually never eaten at the Carmel location… only Allisonville. I also had the same thought about ‘free bread’ – my best guess is that I believe bread comes with the pasta entrees and they brought a kindly portion.
the wood-fired pies at the Allisonville location are also quite good— sometimes I prefer the more midwestern, chewy crust of the standard oven pizzas, but it is nice to have the option.
Can’t believe the lack of love for Puccini’s. Lots of northside locations, independent, home made everything, and fabulous pizza and more.
And ditto the above about the Allisonville Rd Some Guys. Best bet.
@Erin
I agree. I’m in Carmel, and I love Puccini’s.
Don’t get me wrong. Pizzology is awesome, but Puccini’s has pasta and other stuff, and their salads kick butt. Their pizza crust is slightly sweet which really goes well with their sauce and cheese. We typically get their ultimate warrior without the green pepper, bit their BBQ pizza is tasty too. It was the first BBQ pizza I ever had years ago, and nobody has beaten it yet.
I think if someone is nonplussed by Some Guys, they aren’t going to go bonkers over Puccini’s or Bazbeaux.
Though everyone’s taste is obviously different – say for me, the BBQ chicken pizza at Some Guys is much better than Puccini’s. But again, I’d gladly eat either one.
btw Pizzology has pretty great pasta dishes and salads— their cintron/ette dressing has really put me to work trying to duplicate it at home. They recently revised their menu (slightly), and there are a number of dishes I’m excited to get. Lasagna Bolognese sounds amazing, but it is a bit spendy at $15 – I assume it is a gigantic portion.
Some Guys’ pizza sauce and particularly the dough is adapted from Bazbeaux’s recipe, as one of ‘em got his start there.
Puccini’s GM also used to work for Bazbeaux years ago, but their recipes are very different – particularly their crust. Puccini’s has a sweeter, more dense and chewy crust that uses cornmeal.
While I do enjoy Some Guys, it’s not for their pizza, although it isn’t bad per se. It tastes very similar to Bazbeaux (at least at the Allisonville Rd location). Don’t get what’s so great about this pizza, and imo Bazbeaux doesn’t do it as well as Some Guys.
I am, on the other hand, ‘bonkers’ for Puccini’s pizza. This is the only place I know I can get my favorite pizza, cheese with gorgonzola and rosemary.
This is also the only place I know where you can get pesto made from scratch and made with all pine nuts, not walnuts or a 1/2-1/2 mix. The Diablo and vodkas sauces are fabulous as well.
Jon you should try the Campfire (@Puccini’s) if you haven’t already, especially if you like the BBQ (both made sweet sauces, but the Campfire really nails sweet and salty).