Buttitta’s Pizzeria
12664 East 116th Street
Fishers, Indiana 46037
http://www.buttittaspizzeria.com

This review is a revisit for the blog but a first visit for me after IndianapolisEater reviewed Buttitta’s back in April of 2012. IndianpolisEater made the comment that after trying one of Buttitta’s specialty pizzas, he would have like a more traditional pizza better. In this revisit, I went to Buttitta’s seeking good traditional pizza a step above what you might get at a chain pizza place.

Buttitta’s is the closest place to my home to get pizza, so my plan was to stop and pick up on my way home from work on a Friday. I called at 4:30 to place an order and got now answer or recording. After arriving home and going to their web page, I found that they do not open on until 5PM and close for an Italian rest break in the afternoon from 2:30-5:00. Do they really get more orders at 2PM on a Friday that 4:30? It took extra effort to go back out on a Friday night to make this pizza experience happen.

What I Got: Large (16″) Pizza; $14.95, with sausage, pepperoni & mushrooms at $1.25 a topping. The Total cost with tax $20.24

When I arrived to pick up my order, I saw a sign on their window that said something to the order of come in and taste the difference of our pizza vs. chain pizza. The high expectations had been set. Considering that the cost for this three topping pizza was twice that of a supreme at a chain store, the pizza needed to live up to the hype including high quality ingredients. Fresh mushrooms are a must to me when ordering a pizza I had no doubt this pizza had fresh mushrooms. The crust was good and firm which is always appreciated on a thin crust pizza. That sauce was not sweet and loaded with sugar and had a more rich tomato taste to it. Although this gave the pizza a solid base, I did not like how much crust there was and want to see my sauce and cheese come out nearly to the edge of the pizza. With such a big crust, the pizza felt more like a medium. It was a large pizza box but the pizza certainly did not fill the box.

The real problem with this pizza was the toppings. Where were they? If you look at the picture, it is hard to differentiate between the chunks of sausage and the mushrooms but there was not a piece of pizza with more than three pieces of sausage with some have only two or one. It is bad when you are counting toppings to decide what piece you are going to eat. The mushrooms were spread so thin that you on occasionally got a taste of mushroom on the pizza. Nearly half the pizza did not have cheese. Between the large crust and nearly two in of pizza next to the crust where you only see sauce, this pizza had half the cheese it should have. Cheese preserves the sauce and as a result, this pizza was dry unless you were eating the portion from the middle of the pie.

What I Got: Breadsticks (8) Pizza; $5.00 + and additional $.50 for cheese.

Buttitta’s has coupons on www.coupons4indy.com and I got these breadsticks for free with the coupon and I paid for the cheese cup. Maybe I should not complain, but the when I called and ordered, I was asked what kind of dip I wanted and cheese was one of the choices I was given. The employee taking my order did not tell me there was an additional charge for anything besides pizza sauce. I don’t mind paying if I am told there is an additional cost. The cheese I got was cold and tasted like it was straight out of a can.
The breadsticks I got are not what I would qualify as breadsticks. They should have been called garlic sticks. Don’t get me wrong, I like garlic, but these sticks, which seemed to be some kind of whole wheat or multi-grain sticks, were absolutely coated in what seemed like a pasty butter to hold on chunks of garlic. It was overpowering and I did not like the texture or taste.

Would I Buy It Again? Absolutely Not! Many places, I am willing to give a second chance to but this place was so far off target and the cost being twice as much as chain pizza and not being as good was a complete disappointment. The difference I tasted was not a good one. You can get much better breadsticks for $3.99 a block away at HotBox Pizza. As for the pizza, if you want a great thin crust pizza that is of high quality and loaded with toppings and plentiful cheese in the same price range, check out these two reviews I did at Greek’s and Nancy’s Pizza in Fishers.

-EatHSE

Buttitta’s Pizzeria
12664 East 116th Street
Fishers, Indiana 46037
http://www.buttittaspizzeria.com

I was sitting at home like a loser on a recent Saturday night wondering what I was going to have for dinner and one of my dork friends kept texting me about how he was going to have an awesome night of eating Ale Emporium pizza and wings at his house since his wife was out of town and he was at home watching their infant daughter.  After thinking about it for a while, his pizza and wings dinner started to make me hungry for the same thing, so I decided I had to get my hands on some as well.  Since I wanted something that was not a chain and also something that was from a place I had never been, I was led to Buttitta’s Pizzeria.  Buttitta’s is a small family-owned shop that replaced a previous pizza place in the same location and their specialty is thin crust, New York-style pizza.  Their tagline is “Real Italian, by Real Italians!”  With that kind of tagline, you’ve got to be intrigued, right?  So, I ended up going to their store (they do have in store dining for about 40-50 people, by the way) and ended up ordering up some pizza and wings from their moderately diverse (for a pizzeria) menu.  When I was leaving with my carryout, one of the servers asked me if this was my first time visiting and I said it was and she said that I was going to love it.  With that ringing endorsement (there was also a decent crowd dining in the store), I was anxious to get home and try it out.

What I Got:  Individual (10″) Fungi Pizza; $11.95, as well as 15 chicken wings; $10.50 ($0.70 each).

Let’s start with the pizza first.  I was feeling frisky, so I went with one of their gourmet pizzas called the “Fungi.”  The Fungi is made up of mushrooms, sausage, onion, garlic olive oil and mozzarella cheese and when I saw those first two ingredients, I knew I had to have it because those are my two favorite pizza ingredients.  Unfortunately, what I didn’t realize when I ordered because my reading comprehension skills are obviously lacking is that the garlic olive oil is actually the “sauce” for this pizza.  That’s right, this pizza does not have tomato sauce.  Oops.  When I opened up the box, I’ve got to say that I was very disappointed that there was no tomato sauce, but since this was caused by my own stupidity, I’ve got no one to blame for this but myself.  That said, the pizza did smell DELICIOUS and once I got past the lack of tomato sauce, it wasn’t that bad.  The ingredients that were on the pizza were delicious and the sausage and garlic provided a nice spice and kick to the flavor.  The crust itself was thin, flavorful and flexible like  you would expect a New York-style pizza to be.  Unfortunately, the lack of tomato sauce ruined this one for me and I didn’t like it.   That one’s on me though and not Buttita’s, because everything was executed exactly like they said it would be.  It was just a matter of personal taste.  By the way, a 10″ individual pizza (I question that measurement) is not a good sized pizza for someone that is a fairly decent eater like myself.  It almost felt like I was eating a small appetizer.  Just another disappointment that I had to chalk up.

Next up was the chicken wings and as you can tell from the picture, these are some healthy sized wings so that was a major positive.  They’re also baked as opposed to fried wings.  There’s also no breading on these as it’s just the crispy skin, so I suppose that makes them “healthier” when you compare them to a lot of wings that you get at other places.  They are also seasoned with what I believe to have been garlic and Italian herb seasoning, but I could be mistaken as the flavoring was not powerful enough for me to discern their flavor.  What got me on these though was that they offer several dipping sauces on the side (I chose honey and sweet barbecue sauce; FYI, the sweet barbecue sauce tasted exactly like Sweet Baby Ray’s), but the wings themselves are served “naked”.  I was definitely not expecting that, but again, my lack of reading comprehension skills probably screwed me over on that one.   Regardless, these large wings were tender, meaty and flavorful, so that was very welcome and an excellent taste for my meal.  Also, since these were baked, they weren’t greasy like you might expect from chicken wings (that’s not grease in the picture, it’s one of honey dipping sauces that I spilled), so that was a nice change of pace.  All in all, I wouldn’t rate these wings as being as good as the Ale Emporium’s wings, but they are pretty darn good and definitely better than most places, especially anything you are going to get from a chain delivery place.

Would I Buy It Again?  Have you ever gone to a place that you just know is good but you ordered the wrong thing and didn’t like what you had?  That’s what happened to me at Buttitta’s.  I didn’t like the pizza that I had and the wings were fine, but I just know that if I ordered a more traditional pizza, I’d definitely have a better experience and for that, I’ll say that I’m going to give it another shot before I issue a final yes/no answer.  I have a feeling that this may turn out to be a yes, but I don’t want to say anything official until I actually find out.  That said, judging by the cult like following that it had from its guests and servers, I would definitely say that you should give it a shot and see what you think of it yourself.

-IndianapolisEater

Hearthstone Coffee House & Pub
8235 E. 116th St.
Fishers, Indiana 46038
http://www.hearthstonecoffee.com

For months in the Fall of 2011, I drove past the Hearthstone location in Fishers and watched its slow transformation. Opening just after this past Christmas, I have been looking forward to it giving Fishers a new local gathering place a try. Their Facebook page is active and there are constantly new photos posted showing this place to be busy in the evenings with live entertainment multiple nights each week along with trivia nights and open mic nights. For St. Patrick’s Day, Jameson shots will be the special with no minors after 4:00 PM. When the Starbuck’s drive through was packed, I decided to stop by and give Hearthstone a try for breakfast.

What I Drank: Large Tanzanian Peaberry Coffee; $2.50.

I like bold “diesel fuel” coffee with enough caffeine to get any sleep-deprived human rolling in the morning and Sumatra at Starbuck’s is usually my choice. I ask what the strongest coffee they had brewed that morning was and the Tanzania was poured for me. At $2.50, it is slightly more expensive than a Venti at Starbucks. However, I would be more than happy to pay that extra any day with the quality of the travel cup their coffee was served in. The container was firm and there was no flex to the lid making you feel like the lid would pop off at any time like a Venti at Starbuck’s. The coffee was bold but smooth and did not have any of that burnt taste you sometimes get from a Starbuck’s. The Tanzania is one of the best cups of black coffee I have had and I will go back for more.

What I Ate: Flatbread Caprese; $2.99.

The Caprese is a toasted flatbread with melted mozzarella, egg white, fresh basil and fresh tomato slice. I am a meat eater but decided to go with the healthier option since I was on my way to work from the gym. The tomato was ripe and fresh and it was toasted just long enough not to make the tomato mushy but still melting the cheese but not allow the egg to get rubbery. I really enjoyed having something different for breakfast that was somewhat healthy.

Would I Buy It Again? Yes. I enjoyed everything that I ordered and the service was friendly and local. Hearthstone fits a unique niche in Fishers providing quality drinks including some interesting specially cocktails, shoots and a wide range of coffee drinks you would find at any other coffee house while offering a limited food menu and keeping the focus to what they do best. Drinks and entertainment. One addition they could provide to their drink menu would be to add and specialize in serving good Irish Coffee. It is one of my favorite drinks and would make it a destination for many people. I sent an email to their owners to see if they offered them and they were just not on the menu or if they would consider adding Irish coffee to the menu. Their website indicates they want feedback and I think it is disappointing that I have not gotten a response. So yes, I would buy it again but will not give it a full endorsement until Irish Coffee hits their menu.

-EatHSE

Nickel Plate Bar & Grill
8654 East 116th Street
Fishers, Indiana 46038
http://www.nickelplatebarandgrill.com/

When people talk about the Nickel Plate Bar & Grill, they usually mention the breaded tenderloin sandwich because that is what they are known for.  I’ve personally had it several times in the pre-blog and have enjoyed it each time that I’ve had it, but I’ve talked to and read posts by several people that did not enjoy their experience with the sandwich.  Based on the fact that the breaded tenderloin was in the Super 46 Sandwich Contest, I ventured to the restaurant with my mom and her husband recently with every intention of having one and reviewing it for the blog. Sometimes our best intentions get foiled though and that was the case in this visit.  My mom, as per usual since she thinks she’s figured out the restaurant “game”, immediately asked the server what menu items were best.  The server recommended the several things, including the Buffalo Chicken wrap, and while I had every intention of getting a tenderloin, my eyes kept gravitating toward the wrap on the menu and I finally pulled the trigger.  I know I’m a weak-minded dope for doing that, but it’s my problem, I suppose.

What I Got:  Buffalo Chicken Wrap with Fries; $7.99 + $2.99 = $10.98

If I had any sort of intelligence (my waffling on menu choices has already proven that I don’t), I would have done the smart thing and gotten a picture that shows the interior ingredients of the wrap.  Since I lack several brain cells, I’ll just use Nickel Plate’s description from their menu:  “Breaded strips of chicken dipped in buffalo sauce and diced with salad greens, cheese, red onion and tomato, wrapped in a flour tortilla shell.”  I can confirm all of that was in there and it was in good size proportions and I didn’t feel shorted on anything.

In terms of the taste, this one was actually pretty good.  There was nothing surprising and the vegetation was fairly fresh, especially for February, so all in all, this was a good combination.  The buffalo chicken tenders were moist and perfectly cooked and the heat level was spicy, but not particularly overwhelming.  If you ate this alone with out any sort of dipping sauce, the heat might affect you a bit, but if you use some Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing (I used Blue Cheese), the coolness of those dressings is going to perfectly offset that spice that the Buffalo sauce brings to the table.  The whole wrap was a fairly large size as well, so you certainly are getting an ample meal with this, especially when you add the serving of fries (they were standard, salty stuff like you’d expect fries to be).  All in all, I have to credit our server because her recommendation was fairly dead on.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, I would get this wrap again, although next time I go to the Nickel Plate, I hope I am mentally strong enough to get the breaded tenderloin and do a review for the site, because it seems like one of the real gaping review holes that we have on this site.  Of course, if I’m mentally weak again, as I often am, I wouldn’t feel one bit bad about drifting back to this wrap because it was a thoroughly enjoyable meal.

-IndianapolisEater

Asia Bistro
7426 Fishers Station Drive
Fishers, Indiana 46038
http://www.asiabistrofishers.com

In what is becoming almost a monthly Sunday night tradition, it was time for me to venture out again for some Chinese takeout and since I was spending some time with my mom and her husband at their house, we decided to try out one of the relatively new takeout places in her area, Asia Bistro.  Since it was my first time trying the place, I decided to go with one of my “testing” Chinese dishes and got…

What I Got:  Quart of General Tso’s Chicken (comes with white rice); $8.95.

As you can see from my very “arty” photo, the dish comes with a quart of General Tso’s chicken mixed with broccoli and then a smaller pint sized container of white rice.  Visually, there’s not a whole lot there.  The chicken bits were covered in a sticky sauce and there were noticeable red pepper flakes in the sauce on the chicken (you can also see them on the broccoli in the picture above).  One thing I did notice that the chicken was particularly soft and the breading of the chicken was also soft as well.  I’m all for tender chicken, but not for mushy breading, so I was little worried as I got ready to eat this one.

My worry subsided a bit, but I can honestly say I was not particularly impressed with this version of General Tso’s chicken.  It’s not that it was overwhelmingly bad, but it wasn’t overwhelmingly good either…it was just edible.  The thick sauce was neither overly spicy, nor overly sweet, but instead somewhere in the middle.  When you order something like General’s chicken, you’d like the sauce to be one of those things (I prefer the spicier version), but this one was neither and that was a big disappointment.  As suspected, the chicken was tender and that was nice, but the breading was soft and doughy and since I like a bit of crunch in my General’s chicken, I really missed that.  All in all, this was just boring.

Would I Buy It Again?  No to the General’s Chicken and probably not to Asia Bistro.  Just too boring and not really worth a purchase.  If I want Chinese food, I don’t want to be bored by it and Asia Bistro gave me that sensation.  The name of this place is deceiving, because this is not what you think of when you think of “bistro quality” food.

As an aside on some of the other menu items, my mom and her husband got different dishes and my mom’s response to her Shrimp with Lobster Sauce was “I’ve been eating this for forty years and this is the worst I’ve ever had” and her husband’s response to his Roast Pork Lo Mein was virtually the same as my review of my food as he said his was “bland.”  Not exactly a ringing endorsement of a place, eh?

-IndianapolisEater

Mexico City Grill
11653 Fishers Station Drive
Fishers, IN 46038
http://www.mexicocitygrill.com

Saturday night brought me to a restaurant location that EatHSE has reviewed on this blog before, Mexico City Grill.  I have been to this restaurant several times before and always ordered the same thing, so I figured I would mix it up a bit this time and order something different and do a review.  I reiterate the chips and salsa part of his review, so I’ll just stick to what I got as my entree and here we go…

What I Got:  Pollo Loco; ~$9.50 (can’t remember the exact price and the menu is not posted online for me to verify).

My outstanding three years of Spanish in high school tells me that Pollo Loco loosely translates in English to “crazy chicken” so I was handed a seasoned and grilled chicken breast served with Mexican rice, lettuce, two avocado slices and pico de gallo.  Served on the side were three warm flour tortillas (not in the photo).  If you can’t tell in the picture, this chicken breast was pounded thin and when I say thin, I mean extremely thin.  Frankly, it was so thin that it was borderline comical and I’ve got to say that I was disappointed in how absurd it was.  I guess the thinness of this chicken breast was the loco part because no one in their right mind should pound a chicken breast that thin unless they are telling a joke.

I was disappointed in the flavor as well because while the seasoning was nice, the chicken breast was pounded so thin that it probably took about 7.3 seconds to grill and that was about 2.5 seconds too long because they dried this one out quickly.  When I was able to mix the chicken with the rest of the plate in a flour tortilla it was palatable, but once I ran out of tortillas and had to start eating just the chicken breast, I was pretty disappointed because not only was it dry, but it was also tough.  What a major, hardcore disappointment.

The remainder of the dish was pretty much standard stuff.  The avocado slices were nice and I always appreciate that and the rice, while fluffy did taste as if it was made in a big batch and then kept in a warmer tray for a long period of time.  Thankfully, it hadn’t dried out yet and was still flavorful with a bit of spice too it, but it was nothing to write home about.  The pico de gallo had a slight tang, but again, nothing to write home about.  All of this stuff wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad either.  It just existed.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes to Mexico City Grill, but no specifically to the Pollo Loco dish.  I have had good meals at Mexico City Grill (the dish with seasoned pork chunks is my go-to dish, but I can’t remember the name and the lack of menu stops me from looking it up), so I’ll just stick to the stuff that I know well and like and not venture out again next time.  I know that there is a large seafood tortilla that my mom and her husband swear by too, so they do have good dishes here.  Unfortunately, I chose one of the dishes that is not one of those good ones.  Oh well, you live and learn.

-IndianapolisEater

The Roost
7371 East 116th Street
Fishers, Indiana  46038
http://www.sahms.com/index.php?cID=74

Some of my friends and I have started a tradition within the past couple years where we take it easy on New Year’s Eve and do our partying on New Year’s Day while watching football.  This past New Year’s Day was the second year that we have done that, so naturally after a day of adult beverages, I was feeling the need for a nice, greasy breakfast and that led me to meet my mom and her husband at The Roost in Fishers (part of the local Sahm’s restaurant group).  EatHSE has previously reviewed The Roost, so I felt that I should order something different from what he got so that we can get some blog review variety and that led me to…

What I Got:  Jose Salsa Skillet; $7.69.  ”Two poached eggs served over chorizo sausage, hash browns, fresh salsa, and topped with mozzarella and cheddar cheese.  Served with warm flour tortillas.”

You can’t really tell in my picture because of my expert photography skills and also the way the dish was constructed with everything piled in a skillet (I would estimate it was roughly eight inches in diameter), but I can confirm that all the ingredients listed in the menu description were in fact present.

In terms of taste, a lot of the ingredients were difficult to distinguish (the two different types of cheese, for example), but when all added together this was a tasty dish.  With my tortillas (think one large tortilla cut in half to make two), I made two breakfast “burritos” by scooping the contents of my skillet into each one.  When I bit into my homemade burrito, I immediately tasted the spice of the chorizo and being that spicy food does not affect me in the slightest bit most of the time, I rather enjoyed this little kick.  My next immediate taste was the salsa and I can’t confirm for sure, but I do believe The Roost’s claims that it was fresh because the tomatoes had a nice firmness to them and it felt like they added a little onion and cilantro into the salsa to add a little extra zing.  This was all topped off by the mix of eggs and potatoes and then topped by two gluttonous melted cheeses.  Basically, this was a comfort food classic treat with a hint of Mexican flair and after a long night of consumption, this is a nice mix.  My only complaint is that somehow this dish lacked a bit of salt (I’ve come to like my potato products to be extra salty), but a few shakes of the salt shaker quickly solved that problem.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, I would.  A lot of times breakfast can just be a compilation of bland foods thrown together and without the chorizo and salsa, I think this skillet would have fallen victim to that.  But, when you add in those two key components to bring an extra spice and zing to the dish, you really end up with a winner that I would recommend to anyone that can handle a little spice in their life.

-IndianapolisEater

Golden Wok
8350 East 96th Street
Fishers, Indiana  46037

We’ve been doing a lot of Chinese takeout place reviews here recently and that is a good thing, but I always appreciate knowing about good Chinese food.  That said, have you ever tried to find one that actually delivers?  It seems like it would be an easy task, but when you live in the Castleton area like I do, it’s really not.  On a recent Saturday, I was having auto issues and therefore was kind of tied down to having food delivered because I didn’t feel like cooking.  I didn’t want pizza, chicken wings or any other sort of concoction that a pizza delivery place would offer and I was feeling like Chinese, so I embarked on a quest to find a place that delivered.  After calling five different places, I finally found a place that delivered:  Golden Wok.  I had Golden Wok years ago, so technically this is not a “new” review, but since it has been so long, I would classify this as basically a first time offering (later when I got their menu after the delivery, it said they were under new ownership, so it ends up that this could be classified as a new review).

What I Got:  Roast Pork Lo Mein combination dinner; $6.99.  Includes entree, pork fried rice, egg roll and egg drop soup.

I’ve discussed how I test out a Chinese place on a first time visit before on this blog and using that criteria (“staple” dishes like General’s chicken or Lo Mein), I decided to order one of my basic standby orders, Roast Pork Lo Mein.  As you can see from the picture above, the Roast Pork Lo Mein combination comes with quite a variety of food and frankly, it comes in HUGE portions.  On the size-to-value scale, you definitely are a leg up on the competition here.

Unfortunately, that’s where any legs up ended because this food wasn’t even average.  It wasn’t horrible, but I would classify it as below average.  If a “C” grade is average, then I give this a “C-”.  The Roast Pork Lo Mein itself was bland, dry and the meat was tough.  The pork fried rice faced the same problems and that was not appetizing at all as it was as if I was chewing on crunchy, not fully cooked rice as opposed to soft,  pillowy rice as I would prefer.  The egg roll was also one of the greasiest egg rolls that I’ve ever had in my life and I honestly felt like taking a shower after eating it to get all the grease off of me.  Yuck.  The only thing that I found even remotely appealing about all the options was the egg drop soup and frankly, it was just average at best.  It lacked salt (a recurring theme in ALL the items) and the broth was a thick texture, which was unexpected and sort of odd.  The best compliment I can give the soup was that at least it was hot.

Would I Buy It Again?  No.   Huge portions are a good thing sometimes when they are good, but in this case, all the huge portions did was give me more bland, flavorless food to eat.  I definitely was not excited after this meal and I don’t think anyone else would be either.

The problem here is that it may be the only delivery option in my area and that could be a major problem.  Does anyone else know of Chinese places that deliver in the Castleton area?  I’d be indebted for life if someone could help me out here because I’m sure this won’t be the last time that I’m feeling lazy and don’t want to go get my own Chinese food.

-IndianapolisEater