The following “CHEW THAT!” column originally appeared in “The Courier-Times” and / or “The Shelbyville News”. Check their websites for further information.
“CHEW THAT”
Art’s Pizza
Blaise Doubman
I am first to admit that I love all pizza. Pinepple? Sure! Sardines? Sure! I am open and willing to try it all. From breakfast pizza made with a biscuit crust, county style white gravy with crumbled sausage, bacon and scrambled egg to pizza with smoked salmon and caviar. Really, for me anyways, there is no “bad pizza”. Now, I will say that if you serve me a pizza that has zero flavor, is under cooked or over cooked, I will not enjoy that pizza. Under no circumstances. It is a fine line and I am sure many of you out there will agree and know exactly what I am talking about. No, I am not picky when it comes to pizza but I believe there are better ones than others.
If I go over the pizza “memories” from my life, I would have to start at the beginning with everyone’s favorite, school pizza. Don’t even try to deny that either. Everyone loved school pizza. I went to Kennard, then later Knightstown and their pizzas were amazing. Rectangular shaped frozen pizzas with maybe 6-7 little pieces of sausage on top. Most generally always served with corn and milk. What I wouldn’t give to go back to those simpler times in my life. Everyone on social media claims to know where to buy the school pizzas too. They don’t! Trust me, I have followed, bought and tried. Not the same. And then you have the people who are sharing recipes of how to make them at home. These pizzas served to us at school were far from homemade! Keep your yeast, sugar, flour, homemade tomato sauce and self-shredded cheese to yourself. When I am wanting school pizza, I am wanting school pizza!
My next memories from there, speaking of homemade pizza, would have to be from my Mom and both of my Grandma’s. Homemade pizza. This “homemade pizza” was technically homemade but it came in a box. You added water and the sauce was in a can. Was it good? Delicious! I have really fond memories of “pizza throw downs” and things of that nature with the “homemade pizza” kits. I bought one the other day just for memories and it was good but the lack of youth and good times and memories just didn’t shine through the way. I had hoped.
Skip ahead a few years and I’m making my own dough and have eaten and tried just about every pizza place known to man. Every where locally and far. Local favorites like Jeff’s, Pizza King, Suzie’s, Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Noble Roman’s, Papa Pepperoni and on and on are delicious but one of the “locals” really holds a special place. That would be Art’s Pizza.
Art’s Pizza has 2 locations in Anderson. One on Broadway Street, which is the “original” location and one on Scatterfield Road, which is the one I frequent the most often. Art’s was started in 1956 by Arthur Portwood and his first shop was at the corner of 13th and Fletcher Street, right in Anderson. In the 1960’s he moved to the corner of Broadway and Vineyard Avenue and was ran by Harold Portwood. That location only had five tables, was constantly crowded and continued on for four decades. Then in 1996, they moved a block north to one of their current locations now. When Harold passed away, his daughter, Nayleen and her husband Scott took over and have owned and operated since. In 2010, they opened their second location, on Scatterfield Road, right in front of Wal-Mart. Their Broadway location is located at 2027 Broadway Street. Closed Monday, Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday they are open from 11am-10pm. Friday and Saturday they are open from 11am-11pm. Their Scatterfield location is located at 4762 South Scatterfield Road. They are closed Mondays. Open on Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday 11am-10pm. Friday and Saturdays 11am-11pm.
What makes their Scatterfield location extra special, to me anyways, is a number of reasons. My friend, who has since passed away, Cindy Shelton, was the one who first introduced me to Art’s Pizza. She couldn’t believe I had never been and was so excited to take me that first time. She told me how and what to order and explained their secret “Italian Ranch” dressing to me. Which, if you go, I highly recommend this as your dipping sauce for anything and everything! It is their homemade ranch dressing mixed with the beef drippings from their famous roast beef!
After Cindy spilled her secret with me, Grandma Barbra and I would eat at Art’s every week for years after that. We would jump from one location to the next and even take Cindy there with us sometimes. It became a place where I then in turn would go with my family and eventually even started throwing Birthday parties there, like I did last year for my friend Kevin Vickery. It becomes a family like tradition that everyone loves and really looks forward to.
This location is also home to their infamous buffet! On Tuesdays only, from lunch, 11am-1:30pm and then again for dinner at 5pm-8pm, they offer one of the best pizza buffets I have ever been to! They offer an assortment of pizzas, spaghettis, meatballs, garlic bread, salads and even have a dessert area for their delicious brown sugar dessert pizza! This is not only delicious but also very reasonably priced. It is unique to find a buffet anymore, especially a pizza one.
When I go, I usually always try to get their Italian Roast Beef sandwich. Which is 100% what I would recommend you get! It is served hot with Italian broth and green peppers. It is an experience all on it’s own. It comes to you all wrapped up in paper and the more you unravel it, the more you can smell it and see it and anticipate it. Now, there is a catch to this sandwich. It is a downright, terrible mess to eat. There are no if’s, and’s or but’s about it. You will need a fork and plenty of napkins! If you want to try something else they also offer an Italian sausage sandwich and other varieties of sandwiches such as their ham and cheese, breaded tenderloin, sub, Stromboli, meatball sub, chicken bacon ranch, Philly cheese steak and chicken parm.
They also offer, of course, some of the most deliocus pizza you will ever have! Around the World is my favorite. They top the pizza with sausage, mushroom, green pepper, pepperoni, green olives and onion. Their combination is sausage, mushroom and green pepper. Their Hayes is a combination of sausage, mushroom, green pepper, onion and tomato. Their Pooches is a combination of sausage, pepperoni and ham. They also offer a meatless version or any other topping combination you can create out of their fresh cut toppings. They also offer what they call their “Gourmet Pizzas” which are their Philly cheesesteak pizza, buffalo chicken pizza, spinach tomato bail pesto pizza, barbecue chicken pizza, spaghetti and meatball pizza, cheeseburger pizza and their roast beef pizza.
They also have a full kid’s menu, soft drinks, tea, draft beers, wines and bottled beers. They also offer dessert in the form of a delicious cinnamon and brown sugar dessert pizza as well as a 7-inch chocolate chip pizza. Appetizers are also not to be overlooked with offerings such as their delicious breadsticks, garlic bread, poppers, cheese sticks, Mac and cheese bites, chicken fingers, steak fries, onion rings, boneless wings, fried ravioli, cannelloni bites and pickle chips. They also offer a crispy chicken salad that is wonderful, as well as a garden salad or fresh spinach salad. There is really something fresh and delicious here for everyone.
If you have already tried Art’s Pizza, I hope that may be you will now on your next visit try something that you haven’t tried before. If you’ve never been, what are you waiting on? Go!