Aaron Landry

Za’s Pizza Pub, Louisville, Kentucky, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

I took a pizza tour of Louisville with my friend Sarah. You’re probably thinking that Louisville isn’t a place you’d go to find great pizza. Well, you’re probably right. But even with that being said, there are a few good nooks and a couple local chains that will do well if you’re in the Louisville area.

First off, I should mention that the Papa John’s franchise is based in Louisville and the first Papa John’s started in part of a pub on the other side of the river in Jeffersonville, IN. As well, Yum! Brands, which Pizza Hut is a subsidiary of is also based out of Louisville. There is no shortage of those two chains in the area. I didn’t visit either of them. I did take a 5-day, 5-pizza trip around that seemed to progress rather well to some of the best pizza I’ve eaten in Louisville.

Our first pizza was at The Bodega at Felice. They’re not a pizza place but a “market, delicatessen and coffee bar.” Pizza was on the menu though as a speciality and I couldn’t resist getting their Artichoke and Feta Pizza. It came unexpectedly without mozzarella and was just warm enough, but not hot. A light lunch-time treat but not a pizza I’d go out and seek regularly. Satisfying and the ingredients tasted fresh. Again, The Bodega is geared to be a coffee bar and market and doesn’t specialize in pizza. I almost picked up some Ale-8-One at their market on my way out and Sarah got a very nice free refill of her iced coffee for the road. Great service.

The Bodega at Felice
829 E Market Street
Suite D
Louisville, KY 40206
502-569-4100

The second pizza was at Bearno’s Pizza. A local chain of about fifteen locations, we visited their location in Fern Creek. Service was friendly and fast once our waitress saw that we snuck in. We ordered water and I haven’t seen water served in such large cups with two lemon slices. We saw their pizza buffet and decided to pass on it and get our own. Our pizza was filling and what you’d expect for an inexpensive and campy pizza parlor. Not much to report honestly other than the pizza worked out well and I’d go back.

Bearno’s Pizza
6101 Bardstown Rd
Louisville, KY 40291
502-231-2222

Our third pizza was at another local chain, Tony Boombozz. Their Highlands location on the corner of Bardstown and Eastern was geared mostly for delivery but had a few tables to sit for the starving. That applied to us. The menu at Boombozz was a bit unexpected: not very traditional and more of a Californian style. Our plates were simply small pizza pans and our eating utensils were in a plastic bag with a napkin and a packet of sugar and salt, reminding me that they are really geared for take-out and delivery at that location. When our Feta and Artichoke Pizza (yes, again) arrived, it seemed perfect! There was a perfection to it’s roundness and thickness to its crust that was pretty surprising. Even the evenness of the ingredients seemed calculated and the slices seemed to be cut perfectly. Despite it being served on a piece of corrugate, Boombozz was the best pizza I had had in Louisville so far. A fantastic balance of ingredients and flavors. Great crust too. Even though we were full after eating most of it, we were both tempted to finish the pizza off because it was quite good. We played smart and took our extra two slices home and they reheated quite well.

Tony Boombozz
1448 Bardstown Rd
Louisville, KY 40204
502-458-8889

Our forth pizza, on New Year’s Eve, was at Za’s Pizza Pub. First off, Za’s has by far the best beer selection that I could have imagined in Louisville. A number of great beers on tap and a comparatively long list of bottles. They recently replaced their Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter tap (seriously, it was in their menu, in print!) with Köstritzer Schwarzbier (holy shit, as I found out, even better!). I’ll have that, thanks. Sarah and I had their Six Cheese ZA, just to see what would happen. Well, we got a pizza with an obnoxious amount of cheese. It was good, but I guess we got what we asked for: too much cheese. Granted, the parmesan was there to “turn five into six” as Sarah joked, but even then it was cheese overload. I’m a hack pizza turophile though so I didn’t have any problem with it. Atmosphere in Za’s was very comfortable and a place I’d go simply to drink at the bar. I really enjoyed the pizza a lot but they win the drink menu prize for sure.

Za’s Pizza Pub
1573 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY 40205
502-434-4344

We ended up on my last day at Wick’s Pizza Parlor. They have four locations in the area and we visited their Highlands location. They have large murals on the walls showing a scene from Churchill Downs and Thunder over Louisville, a local fireworks and air display. Some of the staff had tie-dye shirts with the Wick’s logo on the back. People coming in and out seemed to know each other more often than not. We got their Pepperoni Pizza and it was tasty but a tad bit heavy on the cheese. I realized that it must be the style around here! (I didn’t mind, but if you grew up in Chicago I don’t think Louisville would be your place to dine out for pizza.) We ordered hard ciders and without specifying a size they came in really large glasses. Satisfying and very tasty. Service was very fast.

Wick’s Pizza
975 Baxter Avenue
Louisville, KY 40204
502-458-1828

One place that I am aware of that I missed is Chubby Ray’s, but I’m generally not a big sports bar fan anyway. Overall a great pizza tour and it worked out as a great compliment to touring around area distilleries, downtown Louisville, cafés and other sights on my trip.