We found out about Denver's Garage on Instagram from @mrsbetsyandis and then the next day my Target curbside pickup person saw my Indy Pizza Blog window sticker and said "hey, have you heard of this place in Fortville??" So we put it on the short list and went there last night.
Denver's Garage is located in a refurbished service station from 1956. It's a super cute place that got a writeup from IndianaLandmarks.org. I guess back in the day it was the epitome of a modern service station with a dramatic futuristic looking front canopy and large windows. The refurbished interior has automotive themed decor and different vibes in each of 3 indoor rooms - there's a room with the angled windows where we sat, a room near the kitchen with bright teal booths, and a room in the bar area with high ceilings.
The angled windows out front had a sort of bar top on the inside which was great for people watching and great lighting for photos. You order at the bar or kitchen and then sit with a number. They have domestic and craft beer, and they even have beer from Bad Dad Brewery on tap or in cans.
We started with an order of breadsticks. The naming was a little confusing, they have "Breadsticks" and "Mechanics Breadsticks" - both are the same breadsticks but mechanics breadsticks just means an order of 12 instead of 6. The breadsticks are the same dough as the pizza dough and are hand pulled in irregular sizes slightly on the thinner side.
They are brushed with garlic butter and dusted with parmesan romano cheese. The marinara sauce was really good, it was very fresh tasting and very lightly seasoned so it's more fresh tomato flavor instead of salty. Chris said it smelled like tomato soup. The sticks came out a little too fast so you could tell they had batches of them made ahead of time, and they were chewier than the pizza crust when it came out.
The pizzas come in one size, about 14 inches by our best guess, and we did a lot of debating whether we'd each get our own or split one. I would say two adults could split one like on a date night especially if you also get sticks. We barely finished ours by ourselves, but then again we are pizza eating machines so it may be hard to gauge.
I got the Chicken Bacon Ranch with creamy ranch sauce, diced chicken, crispy bacon, fresh green pepper and sweet onion. I didn't see any green pepper (shrug) but it was still really good. The ranch flavor isn't overpowering or oily and although it looks like a lot of onion it really was pretty balanced. The crust was my favorite part, it came out fluffy and soft, bendable, but firm enough to hold up to the toppings and cooked evenly through to the center. The crust was slightly sweet and buttery too, really good!
Chris got just a plain pepperoni (single toppings are much cheaper). The slightly thicker cut pepperoni were hearty and curled up in the oven. It was obviously a little greasier than my chicken bacon ranch. He loved the pepperoni flavor, fresh real cheese, and the crust as well.
We already have plans to take parents here when they visit from out of town! Add this place to the list of pizza tourism destinations, it's a fun little drive through small town Indiana and a quirky fun place without being over the top. The owners were walking around checking on customers and helped get drinks out when the line backed up - there is a buzz about this place but even when it's busy it doesn't feel crowded.
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