By Dan Domsic
The battle over pizza crust has been waged by pie-powerhouses Chicago and New York, but a competitor from the West Coast has entered the fight for Fishers’ taste buds.
Family trio Darin, Bruce and Linda Mathews are the proprietors of Extreme Pizza, 8938 E. 96th St., a franchise originally from San Francisco.
After spending time in California, Darin brought the franchise back with him.
The family is originally from Goshen, a town far to the north they said was hit hard by economic downturn. They looked around Indianapolis and Broad Ripple before locating their new venture at the 96th Street location.
The trio said their ingredients are prepared fresh in house, with the exception of the gluten-free crust.
That means shredding a lot of cheese themselves.
“Everything is about as fresh as you can possibly imagine,” Darin said. “So basically, it’s taking ingredients that all mix really well with palates and indulging in them instead of adding a bunch of processed stuff to make it actually taste good.”
Toppings and combinations depart from the normal sausage and pepperoni, although the mainstays are available. Even Hawaiian style has company in terms of different toppings at Extreme Pizza. One pizza, the Hanoi Fever, features shredded pork marinated in spicy hoisin-style sauce, jalapenos, peanuts, mozzarella, green onions, carrots and cilantro.
Other odd ingredients not commonly found in a classic pizza pie available at Extreme Pizza include broccoli, Mandarin oranges, artichoke hearts, roasted walnuts and more.
All those ingredients sit atop either a classic, wheat or gluten-free crust. There is only one type of crust thickness, thin, which Linda describes as both crispy and chewy.
Darin said one of his favorite parts about running the business is getting to know the regulars that come into the pizza joint, as well as seeing it grow.
Extreme Pizza Info Box:
Hours:
Sunday through Thursday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday through Saturday: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
8938 E. 96th St.
578-8400
Delivery available