BoomBozz Taphouse (Westfield/Carmel, IN)

Ah, Carmel. Type-A personalities, fake plastic trees, Land Rovers. 

Indiana's answer to Overland Park, Kansas also happens to be one of those "designed" places where no structure built before 1996 is permitted to mar the visitor's view of geometrically-perfect landscaping, thoughtful traffic circles, and restaurants with a cute little tagline under the title (JiveBar: Explore Fresh).

BoomBozz Taphouse, a sort of Indiana-Kentucky franchise with locations in Jeffersonville, Indiana and all around the Louisville metro-area, is fairly typical of the new breed of corporate restaurant chains, which (surprise!) I don't necessarily think is a bad thing. Especially not when the pizza is this good. 

The massive menu lists upwards of 30 different specialty pies, including the half-and-half Portobello Bello and Primavera (pictured), alongside a customizable universe of build-your-own pizza permutations, even Old World and New York Style. Can't decide? You can half-n-half any pizza for about a buck more.    

The Portobello Bello boasts sliced Portobello mushrooms, roasted red peppers, spinach, mozzarella, Asiago, and Fontina cheeses, whereas the Primavera is a beautiful melange of artichokes, mushrooms, spinach, Roma tomatoes, roasted red bell peppers, onions, black olives, and just about any other veggie topping you could come up with.    

A late-15th century fresco
thought to be the
earliest depiction of
Fontina cheese.
God bless Wikipedia!  

Other innovative custom creations include the Fire Roasted Fajita (grilled chicken, roasted peppers and onions, and a side of garlic sour cream) and the Chicken Sausage Peppadew. On the opposite pole of the herbivore-carnivore spectrum is a dish our bartender heartily recommended, the Carnitas Libre, which consists of slow simmered carnitas with creamy Ranchero sauce, caramelized peppers and onions, Romas, cilantro, and a blend of mozzarella and Asiago. All this and a side of garlic sour cream and green chili jam. (Southerners: the chili jam is quite similar to chow-chow and amazing as a pizza crust dipper.) 

Let's not forget, of course, that "BoomBozz" is only half of the title; this joint also touts itself a "taphouse," a term that suggests loads of good beer and maybe even a knowledgeable clan of beer-enthusiastic bartenders.

On this score, BoomBozz delivers. In addition to their respectable roster of familiar homegrown beers (Triton, Sun King, Flat 12, Fountain Square), the rest of the draught list features popular regional and national microbrews: Three Floyds, Upland, Oskar Blues, and so forth. Friendly, attentive bartenders abound.

I'm not one to be impressed with corporate-style restaurant layouts; typically, I'm much more at home with the grungy vibe of a blue collar mom-and-pop joint or traditional pizza pub (as documented here and here). But the layout is smart. The large dining area, which is separate from the rear bar space, keeps the families and the $650 strollers at a safe distance. This is a nice consideration if you'd rather not try to eat while some toddling, future-Eli Lilly exec gives everyone in the restaurant a blow-by-blow of whatever he's watching on his greasy iPad.

Boombozz rates a return visit. And as corporate pizza goes, I find it far superior to the vastly overrated Pizzology (review forthcoming). 

Class=Rf.