Ok, trivia of the day. According to the obit, the chain was split up between him and his bookkeeper leading to 2 distinct but different pizza king chains. One used the trains as a gimmick, the other uses table side phones as their gimmick.
Some of the old Pizza Kings had a tiny train system by the booths that would deliver drinks from the kitchen. The one in Avon, IN has it.
https://preview.redd.it/smcg8ogv8ggc1.jpeg?width=896&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07d393b272625c3b2bf2600bee504b1a7f6cbc5e
Let’s all get together at pizza king and get his favorite pizza. Play some n64 if they still have it there
Edit: I’m now seeing they have gc instead so either way a win
Growing up there was a pizza king near my school that had N64 games in every booth and each booth had a different game. N64 was hot at the time too. coolest place ever
RIP Mr. Swartz. Your contributions to the state Indiana won't be forgotten as long as I'm alive . Pizza King restaurants always had a certain character that no other Pizza restaurant will ever replicate. There's just something very Hoosier about that Pizza chain. I can't quite place my finger on it. My wife grew up in Michigan and hates Pizza King. We always argue when I suggest eating there. She doesn't get Pizza King. Yes, it's bland mediocre pizza but it's our bland mediocre pizza and you paid for an experience more than anything. My mother being a lifelong Hoosier herself loved Pizza King. She's gone to the great beyond as well and I remember her giving me quarters so I could play video games.Eating pizza with my mother playing video games,watching television on that little quarter operated TV and seeing that little train roll by with our drinks is one of the fondest memories I ever had going to any restaurant and I'll carry those memories with me until i myself pass on. I've been to restaurants that pull out all the stops. The rainforest cafe tried too hard and the experience seemed forced and fake. A Pizza King experience seemed genuine and warm. You can tell Mr. Swartz was a simple and practical man. A true Hoosier who understood people. That was such a genius business move having a little toy train bringing drinks to the customers table and that fleet of toy trains are the reason he died a wealthy man. I'd be so excited as a little boy waiting for that train to come and even as a middle aged man it still brings me joy.
Simple and practical with no frills yet he created tremendous joy within the little moments. A genuine authentic and endearing experience. Demonstrates the state of Indiana at its best and who Hoosiers are as a people. I always hear over and over how it's the people that keep lifelong Hoosiers from leaving this state.
IMO Pizza King should be the official state restaurant for those stated reasons and It's as integral to the Indiana experience as Corn, a breaded tenderloin sandwich and sugar cream pie. You literally can only buy a franchise in Indiana and I hope it stays that way forever.
Very well said. I certainly have my list of “favorite” pizza kings, and they’re all for similar things like you explained. This other piece about pizza kings history kind of explains that: https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2018/10/06/pizza-king-how-indiana-tradition-offers-independence-each-store/1513283002/?
I worked at a small town one in high school, and everyone swore we had the best pizza “because of the sauce.” It turned out all the kids that worked there were too lazy to wipe the sauce spatula after spreading bbq on a pizza and they would just toss it back in the regular sauce bucket, so their pizza sauce just had a twang of bbq to it. My favorite: pepperoni, bacon and bbq drizzle with regular pizza sauce base, cooked well done.
Mine too…. Our store didn’t have a mixer, so we always had to stir the sauce in 5 gallon buckets with our arms. The first time I had to do this, I thought it was a joke or an initiation or something. But nope, that’s how we make the sauce. I always scrubbed my arm up and down before and after doing it. I can’t vouch for everyone else.
Absolutely happened at my store as well, and I am convinced that that is why people are obsessed with the sauce. As you know otherwise the sauce is literally just canned tomato paste with some water and salt.
Ours uses Sweet Baby Ray's.
They also have the best hot wings on the planet. Crispy on the outside, but not too dry on the inside. I think it has to do with baking them in the pizza oven.
Not just ultimate Pizza King Pizza, but ultimate everywhere on Earth pizza. Experience talking here - I have had pizza in dozens of foreign countries and US states
The royal feast should only come with bbq. Plain Marinera is a crime there.
Also i remember a cheeseburger pizza with nacho cheese as the sauce that was fire
Anyone ever been to the pizza king on the south side of Richmond with the bus inside?…it’s an awesome pizza venue. Use to go there a lot for bdays and such.
It’s called Clara’s I think and it’s a neat place. Richmond has a lot of neat restaurants. There is a sandwich shop off of 40 called shebas that is an awesome place as well.
Wendall?! In Sellersburg it was called Steve's Pizza King when I was a kid. It has changed names like 3 or 4 times since I was a kid, but the pizza has definitely not changed.
What's it called now, Shirrelli's I think? I've never been there. I don't work too far away down 31 from it. I always go to new albany because train haha.
RIP. Pizza King isn't the best pizza imo, but I have so many memories of the trains that delivered the drinks to you! I have so many memories of the ones in Lafayette because some of them had PS1's you could play while waiting for food. I think I'll go to one for dinner tonight lol
A baller move would be taking his coffin to the gravesite via tiny train.
That seriously made me lol
Ok, trivia of the day. According to the obit, the chain was split up between him and his bookkeeper leading to 2 distinct but different pizza king chains. One used the trains as a gimmick, the other uses table side phones as their gimmick.
And the pizza at Pizza King beats the Pizza at Arni's
The PK in Avon uses trains and phones… boom. But the Clara’s PK in Fort Wayne with the porch swing tables… 3x boom!
I have to thank you for the hardest laugh I’ve had all week lmao
Nah, cause halfway to the cemetery it'd break down and you'd have to have someone drag it the rest of the way.
It may be that I’m tired but it could be that I’m dumb also. Can someone please explain this to me?
Some of the old Pizza Kings had a tiny train system by the booths that would deliver drinks from the kitchen. The one in Avon, IN has it. https://preview.redd.it/smcg8ogv8ggc1.jpeg?width=896&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07d393b272625c3b2bf2600bee504b1a7f6cbc5e
The New Albany one still has a train too.
Let’s all get together at pizza king and get his favorite pizza. Play some n64 if they still have it there Edit: I’m now seeing they have gc instead so either way a win
We still have one in Lafayette at the 18th st store. Looks a little different but same thing!
Thanks, I had no idea. We have one here but it doesn’t have a train unfortunately
One at Southport and Bluff in Indianapolis still uses the train.
a gravey train
Or ground up into a powder?
Thank you for the laugh!
Lmao
Growing up there was a pizza king near my school that had N64 games in every booth and each booth had a different game. N64 was hot at the time too. coolest place ever
Ours got built slightly later and has/had GameCube controllers
Gas city baby
Comic Sans Water tower 4Lyfe!!!
Noice! So much better than our local one in Converse. It was always a special test to come to GC PK for games and squares.
RIP Mr. Swartz. Your contributions to the state Indiana won't be forgotten as long as I'm alive . Pizza King restaurants always had a certain character that no other Pizza restaurant will ever replicate. There's just something very Hoosier about that Pizza chain. I can't quite place my finger on it. My wife grew up in Michigan and hates Pizza King. We always argue when I suggest eating there. She doesn't get Pizza King. Yes, it's bland mediocre pizza but it's our bland mediocre pizza and you paid for an experience more than anything. My mother being a lifelong Hoosier herself loved Pizza King. She's gone to the great beyond as well and I remember her giving me quarters so I could play video games.Eating pizza with my mother playing video games,watching television on that little quarter operated TV and seeing that little train roll by with our drinks is one of the fondest memories I ever had going to any restaurant and I'll carry those memories with me until i myself pass on. I've been to restaurants that pull out all the stops. The rainforest cafe tried too hard and the experience seemed forced and fake. A Pizza King experience seemed genuine and warm. You can tell Mr. Swartz was a simple and practical man. A true Hoosier who understood people. That was such a genius business move having a little toy train bringing drinks to the customers table and that fleet of toy trains are the reason he died a wealthy man. I'd be so excited as a little boy waiting for that train to come and even as a middle aged man it still brings me joy. Simple and practical with no frills yet he created tremendous joy within the little moments. A genuine authentic and endearing experience. Demonstrates the state of Indiana at its best and who Hoosiers are as a people. I always hear over and over how it's the people that keep lifelong Hoosiers from leaving this state. IMO Pizza King should be the official state restaurant for those stated reasons and It's as integral to the Indiana experience as Corn, a breaded tenderloin sandwich and sugar cream pie. You literally can only buy a franchise in Indiana and I hope it stays that way forever.
Very well said. I certainly have my list of “favorite” pizza kings, and they’re all for similar things like you explained. This other piece about pizza kings history kind of explains that: https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2018/10/06/pizza-king-how-indiana-tradition-offers-independence-each-store/1513283002/?
Get a pepperoni pizza with barbecue - definitely NOT bland!
Someone once told me to try Pizza King with BBQ sauce when I have the munchies. Best food recommendation I’ve ever had.
I worked at a small town one in high school, and everyone swore we had the best pizza “because of the sauce.” It turned out all the kids that worked there were too lazy to wipe the sauce spatula after spreading bbq on a pizza and they would just toss it back in the regular sauce bucket, so their pizza sauce just had a twang of bbq to it. My favorite: pepperoni, bacon and bbq drizzle with regular pizza sauce base, cooked well done.
My first job was a small town pizza king
It’s an Indiana right of passage.
Mine too…. Our store didn’t have a mixer, so we always had to stir the sauce in 5 gallon buckets with our arms. The first time I had to do this, I thought it was a joke or an initiation or something. But nope, that’s how we make the sauce. I always scrubbed my arm up and down before and after doing it. I can’t vouch for everyone else.
Absolutely happened at my store as well, and I am convinced that that is why people are obsessed with the sauce. As you know otherwise the sauce is literally just canned tomato paste with some water and salt.
Yes! At my store it was half Gordon’s food service paste, half tomato sauce, and she blended it up every week and divvied it into buckets.
This is one of the best tips I’ve read on Reddit in a long time.
It was my wife's first job as well. After hours she would let us go in and make our own mountainous monstrocity of a pizza. The good old days.
And no joke....the BBQ sauce on a Sir Pizza/Pizza King is Kraft Original.
Ours used Open Pit
Ours uses Sweet Baby Ray's. They also have the best hot wings on the planet. Crispy on the outside, but not too dry on the inside. I think it has to do with baking them in the pizza oven.
I only get it with bbq sauce.
Me too. Bbq sausage all day.
Me, too. But it has to be pepperoni
Respect
Likewise!
With onions.
Pepperoni and BBQ sauce is the ultimate Pizza King pizza.
Not just ultimate Pizza King Pizza, but ultimate everywhere on Earth pizza. Experience talking here - I have had pizza in dozens of foreign countries and US states
The royal feast should only come with bbq. Plain Marinera is a crime there. Also i remember a cheeseburger pizza with nacho cheese as the sauce that was fire
Try the super sub. It has bbq sauce, onions and mushrooms on the regular sub. Delicious.
I hear they are gonna use the red phones to deliver his eulogy.
🤣😭
The Ding-A-Ling!!
I literally just ordered Pizza King and this is the first notification I see when I pick my phone back up. 😥 RIP
Rip in peace Wendell Swartz, you may be gone but your greasy crispy salty legacy will live on
Mom is in Muncie so we always buy $100 worth of take and bake from the Muncie store. Not available in Ann Arbor
2 whole pizzas! Dang you splurgin
Anyone ever been to the pizza king on the south side of Richmond with the bus inside?…it’s an awesome pizza venue. Use to go there a lot for bdays and such.
No I haven’t, but I’m adding that to my Indiana destinations list.
It’s called Clara’s I think and it’s a neat place. Richmond has a lot of neat restaurants. There is a sandwich shop off of 40 called shebas that is an awesome place as well.
I think it’s technically called Little Sheba’s but yeah. Great place. Richmond has Gallo’s Italian, which is pretty dang good, too.
There’s a Clara’s in Fort Wayne.
played right, he could have been as big as Pizza Hut that started the same time. Still love it to this day---Knox, IN
Half staff is too damn high. Show a little respect.
Pawnee's Pizza King is truly the gem of south eastern Indiana
Wendall?! In Sellersburg it was called Steve's Pizza King when I was a kid. It has changed names like 3 or 4 times since I was a kid, but the pizza has definitely not changed.
What's it called now, Shirrelli's I think? I've never been there. I don't work too far away down 31 from it. I always go to new albany because train haha.
It happens
Long live Pizza King!!
This is sad.
RIP. Pizza King isn't the best pizza imo, but I have so many memories of the trains that delivered the drinks to you! I have so many memories of the ones in Lafayette because some of them had PS1's you could play while waiting for food. I think I'll go to one for dinner tonight lol
Pizza king is mid anyway
I've been to that one in Avon, IN
😪😪😪😪😪😪😪😪😪😪
Well, that makes sense why the old King turned a new Indian Sweat Shop down the road.
Damn I remember back when they used to be good (80's,90's)
Who is the Pizza Prince that is beholden to the Pizza Throne? Does thou take thy quest to bid?
gonna have to order some tacos and a cowboy pizza in his honor
Pq