Friday Foodie: Rockstone Pizzeria & Pub

This restaurant is now closed.

One of my favorite parts about visiting other cities is finding out that other places do things just like us! A highlight of my year (actually, twice a year) is Devour Downtown when dozens of restaurants partner up to provide “three course, value-priced meals.” The options include all different styles and budgets, so at some places, two people can eat a three course meal for $25 and at others, one person can eat a three course meal for $55. Lots of choices! It’s a great way to try places you might normally miss and it provides an excuse for going somewhere that might normally be out of the date-night price range.

However, even though I love this Indianapolis tradition, I have the worst luck in picking new places to go. Like, really terrible. I’m actually not sure if I’ve ever gone back to any of my Devour choices. Every year, my friends remind me that there is a reason we have a list of favorite restaurants in the city…and a reason why these new places are not on it.

But this year, I tried to move past my previous disappointments and pick something that sounded pretty reasonable: Rockstone Pizzeria & Pub. I’d seen several new locations pop over across town, I learned the restaurant is owned by the same people as the popular Sahm’s, and I knew a couple of my friends were still alive after checking it out already, so my friend Jessica and I gave the downtown location a try.

Bad choice.

The menu sounded so good! And we had to smell it for 30 minutes while we waited! Breadsticks! Macaroni and cheese! Salads! Wood-fired pizza!

The menu lies.

Breadsticks were weirdly crispy. Dipping cheese was cold. Ok, my Rockstone Salad was pretty decent, so I guess I should give props for that. I ordered a hard cider and was brought the wrong one, which was rectified, but then I couldn’t decide which one tasted worse. We tried the Buffalo Chicken Pizza and the Potato Bacon Pie. Jess was a bit appalled by the dark chicken meat on the pizza and I was a bit bored by the whole ensemble. For dessert, we tried the Apple Calzone a la Mode, which was so gross that we each gave up after taking a bite. Such odd flavors! So bitter! Jess didn’t want to take home any of her leftovers, so Husband had an interesting lunch the next day.

I know everyone has a different pizza perspective, so maybe it’s just the place for you. Or maybe the only thing you’ll like is the side salad. Either way, I don’t think I’ll be returning, but I will be looking forward to Devour Downtown next season and I think I’ll let someone else pick the restaurant next time. Does anyone else have something similar in your city?

Overall Rating: 2/5