Dining Out: Noble Roman's (Kokomo, IN)

Oh I'll carpe it. Don't you worry.

 

Exterior: 3/5

Ah, a strip mall at twilight.

I'd imagine that the exterior of the restaurant in pretty restricted in decor since it's just one storefront in a line of connected businesses. But their logo is clear and the sign is lit up in the dark, like a pizza beacon.

Ambiance: 4/5

Looking in toward the counter where you order plus drinks and salad bar.

Clean and classy. 

You can tell they've put thought into the design here and made an effort to look like a gathering place rather than just a hole-in-the-wall pizza outlet. I enjoyed the decor for being themed to a point but not overwhelming. The really tall booths were also a plus. I was sad to see as many empty booths as we did, though, because we went on a Saturday night. I'm not sure how much business they do with delivery and pickup, so they may have a substantial customer base that way.

Variety: 4/5

They had a handful of craft beers on tap along with the usual domestics.

The salad bar seemed to be a draw.

To give you some background on Noble Roman's, it's a regional chain that had a gimmick, back in the day, of putting a giant bloop of pizza sauce on top of the cheese in the middle of the pizza. (If they still did that I would probably not eat there.) They've branched out over the years to do "craft pizza," which means they have distinct specialty pies with hipster toppings like pickles and fancy jalapenos and grapes. If you're not a pizza person they do pasta, sandwiches, salads, and wings as well, although the selection there isn't as broad or creative as the pizzas. The beer list didn't have the breadth I expected from a place that bills itself as a pub, but what they had was tasty and emphasized local breweries.

Quality: 3/5

The Greek Chicken Pizza, which we ordered explicitly because my husband wanted to say we were having a "Greco-Roman" dinner.

It's fortunate for this review that this wasn't the first time we've had pizza from here. We thought the one we ordered was bland and had too much sauce. That said, there are pies here that I absolutely adore. Chief among them is the "She's No Sour Grape" that has sausage, grapes, gorgonzola, and a honey drizzle - I'll eat that thing all day long. So overall I'm giving Noble Roman's a 3 in this category just because the quality depends heavily on which pizza you try. 

Kid-Friendly: 5/5

My 4YO ended up eating this entire kids' size pizza. And he generally doesn't eat food unless coerced.

Of course the table tents were also delicious. Apparently.

Despite the hipster vibes, this restaurant is really nice for kids. I mean, it's pizza - cheese pizza, of course, if your kid is as picky as mine is. Because the restaurant wasn't very busy I felt comfortable letting them be themselves. We actually went on this particular night because they were doing face painting for kids for Halloween, so that's clearly a market they're courting. 

Would Eat Again?: Yellow Light

I will come here for the grape pie anytime, but I'd hesitate about branching out and trying new things knowing that the quality is hit-or-miss. But if I want to go out for a fun night with the kids this is a great place for it.