Heady's Pizza has been an Evansville cult favorite for five years ... but the first four were under the name MunCheeze Pizza.
"When we decided to do away with the bar and the liquor license," said owner Rachel Shelton, "we wanted a fresh start. So, we changed locations and changed the name but kept the same food."
The same great food, we might add, including the super-popular Blah-Blah, Heady's most requested combination of grilled chicken, smoky bacon, onion, and tomato with ranch BBQ sauce - you choose it as a pizza or sub.
"It's so popular, I think, because it's just different," said Shelton. "You bite into it expecting pizza, and it's not ... it's got the great BBQ ranch base."
I stopped in with friends on a recent weeknight and was pleasantly surprised by the size of the menu. Although most of Heady's business is carry-out and delivery (they deliver orders of $20 or more city-wide every day from 4 p.m. – 2 a.m.) the menu was extensive. Appetizers included bread sticks and garlic cheese bread, hot wings, and loaded nachos. There were salads; hot sub sandwiches, such as the Philly steak and cheese made with beef filet; pastas and lasagnas; dessert; and of course, pizza.
We started with a garden salad with grilled chicken (the $9.99 large size was huge). All the vegetables were very crisp and fresh. It contained iceberg lettuce, tomato slices, black and green olives, red onion, green peppers, mushrooms, shredded cheese, and croutons.
Next up was an order of hot wings (10 for $7.99). The large, meaty wings were fried in a light flour coating - just enough to make the skin nice and crispy and not so thick as to get soggy in the hot sauce, which was poured over and the wings baked until the sauce soaked in. Wings can be ordered with BBQ sauce or mild, hot, or spicy garlic sauces, or they can be ordered plain.
Finally, we chose a good old-fashioned combo pizza ($15.99 for a 14-inch) with pepperoni, sausage, green pepper, mushroom (fresh not canned, thank you), and onion. Everything was buried under a blanket of Heady's gooey cheese, atop a crust that was thin but soft. The flavor was very good, and I appreciated that the sauce was not overwhelming or too sweet.
Pizza offerings on the wild side include the super-supreme, with 15 toppings; the buffalo, with crispy chicken and a ranch and hot sauce base; ranch Hawaiian; and fajita, with a nacho cheese base.
Heady's isn't cheap fast food. Pizzas range from $14 - $26 for a 14-inch, pasta entrees are $9.99, and subs are $5.99 for a 6-inch and $9.99 for a 12-inch. It's not too much to ask. The ingredients are fresh and of good quality, and the portions are large, and everything we sampled was delicious. I look forward to trying more of Heady's offerings.
Heady’s Pizza is open from 4 p.m. until 2 a.m. daily and offers citywide delivery on orders of $20 or more. Call (812) 437-4343, or drop into Heady’s north side location at 4120 North First Ave, in front of Target, facing DQ.
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Credit Aimee Blume
