While Carmel may not be known as a city of pizza parlors, restaurants such as Bazbeaux, Pizzology, Mellow Mushroom and Some Guys Pizza

are scattered across the town. Now one more diner has been added to the pizza mix: the newly formed Boombozz Pizza.

The latest addition has set up shop in the empty space left by BD’s Mongolian Barbecue, which sets the restaurant at a disadvantage due to the inopportune location. The pizza place resides on a strip of non-restaurant establishments in an area generally not associated with eateries.

Despite this, Boombozz’s quality of food and price merit a level of popularity its location doesn’t automatically allow.

In our trip, HiLite staff photographer Kathleen Bertsch and I began with the waitress-recommended appetizer of the Goat Cheese Marinara, a relatively inexpensive dish which is well worth its cost. The plate comes with a set of toasted bread with the marinara artistically decorated with the contrasting white goat cheese.

The food itself lives up to its appearance, with a delicious taste that’s only downside is the temptation to eat too much prior to the main course.

To follow this, we ordered a side of cheese sticks, which at Boombozz is a relatively unorthodox dish in relation to the usual perception of the plate. For most, cheese sticks bring to mind an image of breadsticks filled with cheese, but at

Boombozz the appetizer is more of an extremely thin flatbread with cheese baked on the top.

Unfortunately, this innovative style does not result in a better taste. The dish is not bad tasting per se, but can only be described as boring. The only salvation of the sticks was the marinara sauce, which has enough taste to carry the blandness of the appetizers.

For the main course, we ordered the specialty Buffalo Chicken Pizza. This plate was nothing short of great, with a wholly original taste which was a delight to eat. The placement of celery on the pizza was at first an odd addition, but was a perfect complement to the buffalo chicken.

The most appealing part of the pizza, though, was actually its price. For CHS students, price will always be a factor in dining out. For an individual pizza, the price is a manageable $7.99. This means that for one person to eat a pizza and a drink, the total would come out to just over 10 dollars. The medium pizza, which can feed three to four, is still an easily doable $14.99.

For a group of students, these prices are inexpensive and well worth the cost.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is also a plus, with enough TV’s to satiate the most extreme sports addict. This isn’t to say that it is an imitation of Buffalo Wild Wings, however, because sports are far from the main attraction of the establishment. It maintains a family feel, and can serve the purpose of anything from a date to a large group birthday dinner.

And so Boombozz stacks up well in comparison to the fellow pizza parlors of Carmel. While its location does set it behind its competitors, its food, price and atmosphere make it equal to if not better than the restaurant’s rivals.