Located along a quiet road in Michiana Shores, Indiana is Stop 50 Wood Fired Pizza. Inside is cozy and simple with a hint of Italian flair.

Chris Bardol is the owner and chef and knows his pizza. The pizza here is award winning and has received rave reviews from Chicago Food Critics. It's described as Napoletana - also known as Naples style - thin crust and baked in a huge brick wood fired oven.

Chris says, “The only cooking utensil we have is that wood fired oven. We don't have fryers, flat grills or any of that.”

Because of that, if the electricity goes out, it doesn't matter because you don't need that here to make a great pie - most of which run about $13. There are certain staple pies such as the always popular margarita and basil. However, this time of year brings something new…

“Right now, being the fall, we're doing a roasted red skin potato pie with gorgonzola cheese and roasted red skin potato.”

Baking time for these pizzas is, believe it or not, 90 seconds. That's it. They come out dripping with cheese and still bubbling. But before that, I helped Chris make a few. I'm working on another favorite: prosciutto and onion with olive oil and mozzarella...bring on the toppings! The oven core remains around 760 degrees with the surface close to 900.

Some of the appetizers at Stop 50 include fresh bread sticks with firecracker dipping sauce and fire roasted stuffed Hungarian peppers with sausage.

For dessert it's homemade pistachio gelato, good ole fashioned smores with chocolate sauce, and wood fired bananas with honey and cinnamon, topped with homemade vanilla gelato. Trust me, it's awesome.

“It's authentic and it's staying true to that tradition so they walk out of here having experienced a true, authentic type food.”

STOP 50 WOOD FIRED PIZZAIRA
Stop 50 Wood Fired Pizzeria.
500 S. El Portal Dr.
Michiana Shores, IN 46360
219-879-8777

**Due to new winter schedule, Stop 50 is ONLY OPEN Friday - Sunday beginning at 11am.