Brian King doesn't make the best pizza in Elkhart.
But King makes a good pizza at a great price.
His shop, dubbed Perfect Pizza, is selling 14-inch, one-topping pizzas for $5. But just until next Tuesday, when the price will go up to $5.99 because of rising cheese and tomato prices.
Whether it's $5 or $6, it's hard to believe you can find a pizza that big for that little money. A pizza that's decent. A pizza you'd want to eat a second time.
He says that it's basic pizza. But he also says, "It's a real pizza."
He makes the dough. He tops it with sauce he makes from good quality tomatoes. He puts on mozzarella -- not the best you can buy, but not the worst.
He works with vendors so he can offer a decent product at a great value from the shop in Parkmor Plaza, 1038 W. Bristol, Elkhart.
If you want a better pie, he might send you to Bruno's, Antonio's or Volcano. (Fans may argue that Colombo's or Milano's belongs in the conversation.)
But his $5 pizzas -- or $15 with 2 pounds of toppings -- are making his business profitable just three months after opening.
Adults can order a pizza with a bit of heft and selection from the dozen or so toppings and then feed a herd of children or teens with the $5 pizzas. As King (no relation) points out, when you have kids, they travel in herds.
He's seen young people come in with not enough to buy a pizza. Some adults carry in change jars and count out just enough. Others pay with $100 bills.
King tries to feed them all. What started as a career change has quickly become something that makes him happy because of how much he's satisfying customers. "Right now we're filling a real need," he said.
He admits that people don't need pizza multiple days a week. But people like pizza. And what he's offering is affordable and good enough to please many. He wants people to believe they're getting a good deal. And they are.
The sauce is sweet without much oregano, but it's a pretty good sauce. The crust baked at 500-plus degrees as it passes through a conveyor screen isn't as good as pizza baked in a hearth oven, but it's pretty good. The lean Hormel sausage isn't as flavorful as the handmade Italian sausage some local shops feature, but it's pretty good. The breadsticks aren't very good, but you get nine or 10 for $2.99.
The pizza isn't perfect, but he doesn't play games with people by calling it a large or veiling a deal. He just makes a decent pizza.
King doesn't have an Italian name to put on his new shop. And he didn't make a play on the name he has. He found a name and went with it. The concept is working so well he's already planning four more shops in northern Indiana.
King was a computer support guy who changed careers. He's gone from working for Microsoft to tracking how many of his pizzas are the $5, one-topping variety (27 percent) or how much cheese his employees use (10-11 ounces per pizza).
What he can't measure is how happy people are at the deal they're getting. Or how happy he is.
QUICK BITES
* The 46th annual Pancake and Sausage Day at the Goshen Salvation Army was a cool event. I helped serve sausage for a couple hours in the morning, but that was nothing compared to the work of others to prepare and serve at the daylong meal. Local service clubs pitch in to raise money for the Salvation Army and its local efforts. And Goshen veterans associations, including the VFW, DAV and American Legion, cut 1,008 pounds of sausage from 1-pound tubes and put them on trays to be baked and served, according to Roger Nofziger, a Salvation Army board member.
* Crimaldi's, 117 W. Jackson, Elkhart, is open for lunch, according to manager Gail Bope. The restaurant and bar will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
* Ten Thousand Villages, 206 S. Main St., Goshen, is cosponsoring a recipe story contest with Divine Chocolate, a fair-trade chocolate it sells. People are being invited to enter recipes and stories of 200 words or less in four categories: cookie, cake, drink or pastry. Winners will get $250 in cash, a year's supply of Divine Chocolate and a goodie bag. To enter go to www.divinechocolateusa.com/contest. (In full disclosure, my wife works at the Goshen store and I'm a big fan of the chocolate for baking because of what she's brought home.)
IF YOU GO
What: Perfect Pizza
Where: 1038 W. Bristol, Elkhart, in Parkmor Plaza
Fare: Pizza
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 6 Sunday
Details: Credit cards accepted; carry-out and delivery only; delivery area from C.R. 4 to the St. Joseph River, Osolo Road to Ash Road.
Phone: 206-1300