You had me at the first smell when I walked into Tomato Pie in Paragon. Maybe it was the dough that's made daily and proofed for a minimum 48 hours (more on the dough later), or the homemade sauce, or the garlic butter made with real butter. I knew this was not the average pizza place and I was in for a treat. Owner Kim Greiner Raia started working in her father's Greiners Subs- shops in Indianapolis when she was 14, and she brings her expertise in offering a unique dining experience to her Tomato Pie customers.

I started my meal off with the Antipasto Salad, which is made with freshly sliced vegetables, pepperoni, ham, mozzarella & provolone cheese and their creamy house Italian dressing, and an order of their hand-twisted breadsticks. Let me just say that I could eat the salad and breadsticks for lunch every day. The breadsticks are made with their homemade dough, lightly brushed with garlic butter and served with cheese or marinara sauce. I can honestly say they are some of the best breadsticks Ive ever eaten. I personally would skip the sauces because the breadsticks are so good on their own.

I also sampled their best selling Ultimate Pizzas and Stromboli sandwich. The pizza is made with their homemade dough and topped with pepperoni, sausage, ham, green peppers, red onions, fresh mushrooms, olives, banana peppers and mozzarella & provolone cheese. They use the crumbly sausage that I like, and the other meats, veggies and cheese were nicely balanced. You could taste everything because nothing was overpowering. I also enjoyed the Stromboli sandwich which had sauce, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, red onion and provolone cheese. The 6 small size was a generous sandwich and I imagine the 12 large (under $10) would easily feed two people.

They serve domestic and craft beer, including Sun King, and now offer online ordering with a 10% discount. They also offer delivery through artesianmenu.com/tomato-pie-pizza-joint. They have a separate party room that you can reserve and will accommodate up to 40 people, and starting in May they will have outdoor seating and live music on Saturdays.

I saved the best for last...they sell balls of their fresh dough for take home! Wow, who else offers this and does it at such a reasonable price? A large dough makes 1 large pizza or 10 breadsticks ($3), a medium is $2 and a small is $1. We were also let in on a little secret that the dough makes delicious sweet rolls. Its probably a good thing for my waistline that I dont live near this restaurant. I would be a frequent dough shopper.

I confess, I had never been to Paragon, IN and I bet most of you reading this can say the same. Its not necessarily a drive-by destination, but it's a worth your time destination to experience dining at the Tomato Pie. I'll be back! Blog Written by Becky Harris