Shelbyville's Best Pizza

Shelbyville does not apologize for its pizza, and you should not either. In this town, the bar for a pie is less about artisanal flour and more about whether it holds up against a pool table’s uneven roll or a speaker box’s crackle.

So the following list runs a genuine gamut, from a place where the lamb chops and garlic naan outclass the crust to a drive-in where the car-load special is the real dinner bell. We sat through a soggy crust at Cagney's and survived the Scorpion sauce at Last Chance.

It is a civic duty. Read on and pick your poison.

Willie Farkle's

Highlights
Incredible fresh-made pizza
Generous everything-topping piles
Friendly, welcoming bar staff
Straight-rolling pool table

Willie Farkle's operates without pretension, which suits its product well. The fresh-made pizza arrives with an almost reckless abundance of toppings, each one piled on as if the kitchen believes scarcity is a personal insult. The bar staff greet regulars and first-timers with the same easy friendliness, and the pool table rolls true, no small thing in a town where felt wrinkles often double as terrain. That table will cost you a quarter or two, but it behaves better than most. In a city that hosts several pizza establishments of varying seriousness, Farkle's stands out for the simple reason that it knows exactly what it is. You get a full, honest pie, a solid pour, and no theatrical nonsense.

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Capone's Downtown Speakeasy

Highlights
Gangster-style atmosphere is authentic
Cocktails poured with precision
Pretzel bites with nacho cheese
Clyde sandwich packs flavor
Prices match quality fairly

Capone's Downtown Speakeasy commits to its gangster theme with a straight face, down to the dim corners and the menu following the prohibition-era script. The cocktails are poured with genuinely patient precision, and if you are chasing an Old Fashioned that respects the craft, this is where you find it. The pretzel bites arrive hot and slick with nacho cheese, which is not a pairing you expect but one you accept on the merits. The Clyde sandwich does deliver a robust combination of flavors, and the prices carry a fair ratio to what lands in front of you. The pizza is not the point here, but the audience seems content with that. They know what they are buying.

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Kendall's Tavern

Highlights
Cheap drinks and good food
Live music most weekends
Smoke eater handles smoking well
Fun crowd and welcoming bar

Kendall's Tavern has a cheap drink menu that invites you to order more, and its food, while not petty, comes hot and made for the situation. Most weekends a live band has the room in the corner where a jukebox might otherwise idle. The smoker clears the air creditably, a technicality that does not deserve for the evening to turn into a lung maintenance session. The crowd drinks like it is Friday, which it often is, and the bar staff handle it with practiced tolerance. If you are seeking a structured, meditative pizza critique, this is the wrong venue. If you want a pizza slice amid noise and a friendly current, you can do far worse, including some places with more ambitious menus.

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Crosstown Bar & Grill

Highlights
Friendly, energetic bar service
Fair prices, quick kitchen
Smoking permitted indoors
Relaxed, welcoming atmosphere
Excellent food from staff

Crosstown Bar & Grill operates under a smoking-permitted sign, which immediately sets expectations for the air you'll be breathing. None of that stops the place from being friendly and relaxed, with bar service delivered at a pace that suggests genuine energy behind the counter. The kitchen puts out food quickly and reliably, and what it puts out is strong. The atmosphere is not architectural; it is the kind created by the regulars and the staff who see you once and remember you. Order a pie for the table to share, and then do not be surprised when the sauce, cheese, and crust cooperate with every rotation. There is nothing needlessly precious here, just a useful combination of speed, warmth, and pace English.

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Chicken Inn

Highlights
Best coleslaw in town
Perfectly fried chicken pieces
Packed Saturday family dining
Freshly made walleye fillets

Chicken Inn lies in the murky territory of recommending a pizza joint based on its chicken, but the evidence demands it. The fried bird comes out with a shatter of crust and juice under it, the kind of fried piece you remember mid-stride. Its coleslaw is best in town and it is that advertising, a crisp, tangy counterweight. On a Saturday the dining room packs with families who know the drill and the kitchen still moves in tow. The walleye fillets, freshly made, handle the meal's secondary role. The pizza here exists, it is adequate, but if you come alone for the pizza, you will likely watch someone else eat the chicken and order correctly the second time.

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Pizza & Libations

Highlights
Great pizza, great drinks
Staff sweet and skilled
Standout at Indy event
Family favorite in rotation

Pizza & Libations carries its two-named promise into practice. The pizza succeeds in the way a family stalwart should, rolling out a base that holds cheese, sauce, and toppings without heroes. The bar drinks come in generous pour and do not apologize for the cost. The staff are both efficient and sweet, which in a pizza service is becoming rarer than anchovies. A visit to the Indianapolis event earlier this year left the team with the same actual result as the Shelbyville location: a pie to build a rotation around. It has earned the family favorite status for multiple groups. There is no pretense about the menu; just solid pizza and strong waterproof, and both are good enough to return to.

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The Skyline Drive-In

Highlights
Cheap car-load dinner special
Arcade and speaker seating
Friendly staff and service
Vast menu with elephant ears
Low-cost family night out

The Skyline Drive-In is the economical dynasty that a pizza list should not overlook simply because it does not call itself a pizzeria. Its car-load dinner special makes it a budget-friendly family activity, and that menu runs wider than most of the table-restaurant kitchens in town, from burgers to elephant ears. The arcade and speaker seating give you the recreation center version of dinner, and no one here treats that as beneath them. Service is quick and easy. For the pizza specifically, you get something competently assembled and, honestly, the pie is less the draw than the whole novelty of eating pizza from a speaker. Both the low price and the family night efficiency weigh heavily in its favor.

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Blue Bear Eatery & Bar

Highlights
Best food and service
Generous cocktails and drinks
Lamb chops and garlic naan

Blue Bear Eatery & Bar operates with a confidence that shows in its food and service. The staff are attentive and the drinks are poured with generosity that puts it above bar-standard. The lamb chops arrive properly cooked, gilded by the garlic naan that is enough to have you order a second round even if you are full. The pizza here is not apostrophe; the menu goes beyond the outer level, but the quality bar is translation. When you go for a pie, do not let it disappoint you, but plan on the companion goods. The restaurant balances its craft kitchen and pub side competently. The crowd tends toward family and people who take recommendation seriously. I left satisfied and already preparing when to schedule the return.

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Last Chance Pizza

Highlights
Fluffy crust, crispy pan edges
Scorpion sauce delivers serious heat
Decent non-pizza options available
Friendly staff, lively pickup atmosphere

Last Chance Pizza correctly names its position as the final stop for late, casual eating in Shelbyville. The crust comes out fluffy in the center and crisps at the pan edge, a combination that indicates the dough is paid attention to. The Scorpion sauce, applied in measured amount, does not play: it hits with a serious, prolonged heat that will make you evaluate your decisions. The menu also covers non-pizza enough to let a vegan or a sandwich eater feel no personal neglect. The pickup counter hosts a lively, neighborhood mood, with staff who treat regulars like they recognize faces. If you like pizza with character, this is the one. Just have a glass of water ready.

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Hometown Classic Pizza, LLC

Highlights
Consistent, timely delivery service
Cracker crust with ideal crunch
Family-friendly arcade and games
Hot, fresh food during rush

Hometown Classic Pizza, LLC has a rating that lines up with its service: the delivery runs consistent, prompt, and hot, even during a Friday evening rush when less reliable kitchens lose track of which order is moving. The crust has developed the classic cracker crunch, thin in use and joyful when folded. The menu reveals a family-friendly side with arcade games and casual sits. When the food actually arrives, it lands properly; the box is dense with steam and the cheese still bubbling. No surprise, no astonishment, just a pizza place that performs its function without that coming across as subtle. If you plan a Friday night in, this should be in your rotation. You will not regret giving them a call.

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Greek's Pizzeria Shelbyville

Highlights
Sauce good, crust greasy mush
Bread sticks earned genuine praise
Phone ordering system tested patience
Extra sauce request went ignored
Dad enjoyed his pizza fine

Greek's Pizzeria Shelbyville splits the case in uneven parts. The sauce had good character, but the crust came as a greasy mush, not a crisp or a chewy taut. My father, a tolerant roll for this cuisine, reported his own pizza fine enough that he would not refuse it again. The bread sticks, however, collected genuine praise across the table, the kind of hot, salted effort that redeems a meal. Ordering over the phone tested my patience at a level that I had not prepared for, and my request for extra sauce arrived unexpressed, ignored, or misinterpreted. The result gives a serviceable pizza if one does not expect structural perfection. It sits in the in-between zone that most cities have three of and most lists happily ignore.

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Cagney's Pizza King | Shelbyville, IN

Highlights
Laura’s service stands out
Cheese and BBQ chicken shine
Sauce needs doctoring up
Crust soggy, flavor lacking
Old smell, dark atmosphere

Cagney's Pizza King in Shelbyville is perhaps the most difficult review for me to write, because the wood is in the details. The restaurant itself reads as old and dark, and the smell of years has embedded in the napkins. Laura's service, however, is the observable high point; she remained bright and considerate in the face of, I suspect, decades of dark room and the same order questions. The cheese and BBQ chicken both taste fine, but the sauce needs a physician; it arrives thin, sweet in a way that doesn't commit. The crust had the structure of soy, sopping from what it sat in. I would not call it an active distraction, but if you order expecting the list of last pieces, you will spend the evening doctoring a plate. It is not the worst pizza, but I have no plan to return voluntarily.

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