The Pizza Restaurant That Has Built A Small Empire In Indiana

There are a few culinary traditions that must be respected when you live in the great Midwestern state of Indiana. First of all, breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches are a must, and you should wash them down with an icy-cold Triple XXX root beer. For a snack, you should always reach for popcorn (Indiana brand popcorn is the official state snack, after all), and for dessert, nothing but the iconic sugar cream pie will do. When you're in the Hoosier state, and you're craving a pizza, though, there is only one answer: Pizza King, a chain of pizza restaurants numbering over 100 that traverses Indiana, and which has become an empire of pie, stemming from a single location in Lafayette, Indiana.

Founded in 1956, Pizza King actually refers to two separate entities, Pizza King and Pizza King Inc. These formed when the two brothers who founded the company, Wendell and Bob Swartz, ended up splitting it just a year after opening their first location, due to differences of opinion regarding the business model. Pizza King, Inc., the half that went to Wendell, received a much larger swath of the state in the "divorce," with the half owned by Bob receiving a much smaller territory in the eastern part of Indiana. Despite the brotherly break-up, though, both Pizza King corporations have grown their number of restaurants to over 55 each.

Because Pizza King and Pizza King Inc. began as one company, there are a few similarities. The brothers Swartz actually developed the pizzas together, and both versions of the restaurant still use diced toppings and cut the pizzas into squares (like the famous Chicago tavern-style pizzas). The menus are also very much alike, featuring — what else? — pizzas, as well as salads, sandwiches, pasta, and garlic bread.

The two chains have a lot of differences that have revealed themselves over the years, though. For example, a few Pizza King Inc. locations actually have a mobile train that not only works its way into the dining room, but it also delivers drinks table-side. You can place your order through an intercom that's located to the side of the table, and then when the drinks are ready, the mini-locomotive chugga-chugga-choo-choos them to your seats. But Pizza King will raise you a table-side train, for a table-side phone, which you can pick up and use to "ring the king," or call in your order from where you're seated.

Finally, each Pizza King Inc. location is slightly different from the others, too. That's because they are something akin to franchises, where the restaurant owners have access to the Pizza King Inc. branding, as well as its suppliers. While the restaurant owners all must sell certain items, the rest of the menu, and even their cooking methodologies, can be their own.