WEEKEND IN REVIEW: MacKenzie River Pizza Company

MacKenzie River Pizza Company (4939 E. 82nd St., 288-0609), had been open for only a couple of weeks when we visited. The Castleton-area casual-dining chain, founded in Montana by a family of former Hoosiers, still has a few kinks to work out: They ran out of thin crust, service was almost comically slow, and the blinds that keep the sun from baking customers on the deck were “broken.” But the gourmet pies, craft beer, and inventive appetizers compensated for the problems. Among the starters, the fish taco skewers—grilled cod rubbed with ancho and served in a tortilla with pineapple salsa and honey-cilantro slaw—stuck with us. And the Hot Hawaiian (fajita chicken, bacon, pineapple, jalapeno) and Thai Pie (peanut sauce, basil chicken, mandarin oranges, cilantro) pizzas satisfied so completely that nobody at the table was sweating the little things.