Fatso’s Pizza

• 13506 Beadle Lake Road
• Battle Creek, MI 49014
• (269) 339-3813
• Website
• Menu

The zoo is open!  The zoo is open!  I’m pretty sure everyone in the greater Battle Creek area knows that because it was PACKED this past Saturday.  Sure, the fact that it was 70 degrees on opening weekend probably had something to do with that, but holy cow was Binder Park Zoo a busy place on Saturday.

We decided to head over to Battle Creek a little later in the afternoon thinking it wouldn’t be as busy, but the line to get in was well out in to the parking lot.  Lucky for us, there was an employee near the end of the line asking if anyone was a member.  We have a membership, so we handed it to her, she wrote down the information, and we were able to skip the line by going in through the exit.  Soooooo happy we’re members.  Others told us it was anywhere from a 45 minute to an hour wait just to get in!

Anyway, the deluge of people wasn’t so bad once inside.  The only real wait was for the tram out to Wild Africa.  It was a 20-30 minute wait each direction, but we passed the time and kept the kids happy.

We went later in the day than we had originally planned and J had asked for pizza for lunch.  I told her we’d pick up a pizza for dinner on the way home from the zoo.

We’ve been going to the zoo enough years now that finding a new pizza place somewhat close to our route home is getting more difficult.  Usually I go down B Drive North to Beadle Lake Road to get to the zoo, but this time, I intentionally took I-94 all the way to the Beadle Lake exit.  I had an idea…that is, if it was still there.  

My idea was a good one.  The last thing we did at the zoo was visit the bears.  As J, L, and B went to see the bears, I hung back and looked up a phone number for Fatso’s Pizza. I also found a menu, so I put in an order  and by the time we got everybody back to the car and strapped in, we were pulling up to the shop just as the pizzas were coming out of the oven.

Fatso’s Pizza is on Beadle Lake Road just south of Beadle Lake at the corner with C Drive North.  The pizzeria is inside Beadle Lake General Store.  The small pizzeria isn’t much more than an order counter and a conveyor oven.  It’s a carry-out/delivery (after 5 PM) business only.

I put in an order for what is essentially three medium pizzas.  I got a medium (12″) Bacon Cheeseburger pizza for myself, a medium pepperoni pizza for J and L, and an order of Bacon Cheesy Breadsticks which are made on a 12″ dough.

The cost for the three pizzas was $30.  I grabbed a 2-liter of Pepsi from the cooler on my way up to the front of the store to pay, so the bill came out to just a little over $32.

J was hungry so she started in on the Bacon Cheesy Breadsticks on the way home.  They’re pretty much what they sound like.  Pizza dough covered in cheese and bacon with a side of marinara for dipping.  Right away, J said these were the reason to eat at Fatso’s again.  Without ever trying the pizza, she was already sold on this place as a legit pizzeria.  The crust was nice and crispy and the topping was a very thick layer of cheese.  The bacon was nice and crispy which added that delicious salty crunch to the sticks.  Heck, we never even opened the marinara that came with it because the sticks were so good on their own.

When we got home, I got L set up with a slice of pepperoni and some breadsticks before cracking open the box on my own pizza.  L was a big fan of the bread sticks as well, but actually ate the whole slice of pizza as well.  Between the two of them, J and L only ate three pieces of the pizza opting instead for the delicious Bacon Cheesy Breadsticks.

The bacon cheeseburger pizza is a pretty good description of what you’re getting.  The pizza is topped with marinara, ground beef, bacon, and cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella.  The combination of bacon and ground beef made the pizza a little too greasy…and I typically like greasy pizza.  It was still good and there’s no way I can complain about the amount of beef thrown on top of this pizza.  There was a lot and that was delicious.  I actually found that the pizza was a little bit better cold.  The marinara sauce got lost under the layer of meat.  I noticed on the pepperoni it didn’t really have a distinct taste, so no surprise it was lost on this one.  Hot or cold, though, it was still very tasty.

Fatso’s Pizza surprised both of us.  I didn’t have very high expectations for party store pizza and I don’t think J trusted me at all when I told her where I ordered from, but we both ended up being pleasantly surprised with what we got.  The Bacon Cheesy Breadsticks stole show, but the pizzas were solid and something we’d order again after another day at the zoo.

Bacon Cheesy Breadsticks

Medium Pepperoni Pizza

Medium Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza