Restaurants in Anderson

Every day, the chefs at Cool River Pizza whip up a fresh batch of dough and bake it into pizzas, with gluten-free options available, topped with Real California Cheese and house-made sauce infused with more than seven herbs and spices. Freshly sliced vegetables and gourmet meats also crown specialty pies such as the Cool Ranch chicken, which plays hooky behind the oven to show off its ranch sauce and garlic chicken. To wash down the pies, pasta dishes, and salads, bartenders pour pints and pitchers of brews such as Coors Light, Sam Adams, and Blue Moon as diners watch sports games on large-screen TVs, play Wii on a 100-in. TV screen, hang out on the open patio, or live out fantasies of ancient gladiators' quiet evenings at home with a collection of board games.

Chefs at Apezza use fresh ingredients to craft their pizzas, breadsticks, and wings almost entirely from scratch. They hand-make batches of dough daily and adorn pizza crusts with three types of freshly grated cheese. Specialty pizzas such as the meat lovers slide out of old deck ovens sporting sausage made in-house from pork shoulder ground at Archer’s Meat Market. Garlic-butter breadsticks come with a choice of three made-from-scratch dipping sauces. These and other items from the menu eventually make their appearance at Apezza's polished wooden tables, where they're devoured in the glow of a wall-mounted flat-screen TV.

Unlike unmellow mushrooms that make you take hour-long showers and nag you for tracking mud in the house, the Mellow Mushroom makes pizzas. The joint specializes in surrounding your dining experience with a dazzling atmosphere, artwork oozing with pizzazz, crisp bottles of happy beers, and the kinds of pizzas that got all the best solos at the fifth-grade choir demonstration. Sip on a cold draft of Bell’s while ogling the Mushroom’s spread of Kosmic Karma pies that merge sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, feta, fresh tomatoes, and pesto ($10.99 for a 10’’); gourmet white pizzas with the harmonious offerings of olive oil and garlic, sunny-dried tomatoes, provolone, mozzarella, feta, and onions ($10.59 for a 10"); and the Magical Mystery Tour, brining pesto, portobello and button mushrooms, spinach, feta, and jalapenos back together for a reunion jam in your mouth ($10.99 for a 10").

Mazatlan is a family restaurant that specializes in traditional recipes presented within a warmly welcoming environment free of rogue cannon fire or aluminum space bats. Spicy and mild-minded palates alike can mull over a full menu of savory standards such as custom-cooked steak or chicken fajitas ($11.75), as well as off-the-beaten-path treats such as seafood enchiladas with fish, crabmeat, and shrimp atop a bed of rice, guacamole, and pico de gallo ($8.99). Mazatlan's more straight-up specialties include the pineapple chicken grill topped with tomatoes, red onions, pineapple slices, and avocado ($10.75). And for anyone who has ever been tempted to order a taco that contained only more tacos, the fajita burrito ($8.99) might be the closest thing to living out the dream of foods wrapped within foods wrapped within foods. Once you've built up a solid mouth-fire, put it out with a signature 27-ounce Mazatlan Margarita (Tequila Cazadores, triple sec, sweet and sour mix, Red Bull, and Grand Marnier, $9.15) and some fried ice cream ($4.25).

Squeeze is focused on hunting down the freshest ingredients from the untamed ingredient jungle and squishing them together, resulting in a menu that roars with nutritious and friendly life. Smoothies are made with 100% juice and fruit and have no sugar added. Choose from a variety of favorite flavor combinations in three sizes: the Rookie ($3.65 for 16 ounces), the Original ($4.45 for 24 ounces), and the Big Squeeze ($5.35 for 32 ounces). Slurp classily on classics such as a strawberry-banana-frozen-yogurt blend or a summery bouquet of watermelon juice, strawberries, bananas, and orange sherbet. "Exotic" smoothie combos cost about a dollar extra, giving customers super-vivifying body-electric choices including açai berry and Matcha green-tea blends.

Arni's planted its salad tongs into the Indiana dining scene back in 1965 with a firm dedication to swell cuisine served within a fun and welcoming environment by an accommodating staff. The joint's menu coddles down-home appetites with savory deep-fried pork-tenderloin sandwiches ($8.99) and chipotle-shrimp-and-bacon tacos that marry the bounties of land and sea within a pair of soft tortilla shells lined with veggies and special sauce ($9.49). Famous Arni's Junior Salads present their garden bounty in neat geometric rows of fresh greens, succulent cuts of turkey and ham, and ripe portions of radishes and green onions complemented by mozzarella cheese ($6.99).