If “Stranger Things” ever decides to advance its storyline one decade, the Pizza King on the east side of Warsaw would make a perfect backdrop. Seemingly untouched for the most part for the last 25 or so years, the seating area on the right side of the restaurant appears stuck in time. While the left side features a more modern look and updates, its counterpart on the other side includes booths, video games (peep the 1994 World Cup pinball game) and an aura that hearkens back to the last decade of the previous millenium.
There within lies the appeal of the popular pizza place. You could certainly walk through the front doors and choose to go left. Why do that, however, when you have the nostalgic appeal of the right side waiting for you? Arcade games occupy the space on the far wall, a streetlight and wall-mounted digital jukebox (which does play the latest hits) are mounted on another while a “Candy Crane” stands sentry over the opposite wall just begging to take your money.
The paint is cracking, the tables and chairs are dated and the whole space begs for a makeover. The result, however, would be more than just a loss of the vidoe games, chairs and tables that curerntly occupy the floor space. The real loss would be in the continued erosion of sentimental spots for longtime locals to reminisce, not just in their mind but in the spaces where they spent much of their time whiling away days before the digital age kicked into high gear.
Places like the right (in both definitions of the word) section of the Pizza King on Warsaw’s east side are odes to simpler times. They exist as living monuments to childhood memories that slowly slip away with every day. I would encourage you to grab the ones that mean the most to you and head there soon. Who knows – maybe you’ll even create some new memories with the next generation and the stories that begin with “Remember when we used to go to Pizza King and ….” will go on forever.
Oh yeah – the food? The pizza and breadsticks remain the best in the area so you have that whole thing going for you. 🙂
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Thinking about visiting Kosciusko County? Consider your own island or one of our lakefront resorts!
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