Turoni’s Pizzery & Brewery is a longtime family-owned pizza restaurant and brewery founded in Evansville, Indiana, in 1963 by Jerry Turner and his wife, Judith “Judie” Mattingly Turner. Over more than six decades, Turoni’s has become one of Evansville’s best-known locally founded restaurants.

The restaurant is particularly famous for its thin, cracker-style crust pizza, a style strongly associated with Evansville and southwestern Indiana.

The Turoni’s Name

The unusual name “Turoni’s” was created by founder Jerry Turner.

Turner explained that the name was formed by combining his last name, Turner, with the word pepperoni, creating the Italian-sounding name “Turoni’s.”

Jerry and Judie Turner

Jerry Turner entered the Evansville pizza business during the early 1960s before establishing Turoni’s.

He and his wife Judie Turner built the restaurant into an Evansville institution. Judie was born Judith Ann Mattingly in Evansville and graduated from Mater Dei High School in 1959.

Judie was also a member of the prominent Evansville Mattingly family that includes Major League Baseball star Don Mattingly. She was Don Mattingly’s older sister, giving Turoni’s an interesting family connection to one of Evansville’s most famous athletes.

Jerry Turner died in 2018, but Turoni’s continued as a family business.

Growth

Turoni’s grew from its early pizza operation into multiple restaurants.

The longtime Main Street restaurant is located at 408 N. Main Street in Evansville. A second Evansville location, known as Turoni’s Forget-Me-Not Inn, opened on Weinbach Avenue, and the company later expanded to Newburgh.

In addition to pizza, Turoni’s became an important part of Evansville’s craft-beer history.

The company began brewing its own beer in 1996, making its Main Street operation one of the city’s pioneering modern brewpubs.

An Evansville Tradition

Turoni’s is particularly associated with Evansville’s preference for extremely thin, crispy pizza crust.

Its longevity has made the restaurant familiar to several generations of Evansville residents, and the combination of locally made pizza and house-brewed beer helped distinguish Turoni’s from national pizza chains.

More than 60 years after its founding, Turoni’s remains a locally rooted family business and one of the best-known names in Evansville pizza.

Quick Facts

Name: Turoni’s Pizzery & Brewery
Founded: 1963
Founders: Jerry and Judith “Judie” Turner
Founded in: Evansville, Indiana
Known for: Thin, cracker-style pizza and craft beer
Name origin: Combination of “Turner” and “pepperoni”
Notable family connection: Co-founder Judie Turner was Don Mattingly’s older sister
Brewery established: 1996
Category: Evansville Pizza Places