District 22 Pizzeria will offer pizza AND beer delivery in New Albany.

As displayed in the Indiana Code, Title 7.1 (Alcohol and Tobacco) runs 371 soul-crushing pages. It actually includes a section listing "miscellaneous" prohibitions, which is instructive.

For background, you might spend a morning scrolling through these pages (as I just now did), or take a quick glance at the number of different alcoholic beverage permits available in Indiana. Conversely, you might stab knitting needles into your eyes.

More expansively, an article in the Indianapolis Business Journal ("Thirst rises for liquor licenses in Marion County") offers a glimpse into the potential vagaries of Indiana's ATC permit regime. Permitting might be so much easier, but it isn't. There we are, and if you've decided to be in the business of selling alcoholic beverages in Indiana, you learn, just like with any other heavily regulated field.

Having chatted with Matt McMahan on a couple of occasions about the artful manner in which permits, exceptions, prohibitions and allowances can be linked and layered together to achieve a desired end -- in perfect legality, although at times the Alcohol & Tobacco Commission itself must consult the oracle to determine routes out of the labyrinth -- I can attest to Matt's patience and diligence in taking the time to learn what he might and might not to with the space to the right of Big Four Burgers + Beer NA, which used to be the South Side Inn's carry-out portal.

It is to be called District 22 Pizzeria, and Danielle Grady's piece in the News and Tribune provides the overview (it also mentions progress toward Matt's CIDEways cidery project at the corner of Elm and Pearl).

Market niches like this come with risks and rewards, but to me, Matt's biggest challenge won't be the alcohol delivery service. Rather, it will be creating and positioning the pizza.

There is plenty of space in the Big Four kitchen and a top-quality chef, so the omens are good.

Pizza and beer delivery service coming to New Albany; District 22 Pizzeria to open in March

NEW ALBANY — If you’ve ever been at home watching the game, hungry and craving a beer that isn’t there, but not wanting to leave, Matt McMahan wants to help.

The Southern Indiana entrepreneur’s latest venture is District 22 Pizzeria, a beer and pizza delivery joint slated to open in March. Yep, you’ll be able to get beer (and food) delivered to your home.

The restaurant will be based out of 110 E. Main St. in New Albany — right next to McMahan’s other restaurant, Big Four Burgers + Beer.