Jonathan Byrd's: A Cafeteria Juggernaut

I hesitate to post anything about Jonathan Byrd's on Sheek Road in Greenwood,  because it is such a giant place it's almost like reviewing a chain,  and almost everyone I know has eaten there at least once, so what's the point, right?  We hadn't been there in ages, because back when I was a Big Eatin' Man, cafeterias were just not cost-effective for me--  I had to eat so many of those ala-carte items to be satisfied that inevitably the price was equal to that of a much fancier restaurant.

Two things have changed, though:  These days I be old, so I don't eat as much, and most cafeterias now have package deals, although not the meat-and-three like they have in the South, but usually an entre and two sides for like $8.99, which fits my $$ sensibilities.  I had the Fried Chicken, which was not the Indiana style to which I'm accustomed-- it had a light sort of partial coating rather than one of  the usual thick, crusty types. It was tasty but not highly seasoned, as is almost all cafeterias' food, I suppose, since they seem to cater to a lot of older folks who are probably on low-salt diets and such, so it was a good thing that I brought along some No-Salt (since I'm subject to the low-sodium torture myself) to flavor things up a bit.  Everything was decent if not outstanding, and we were treated to an almost-deserted cavernous dining room at 2:00 p.m. on a Tuesday.  A bus full of blue-hairs arrived shortly after we did, though, but we never saw them again--I believe they were swallowed up by the banquet room in the back....  There is also a small cafe, JB's, which has things like box lunches and pies to-go and has a drive-through window, too.  All things considered, it was very good even though I rather prefer the more down-home comfort food at Gray Brothers' Cafeteria in Mooresville, but there is the advantage of not having to stand in line forever like you do at GBC.  Heck, I think you could fit all of GBC inside Jonathan Byrd's, so even if there is a wait it likely won't be long. ...Only 9 more years 'till I get the Senior Discount!  Yee-ha!

Milano Inn - Atmosphere or Food: You Decide.

Milano Inn, 231 S. College Avenue, has been in business in the same location since 1934, when Indianapolis' neighborhoods were largely defined by ethnicity.  It was originally on the border between the Italian-Danish and Irish Hill neighborhoods, although both are mere remnants of what they used to be due to downtown office and condo developments having replaced much of the produce terminals and old houses there, thus the Milano sits on a little hill pretty much by itself overlooking the Farm Bureau and Anthem Blue Cross buildings, which is good for us today in that there is ample parking available.

The first floor is all Little Italy decor, heavy dark wood with stained glass windows and a large bar with brass rails.  You can almost imagine two Mob dons having a sit down there to settle their respective organized crime territories, if Indy ever had such operations.  The atmosphere is elegant but cordial and very comfortable.  I must admit I've eaten downstairs only once, and the Italian flavors they served then were more subtle than you might expect: my Fettucine Alfredo was smoother and more creamy than the gloppy-butter stuff you get at Olive Garden.

Most of my visits to the Milano, however,  have been for the lunch buffet laid out upstairs in the 3 connected banquet rooms every weekday between 11:00 and 3:00 (I think).  For $9 you get an outrageous number of entree and side item choices, a salad bar, and a large dessert bar to boot.  If I recall correctly from my visit there yesterday, they had Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin, Fried Chicken, Eggplant Parmesan, Spaghetti with meat or Marinara sauce, Lasagne, Potatoes Au Gratin, Bacon & Chive Mashed Potatoes, green beans, corn, and Baked Potato soup.  It was all delicious, although as I said the flavors are more subtle than some folks might like, but heck, there are salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and crushed red pepper shakers available if you feel the need to spice things up. Get there early or late for lunch, because the Eli Lilly Co. and Anthem crowds usually fill up the noon hour.... !Quello che un affare delizioso!  !Mangia!

Angler's Cove - A Surprisingly Good State Park Restaurant.

Angler's Cove is the restaurant inside the Lodge at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park near Greenup, KY.  We stayed there on a little mini-vacation in October, and the lake was absolutely beautiful, nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians and bracketed by trees blazing with fall color.  We ate the free breakfast for guests, and it was quite appetizing, although lacking any meat except for sausage gravy on the biscuits. Someone in the kitchen there really knows his/her way around an egg, serving light n' fluffy cheese omelets one morning and light n' fluffy scrambled eggs the next. 

For dinner the place was a little quiet on a Wednesday night in the off-season, and the young wait staff seemed a little less than professional (the waiter called me "buddy" once, and the hostess was deeply engrossed in her smartphone when we walked in, although she got up immediately and seated us), so I was not expecting the food to be anything to write home about.  I was WRONG, however:  I ordered the Hot Brown, a Kentucky specialty (which originated at the Brown Hotel in Louisville in the 1920's) that typically consists of toast points placed in the bottom of a baking dish, covered with slices of turkey and drowned in Hollandaise sauce, then baked only long enough to brown the Hollandaise, after which two slices each of bacon and tomato are placed on top.  The Angler's Cove version adds thin-sliced country ham on top of the turkey, which vastly enriched the overall flavor of the dish, and I hate to keep using the same adjectives repeatedly, but the Hollandaise sauce was THE lightest and THE fluffiest I've ever had, and I've eaten a lot of Hot Browns, yet another tribute to the kitchen's expertise with eggs....  We ate there one other time and it was decent, but my memory of that  is blotted out by the overwhelming sensory experience of that danged Hot Brown!  Oh,  and the bill was pretty reasonable, too.  I think it was, anyway... especially the price of that danged HOT BROWN!

The Goldfinch Restaurant- What the heck is AYCEFISH?

The Goldfinch Restaurant is, I'm sorry to say, on US52 in Brookville, Indiana.  I am sad to say that only because it is so damn' far away from my home that I won't be able to frequent it regularly.  We were ending a mini-vacation at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park in Kentucky by driving US52 from Ironton, OH all the way back to Indy, which is one of the most pleasant scenic drives I've ever taken in recent memory, although the string of small towns along the route meant that the most exotic restaurant you'll find is a Dairy Queen Grill 'n Chill, which was our first stop, in Aberdeen, OH, which was a bit of all-right in itself.  It was fun to split a Cheesecake & Caramel milk shake while listening to the group of retired old guys who inevitably seem to gather at such places in small towns, shootin' the bull while they sip coffee and maybe have a little breakfast.  We later ducked across I-275 into Kentucky to skirt our way around Cincinnati and continue back onto US52 on our idyllic journey through the boonies. There seemed to be 'nary an eatery between Lawrenceburg and Brookville, but as we approached that bodacious burg, we saw a plethora, a smorgasbord if you will, of signs for local restaurants, almost ALL of which were closed for the season!  

"The season of WHAT?"  I asked, my mouth watering for pancakes and steaks that I would now never have.  Being an insular Indianapolite (Indianapolitan?), I had no idea that the Brookville area is a popular area for whitewater canoeing and rafting, for those who have that particular death wish, and during the Summer the place hums with tourists (and fire-rescue squads, too, I imagine) all of whom need to be fed, but that was all done by the time we got there in the first week of October.  We were pleasantly surprised, however, as we got into Brookville proper and spied the Goldfinch's sign out front that shouted SALMON and AYCE FISH. AYCE FISH?  The term intrigued me almost as much as the prospect of actual seafood, or at least fish.  I grew up in a Southern city on the Ohio River which has numerous restaurants offering all manner of water-dwelling food animals, and I never cease to be disappointed by the dearth of fish and seafood selections in the Circle City, unless you want a) hoity-toity just flown-in from the coast stuff that doesn't taste nearly as good as it does fresh AT the coast but still costs you $$$$, or b) Buffalo fish, whatever that is, or some other mystery fish that is only $ expensive but is breaded so thickly and fried so hard you have to break it up and mash it with your fork to get to the actual fish part. But here in Brookville was a homey sit-down place of the type I'm accustomed to, offering several types of fish and seafood prepared several different ways.

We had to ask what AYCE FISH is, and it means, simply, wait for it...  "All You Can Eat."  DUH!  I shoulda guessed, and it was AYCE cod, I think she said.  Not wanting to pig out, I ordered the Salmon Patties with fries and She ordered a Whitefish Sandwich.  My patties were as good as Mom used to make, although they could've been cooked a litle longer (Mom always browned 'em in the pan), and Her fish sandwich was a bit overcooked, but it was one huge square fish patty on a big-assed bun with fresh lettuce and tomato.  I had a salad, too, and the lettuce and 'maters tasted like they'd been harvested that day, they were so fresh.  The fries had a light coating of an interesting batter, too.  At upwards of $10, Her sandwich was a little overpriced, I thought, but it was still delicious.  Like I said, I would go back there  the next time I get a craving for fish, if only it weren't in freakin' Brookville!  Sigh....

The Indigo Duck: Fine Dining in The Bodacious Burg of Franklin

The Indigo Duck, 49 E. Court Street in Franklin, is a really small fine dining restaurant in a historic storefront building on the courthouse square.  It has maybe twenty tables, but also has a full bar with stools in the front part of the space just inside the door.  It's rather simply decorated, with muted lighting that lends a relaxed atmosphere to the place, which bills itself as "come as you are" Southern style.  

I was able to order duck for the second time in as many weeks, woohoo! This dish was entitled "Gunthorp Farm Grilled Duck" (promoting their local supplier), and the manner in which was cooked suited me to a T, whatever that means.  The slices of duck were crispy on the outside edges and sort of medium-well on the inside.  To me it was 'way more tasty than the seared duck I had at Piper's lasts week:  I'm no chef, but I think maybe cooking it a little more caramelizes the fat marbled into the meat of the duck to give it a little richer, saltier flavor.  It was EXCELLENT....  The Little Woman had the Low Country Shrimp & Grits, which was unlike the Shrimp & Grits we'd had when we were actually IN the Low Country of South Carolina, but not in a bad way. The grits were flavored not only by the shrimp but also by small chunks of pork mixed in as well, which made it GREAT!  The portion served was quite large, so She let me have quite a bit of it, and I felt quite fortunate.  Thank you, my lovely Queen!

The service was fairly fast and efficient, too.   I wish I could afford to eat there all the time, but t's one of those $$$ places, and unfortunately I'm a $$ kind of guy.  Dinner for the two of us including two glasses of wine was $117 with tip, but it was, uh, er, um, well DANG, my cheapskate self won't let me say "well worth the price"....  Let's just say Grace and eat, y'all, and worry about payin' later.  www.theindigoduck.com

Piper's: Casual Elegance

Piper's, at 2130 W. Southport Road, is a casual-atmosphere fine dining restaurant.  It kind of puts me in mind of Eddie Merlot's but is a little less swanky (how's that for eloquent, articulate description, eh? eh?) My wife has a passing acquaintance with the owner, who has many years' catering experience although the restaurant itself is only about 15(?) years old.  I ordered one of the chef's specials, the Seared Duck.  I have a hard time finding duck at any of our regular haunts, so this was a real treat for me.  I reeeeally love roast duck, and I should have realized the implication behind the title "Seared" and maybe made a special request of our waiter to do more than sear it, but I didn't do either of those things.  My duck was tender and tasty, but it was a little underdone for my taste, but again, that was my fault and not the restaurant's.   Our meal was very good, and at a little over $70 for the two of us (including three glasses of wine), it was definitely a good deal for the price.  If I had more money than I knew what to do with, I would certainly eat here all the time.  www.piperscatering.com/restaurant   

Mallow Run Winery: A Victim of Its Own Success

Mallow Run Winery, 6964 W. Whiteland Road, Bargersville, is one of the nicest wineries you could visit in Central Indiana.  The gravel drive from the road back to the winery is picturesquely lined with grape arbors, and the winery itself is an old stone-and-wood barn in the side of a hill overlooking Mallow Run creek. There are tables inside and a deck outside with tables, as well as an outdoor patio down below the barn  with tables that is covered with a tent and heated during the winter. They have a limited menu of sandwiches and cheese trays which is relatively reasonably-priced for a winery.  There is usually live musical entertainment on the weekends, too, and during those events, patrons are encouraged to picnic on the lawn between the barn and the creek.  The only problem I have with the place is that it has become so danged popular on the weekends that it is often difficult to get a place at the counter for a tasting or a table at which to sit to eat and drink, so the lawn is sometimes your only option.  The savvy regulars thus usually bring camp chairs and a beach umbrella to create their own shade as the lawn has only a few trees. Still, once you finally get situated it is usually a great little experience. 

The wine, yes, let's talk about the wine!  Most local wineries here seem to favor sweet wines, although they all offer at least one dry red.  Mallow Run, however, has a number of dry red varieties, and I found their Chambourcin quite complex and tasty, and their Merlot ain't bad either.  You can buy wine by the glass, but there's something very satisfying about buying a bottle and spending the afternoon drinking it there at one of the tables.  Sante!     www.mallowrun.com   

Big Woods Brewing Company - Welcome Addition to Downtown Nashville, IN.

Big Woods Brewing Company, 40 Molly Lane in Nashville, IN is a little bit hard to find even with a GPS.  It's on a back street, and my GPS kept telling me we were THERE, but we WEREN'T, dammit!  The easiest way to find it is if you're heading south on SR 135 (I forget what it's in-town name is), turn west on Main Street and look for a 3'x3' old fashioned finger-pointing sign on the side of a building at the entrance to an alley on your right that says "Brewery".  We had come up from Louisville on our way home to Indy on Sunday of Labor Day weekend and it was about early dinnertime, like 5:00, so the tiny place was PACKED.  They have a cool little outdoor patio by the alley, er, street where you can sit and order beer while you wait for a table.  I had their Busted Knuckle Ale, which was a bit expensive ($6 pint) but delicious, kind of like a light porter or maybe a black-and-tan, and she had a Six-Foot Blonde, rather like a Sun King cream ale, only a bit heavier.  We were seated before we needed a second beer, which was fast considering how busy they were.  There is a tiny dining room, or you can eat on the tiny front porch, maybe 25 tables in all between them. The food was artisan-like, which is to say a little pricey, but it's a resort town, y'know?  I had a pulled pork sandwich, which was decent but not outstanding-- it came with an artisan-made horseradish sauce that tasted every bit like Arby's Horsey Sauce to me.  The Little Woman had a burger that was very good but nothing unique for the price.  I can't say I WOULDN'T eat here again, but I'd rather come back here for the great beer and go somewhere else to eat just for value purposes.  I had a wild-game sandwich at one of the other downtown Nashville places awhile back, and it was incredibly delicious and fairly cheap, too.  I just wish I could remember where I got it-- except I'm not allowed to eat that again because it produced a noxious gas by-product that necessitated the evacuation of the elevator of our hotel for several hours.  Anyway, Big Woods Beer is well worth the price, the food not so much.  

Salt Creek Winery: A Small, Beautiful Experience

Salt Creek Winery is at 7630 W. Co. Rd. 925N near Freetown, Indiana in (I think) Jackson County.  The Little Woman and I were coming back to Indy from Louisville via a detour to SR 135 (due to her aversion to Interstate Highways and my driving on them) so that we could visit Mallow Run Winery near Bargersville on the way back, but as I needed to make a pit stop to see a man about a horse and maybe drop off the kids at the pool, when we saw the sign on 135 that said "< Salt Creek Winery 2"  we decided to detour off the detour, and am I ever glad we did (and not just because of that pit stop thing)!  

SR 135 is very, very pretty in itself, but the little county road back to the winery is right out of a Thomas Kinkade/Currier & Ives/Ansel Adams picture, and the gravel drive off the road takes you right into the front yard of the owners' beautiful home where the little winery sits.  I dunno if General Steel or some other design company mass produces that type of building, but the exterior and interior layout of SCW is an almost exact duplicate of Buck Creek Winery in Acton (which I like very much).  Whereas BCW overlooks I-74, the back porch of Salt Creek Winery overlooks wooded hills and a beautiful green valley that stretches away for several miles.  We had a free tasting then each bought a glass of wine, and we drank them while relaxing in comfortable patio chairs on that back porch while enjoying the view and listening to the outdoor sounds of late summer/early fall accompanied by the giggles of two little children playing in the field that is the foreground for the long scenic view.  The field is about an acre or so, and has a deck/stage at its edge that I suspect hosts small musical acts, on occasion. 

Oh, yeah, the wine:  I'm not really a connoisseur but their wines are very good, although not as bold in flavor as some others, more of a subdued, subtle taste, very smooth.  The Merlot was very dry and thin, not nearly as strong as to what I'm accustomed, but the Cabernet Sauvignon was very tasty and the Sunrise Red was as good as any table wine I've ever tasted.  My favorite by far, though, was the Chambourcin, which was very complex, several different flavors melding together perfectly. We're dry not sweet wine drinkers, but She sampled their Blackberry wine and although She deemed it too sweet for her, I thought it was, again, smoother and less bold than most other places' fruit wines.

It was an idyllic, relaxing experience.  (Insert contented sigh here).  We tarried as long as we could, but eventually resigned ourselves to going back out onto the road home.  After this stop and another at Big Woods Brewing Co. in Nashville (look for a future post) we were, alas, too late to make it to Mallow Run, so that would have to wait for another day.  :-)   www.saltcreekwinery.com 

The Rainbow Coffee Shop: Good Eats, Cheap. The Service Not So Much....

After attending an annual party at a friend's house in the boonies of Hancock County, our host generously allowed everyone to stay the night rather than try to negotiate the myriad country roads and turns required to safely get back home to Indy.  There was one legendary occasion several years ago where one regular attendee tried to drive home after one too many and wound up getting arrested in New Castle, of all places! This year the festivities ended relatively early and we got to bed at what even my Great-Grandma would say was a decent hour, for a Saturday anyway, thus we were awakened by the crowing of a rooster at 5:30 a.m., were hungry and dehydrated, and rather than wait for everyone else to rouse from their respective stupors, we drove to the bodacious burg of Morristown and, seeing that the Copper Kettle wasn't open yet, we spied the Bluebird Coffee Shop, Restaurant, and Dinner Theatre at 158 E. Main Street.

There was a huge dining room with a buffet table for the restaurant, but only the coffee shop on one side of the place was open at that early hour on Sunday, and there were already ten or twelve locals in there chewing the fat, er, talking, that is, while they also were actually chewing the fat....  There was only one waitress, so I guess she can be forgiven for being a little slow to get us a menu.  I had the Three-Egg Cheese Omelet with sausage, onions, green pepper and tomatoes added, along with a side order of fried potatoes and coffee, and She had a Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich with hash browns and iced tea.  It was all decent but not outstanding:  Being of Southern extraction, I always expect a spicy breakfast sausage, but this stuff was kinda pale-looking and bland, but it tasted okay otherwise.  My fried potatoes were underdone, perhaps owing to the cook having to get a bunch of orders out as quickly as possible, but the hash browns  were DEEELICIOUS, browned and seasoned quite nicely, and the coffee and tea were good, too.

The really delightful thing about this breakfast was the price-- $13.65!  The base price for the omelet was $3.50 plus 25 cents each for the sausage, onions, green peppers, and tomatoes.  Her Sausage & Egg Sandwich was $2.50 and the has browns and fried potatoes were $1.50 each.  WHAT A DEAL!!!  When we were ready to pay, however, the waitress vanished for an extended period, so I wound up just leaving $15 cash (a 10% tip, sorry Mabel!) so we could amscray.  I've heard they have a breakfast buffet from 6-11 a.m. during the week that is quite good, and the Fried Chicken Dinner is supposed to be good, too.  Maybe we'll check that out after NEXT YEAR'S party...

UPDATE, 12/16/2013:  There was a big fire there yesterday that started in the Long Branch Saloon next door.  I don't know the extent of the damage, but I bet the Bluebird will re-open at some point....

Carol's Cornerstone Cafe- Small Town, Big Taste.

Early on a Saturday afternoon, the Little Woman and I were on the way to attend a party at a friend's house in the boonies near Greenfield, IN, and decided to eat a small meal before imbibing.  We happened upon Carol's Cornerstone Cafe, 301 E. Main St. in Greenfield and decided it would be a good little adventure to begin the weekend's festivities.  We went to one entrance and saw a sign that directed us to the door on the front (Main Street) side of the building.  We went in that door and stumbled into a kind of 1950's diner museum in progress.  There was a '56 Ford station wagon and another old car (I think it might've been a '53 Dodge but don't remember for sure) as well as old furniture, a gas station sign, and assorted knickknacks strewn around haphazardly, but it was all roped off, so we proceeded down the hallway and found the actual restaurant, which has that cozy country charm you'll find in numerous small-town homestyle eateries.  We had to sit in the small dining room near the front door (which is on the SIDE of the building) because all the main dining room tables were reserved for a big gospel sing-in they were having later that day.

We waited a good little while, until one of the locals said we should sound the little hotel bell on our table, but just as I was about to smack it the waitress appeared.  I ordered Liver & Onions with fried potatoes, and She had the Deep-Fried Cod with french fries and cole slaw.  The meal came out surprisingly fast.... Quite a few of the menu items were deep-fried, thus I believe they must have that process down to a science, because the four pieces of cod were freakin' EXCELLENT!  They had a light, buttery breading that complemented the flavor of the fish so splendidly that they were better than most of the cod pieces (not to be confused with codpieces) I've had in any number of actual seafood restaurants.  She very generously gave me one piece but slapped my hand away when I tried to steal another one, and She's usually not that protective of fish in any form, so that tells ya how good it was.  The fries were nothing special but were fried just right, and the creamy fine-chopped cole slaw approached the quality of KFC's, the standard by which I judge all slaws. 

My Liver & Onions were good but not outstanding-- the liver could have been browned more, for my taste, and it could've used more onion.  My fried potatoes were very good, though-- I like 'em browned as much as possible without being burned, and they had accomplished that quite well.  The crowning glory was that the whole meal cost us like $17.  Dang! Eat up, y'all!

Joe's Shelby Street Diner: The Best Parts of the Diner Tradition Live On.

Joe's Shelby Street Diner, at the corner of Shelby Street and Standish Avenue, is a true diner of the old-fashioned sort-- long counter with like 15 stools and two or three small booths in the main room, 5 or 6 booths in a side dining room that was added some years ago.The decor is sort of a mock 50's deal, with a neon Coca Cola clock, posters with Marilyn Monroe and James Dean, etc. but it's not so much that it's overwhelming, and although dishes on the menu have 50's names like the Big Bopper Omelet or something like that, you don't have to use the cutesy monikers when ordering.  Ownership of the place changed a few years ago, and though I liked the previous guy, the current proprietors have actually improved the food and service.  It's your basic diner food, prepared on the griddle out in front of everyone, and it has always been perfectly prepared-- I've never had a bad meal there, and the portions are beyond decent. Their one sort of unusual item is the Tower of Onion Rings, a little wooden stand that looks like a mini-coat tree, with several big, fat, heavily-battered onion rings hanging on each rung. We seem to get the same waitress every time we go, and she is as nice as can be, always accommodating if you want something different done with yer grub. The price is low enough to warm this cheapskate's heart, too.  LET'S RUMBLE!

Between the Bun: Good, But I'd Hoped for Better.

Between the Bun, on Madison Avenue just north of Main Street in Greenwood, has moved into what was Don Miguel's Mexican Restaurant for many years, then after Mike retired a number of restaurants opened up and closed in quick succession (remember the black hole theory of ill-fated locations). With a light, airy decor that includes old advertising signs and antique board-game boxes,  BTB seems to have the best chance of surviving so far, with big BIG burgers, big BIG hot dogs, and decent barbecue, although it's not cheap:  Dad's Classic Cheeseburger had a patty that was over an inch thick, and it came with a choice of steak fries, macaroni & cheese, or another side I can't remember at this here moment-- it was $7.59.  We had the burger with fries and a Pulled Pork Sandwich with fries and Spitfire barbecue sauce, which was their hottest of 3 sauces, quite spicy.  The burger was cooked perfectly, but I'd hoped for some kind of unique flavor or seasoning, to no avail.  It was just a big burger.  The pulled pork and sauce were decent, but again, nothing unique or outstanding for the $8.99 we paid.  The steak fries, however, were dusted with some sort of seasoning and were quite tasty.  En toto is was a good, not great, meal. I think Five Guys has 'em beat except for the grease factor-- BTB was a much leaner, cleaner sammich, I think. They're on the web at www.btbindy.com .

Don Gusto PJ: Look closely or you might miss it!

Don Gusto PJ is a tiny Mexican sandwich shop and bakery on the northeast corner of the intersection of Meridian Street and Hanna Avenue. You can't see the name until you get close to the windows, but there is a none-too-big sign on the front of the roof that says "TORTAS" and "PASTELERIA". I'd like to call it a boutique Mexican restaurant, but that might imply the place is fancy and expensive, which it is not, although the chef and the proprietor both wear chef tunics like you see on Iron Chef.  The menu offers about 10 different sandwiches but also has other traditional Mexican entrees like quesadillas, sopes, and burritos. They only have 6 tables, so much of their business is to-go orders, but when I went in to order to-go the first time,  the inside of the place was just so neat and tidy that I had to come back and have a sit-down meal.  The first time, I ordered a steak quesadilla, and it was unlike any I'd had before. Instead of being wrapped in a papery flour tortilla, it was encased in a fried pastry-like corn tortilla shell like a big empanada only it was flaky and tender, and it came with sour cream and lettuce spread across the top.  It was big enough that The Little Woman and I split it for lunch, and it was sooo tasty it almost didn't need the green tomatilla salsa and red pepper sauce that came on the side.  The tomatilla stuff lit me up a little bit, it was so spicy, but it was also so GOOD I wanted to take a gallon or so home.  The steak quesadilla and a bottle of Lipton iced tea came to $4.35, WHAT? WHAT???  The pennies in my pocket almost stopped screaming because I'd let up so much on pinching them!

On Saturday we both went there and ate-in: she had two tacos and a side of refried beans, and I had a steak burrito which wasn't as big as La Bamba's, but it was pretty darned big.  It was reeeeally tasty, I think because there was a bunch of sour cream mixed in with a bunch of cheese along with the beans and tomatoes and rice and lettuce and cilantro.  Her tacos had an even lighter, fluffier version of corn tortilla than our quesadilla had. TLW said she thought maybe they fried it in oil in a shallow pan and then folded it into a taco shell while still hot. It was light and crispy, and the steak bits were well seasoned and accompanied by fresh onion and cilantro.  She had a can of Diet Coke and I had ice water for which the waiter/proprietor provided fresh lime wedges.  Altogether it was $11.71!  I was in shock-- my pennies fell silent and breathed a sigh of relief. !Increible!

You know my theory: if an ethnic restaurant has a lot of customers of that same ethnicity, it's likely to be good, right? (A certain Asian place proving to be the exception as I reported some time ago, but that was probably only because the dishes it served were foreign to my dumb-American palate.)  Well, Don Gusto had a constant parade of Latino patrons while we were there, which ranged from scruffy working men to somewhat well-to-do-looking families, and they all looked satisfied, if that tells you anything.  I thought my quest for the non-cookie cutter Mexican restaurant was at an end with Taco Meats Potato, but alas, that went sour. I must say that Don Gusto is unique, or at least different from any other I've experienced.  !Vamanos a comer!

Ella's in Calabash, NC: A Great Seafood Place in a Sea of Seafood Restaurants

We were staying in Ocean Isle Beach, NC, which is part of a cool chain of little island communities stretching from North Myrtle Beach, SC to Wilmington, NC and beyond.  They're great for a geezer like meself because there is very little of the tiki-taki jumble of commercial development and condos that the bigger beach cities seem to be full of.  Our island had a beach store, three restaurants, a bar, and an ABC (liquor) store, and that was big compared to the island part of nearby Sunset Beach, which has only a tiny beach store and an ice cream shack!  

Calabash, NC is somewhat different:  It is a tiny town on an inlet, not the ocean, and it has a fleet of fishing boats and tens of seafood restaurants even though the town's population is only a little over 1300.  Ever since I was a first-grader in Myrtle Beach with my parents, I've heard and seen advertisements for "Calabash-style" seafood, but danged if anyone I asked really knew what that meant.  After a little research I'm proud to report that it is basically just large portions of lightly-battered, lightly fried seafood, and in Calabash itself it means really FRESH seafood right off the nearby boats, and that is hard to duplicate anywhere else that's not right next to a fishing port.  

We stopped in Calabash's American Legion post, and the local vets (almost all of whom were folks originally from other places who decided to settle there) recommended Ella's Seafood, right on the east-west main drag street that runs right down to the inlet.  We had a raw oyster appetizer plate that I thought was THE BOMB, that is until I got my combination platter which included mounds of shrimp and some roasted oysters that just BLEW me AWAY!  All the seafood was unbelievably delicious.  Ella's is neat, nautical, and nothing fancy, but I can't see how they could be beat for taste, portion size, and price (which is saying something if you know what a cheapskate the Barfly is!)  Some of the reviews I'd read complained that the cut corn tasted like it came from a can.  Geeze!  That's like saying the Mona Lisa is a terrible painting because it's not in a very pretty frame.  You want CORN, come back with me to Indiana, sourpusses!  Our fried corn will have your lips smacking, but the just-flown-in-last-week seafood in Indy will leave you depressed after you've had Ella's.  Arrrrr!

Lucille's Home Cookin': A Decent Experience, but with a Shocking End.

Lucille's Home Cookin',  150 W. Howard Street in Crothersville, IN is a little more than 60 miles south of Indy's southside on the old US 31.  We were coming back from a weekend in Louisville (see previous post "Louisville: the Hungry Drunk's Paradise) and driving the old road because 1) The Little Woman (who has been in two serious car accidents when she was younger) hates the traffic-congested, semi-truck infested Interstate Highways, 2) she hates the way I drive and figures we have a better chance of surviving a lower-speed crash by taking the old road, and 3) I like the taking the old roads for the scenery-- If you want more speed, take a danged airplane! Anyway, we came to the only stoplight in downtown Crothersville and looking to the west I spied a 3' x 4' neon sign that simply said "EAT".  Intrigued, I steered us into the parking lot of a tidy little commercial storefront with an apartment above. In the window was a chalkboard sign announcing "Lucille's Last Sunday Brunch", and I was sold, though my lovely wife had mixed feelings but knows when the Adventure Eating bug crawls in my ear and bite into my brain, I am no longer under in control.

The brunch buffet had about 10 items:  fried whitefish strips, pork cutlets cooked with apple wedges, and a host of home style side items, along with a number of cakes/cookies for dessert.  All in all it was a good home-cooked style meal in a little storefront location, but when the bill came-- ouch!  It was $15/person, a little steep for such a small buffet, I thought.  Still, we did enjoy the ambiance, and the experience.

Whitt's Inn: Smokers' Paradise and Quintessential Small-town Bar

Whitt's Inn, on US 31 at Tracy Road in Whiteland (or is it New Whiteland?  I can never remember where the one town ends and the other begins) is an unassuming little free-standing place at the edge of a strip-mall parking lot, so there is never a problem parking there even when they have one of those organized-group motorcycle rides in the summer.  The decor is your basic formless carpet/K-Mart Cafe chairs and tables that most bars have, but the place does have a kind of homey feel to it.  The staff is always friendly and the other patrons usually are, too.  On our last visit, however, there was a regular in there whose conversation had more F bombs in it than a freakin' episode of the Sopranos!  And of course he was the loudest sumbitch in there, so we all had to hear it.  Now, I was previously of the opinion that cussing was one of the freedoms that made a bar so relaxing, just like smoking and no-women-allowed used to be, but this guy made ME feel uncomfortable.  He wasn't angry or offensive, really, he just used "F-ing" like we would use any other adjective, only moreso.  The cook even joined in the mood the guy had created when she put an order up in the window and told the bartender to "TELL (F-bomb guy) TO PICK UP HIS F*CKING SH*T!", which got a big laugh, so I imagine his vernacular had been the subject of some discussion in the bar on previous occasions.

Anyway, I had an order of french fries that was pretty good, the beer and drink prices were decent, and they had Amber Bock on draft, which made me happy.  The only real drawback to the whole experience, aside from the aforementioned purveyor of profanity, was that the bar felt kind of gritty, like it hadn't been hit with a rag intentionally in a while, so I may have been taking my life in my hands with those french fries, but I did look in and see that the kitchen appeared to be clean, so maybe that particular bartender just needed to PICK UP HER F*CKING SH*T!  I always seem to have a good time there, so we'll be back.  

What is to Become of the Ice House?

The Ice House, 2352 S. West St. is still one of my favorite places, although I wasn't as happy with my last visit as I usually am.  It's a stand-alone building in a primarily industrial area near the White River, and that's part of its charm, really.  It looks rather like an old-fashioned ice house of yore, with barn wood outside, a metal(?) roof, and a big cooler-style front door.  There are a few neon signs on the sides and just a little lighted hanging sign out front, so driving by you might miss it if you're not looking for it.  Inside is all rustic wood paneling and antique sign decor, including numerous really cool old neon signs.  There is a small family dining room along one side (so kids can be admitted, I guess: I've never seen anyone in there), and a long bar along the other side with a mirror behind it that is almost as long.  The only problem is that the furniture and the fixtures are showing a little dust and age, and on this unseasonably warm and humid Friday afternoon in January there was a hint of a sort of musty old-wood smell that was a little less than pleasant.  I don't think they used to have a lot of smoke in there like Bailey's on Bluff did, but they may also be suffering (albeit not as much) from newly detectable odors apparent after Indy's recently enacted smoking ban removed the mask of smoke smell.  Either way, this time the place had a general appearance (perhaps undeserved, but with broken cabinet doors, a lot of dim lighting and a number of neon signs either not working or just not lighted, it gave the impression) of shabbiness. I had heard (and not from a particularly credible source) that The Ice House might be up for sale, but Joy, one of the owners, was busy eating with some friends/regulars and I didn't want to bother her, so I dunno for sure if maybe they're letting some things go in anticipation of an impending departure or not.  

The main reason for going to the Ice House, however, is still there-- a comfortable ambiance, great reasonably priced food, and decent beer & drink prices and specials.  One of our buds has gone there every Wednesday lunch for years to get the steak filet special, which was delicious and a great value for the money the last time I was there.  We had another engagement to attend, so we didn't eat there on this most recent occasion, but I saw possibly the biggest breaded tenderloin sandwich I've ever seen pass by on the way to someone's table, and it looked and smelled deeeeelectable.  You can see into the kitchen from the bar, too, and I must say it looked very clean and there was nothing shabby about that area.  The Little Woman and I split a decent-sized pitcher of Amber Bock for a really good price, too, so I'm not giving up on this favorite haunt.  As General MacArthur said, I SHALL RETURN!

UPDATE, 02/21/2014: The Ice House has been sold, effective (I think) 02/26/14.  The current owner had a stroke in January, sorry to say.  He's doing okay but decided the place was too much for his present condition.  Let's hope the new proprietor can continue the old traditions and come up with some new ones, like cleaning/fixing up the lovably eccentric decor.  To be continued....

Bailey's on Bluff- Great Decor in Great Decline

Bailey's on Bluff, in (you guessed it) a strip mall on the Northwest corner of Southport Road and Bluff Road, used to be one of the Bubbaz chain of Southside bars that came to be known for their Combat Nightlife, which is why (I think) none of them are called Bubbaz anymore.  I can't remember what it was called before it was Bubbaz, but I suspect the original owners wanted to open an upscale place to draw in the more well-to-do clientele moving into Murphy's Landing and other nearby expensive housing additions, just as Grumpy Ed's across the street tried to do before it gave up the ghost and became Robbie's Pub.  The wood paneling and bar layout of this place is gorgeous, but it hasn't been updated, or even maintained, really.  The carpet is old and smelly and worn, even more than the usual formless, colorless bar carpet.  Maybe it was the excess humidity of an unseasonably warm, rainy day in January, but the whole place had a musty, sour booze smell that I found really unpleasant.  As a result I didn't try any of the pub grub, and neither did anyone else while I was there.  Now that there is a smoking ban, bar & grilles are going to have to step up on their housekeeping now that they don't have stale cigarette smoke smell to mask the aroma of vomit, urine, and other fermenting fluid residues.

On the plus side, though, the beer and drink prices are decent, there are a number of big-screen TV's and tables set up specifically to view them, and usually at least one of the barmaids on duty is a smokin' hot babe.  But for the Geezer that I am, clean and comfortable trumps visual cheesecake almost any day, so unless they do some cleaning and renovating, Bailey's on Bluff is not on my return list.

Shallo's - A Southside Icon Soldiers On.

Shallo's is not in a strip mall, it's in a REAL mall, the one at Stop 13 and Hardegan Street that we used to call the Target Mall before Target fled and was replaced by Old Tyme Pottery.  I dunno what the real name of the mall is, but probably no one but the owners know, either.  Shallo's has it's own exterior entrance as well as one off the interior hall, and is a quintessential example of the "Fern Restaurants" that became popular in the late 70's and early 80's, like Bennigan's and TGI Friday's:  Old wood and brass interiors with various old signs and memorabilia on the walls.  In Shallo's case, the memorabilia includes a giant neon "INSURANCE" sign over the bar and several other lighted signs scattered throughout as well as numerous antique metal signs, framed posters, and a few stained glass windows, all of which have local historical significance explained in the back of the menu.  The cornices around the ceiling of both the first and second floors are also lined with a couple hundred old beer tapper handles, ranging from everyday ordinary to very rare or defunct brands.  

The beer tappers hint at Shallo's specialty:  They claim to have 500 brands of beer available, and you can see at least 100 of the bottled varieties on display in several large windowed coolers behind the bar and in the dining room. The day we went (January 2nd), however, they were out of  draft Warsteiner Dunkel and (gasp!) Guinness.  A different bar owner friend later told us that the local beer distributors had an unusually heavy demand on New Year's Eve this year, so maybe that was the source of the shortage.  The Little Woman and I both had the $7.99 5-ounce Sirloin lunch special, and it was EXCELLENT!  The steak was like 1.5 inches thick and cooked to perfection, the baked potato was large, fresh, and baked tender, and my side salad was likewise fresh and crisp.  I'm now on a crappy low-sodium diet for a medical condition, and the staff made adjustments for that-- the only no-sodium salad dressing I know is Vinegar & Oil, and though the waitress said they didn't have that, she was able to procure me a little cup of red wine vinegar and a little cup of oil, so with that and a Warsteiner Lager I was happy.  Prosit!