The Sherman Hotel and Restaurants in Batesville, IN: Classy, but not so Costly

If you know me personally I wouldn't want you to think that by this review I'm taking lightly the recent untimely passing of my wife, TLW, which initially stood for The Little Woman (which she was) and  later at the suggestion of a friend became The Lovely Wife (which she was).  She was a homebody and an accomplished cook who loved nothing more than staying home and creating her own culinary masterpieces, but she was nevertheless willing to humor me and embark on various dining adventures, not all of which were successful. She was sweet to me in that way, and so many others.  And that, as Forrest Gump says, is all I have to say about that. The Sherman was one place we always intended to visit but never did.

The Sherman is perfect for one of those weekend getaways that so many big-city dwellers crave.  It is roughly halfway between Indianapolis and Cincinnati, but is also reasonably close to Columbus, Ohio,  Louisville, Kentucky, and maybe even Chicago. I knew next to nothing about Batesville, Indiana beyond that tourist Mecca, the Batesville Casket Company, but I discovered the Hill-Rom Company also has a big presence there, WOOHOO! Beyond that, however, Batesville is a charming little town with a big German heritage, much like Berne, Indiana (which may be Swiss, too. I dunno for sure.)  Many of the old downtown buildings are of German-style architecture, and some of the new ones as well, which makes the place quite picturesque and enjoyably walkable.  There are numerous nice little restaurants and shops that sell a variety of items, especially antiques.  The old canal town of Metamora is not far away, with its own array of shops, canal boat exhibits, and an old-time railroad excursion.

The Sherman is part of Batesville's German heritage, with some of the building dating back to 1852.  It has a very Old European feel to it, lots of dark, heavy wood timbers and fixtures. After I checked in at the charming Old World lobby, I had a few misgivings as I ascended the stairs to the 2nd floor where all  22 guest rooms are located (there is no elevator for guests, but the staff is happy to help you with your luggage).  One rambling, labyrinthine 2nd floor hallway accesses all the rooms, with a step up or down along the way, so I wondered what I'd gotten myself into, but then I opened the door to the room and VOILA, elegance personified! My room was not overlarge but was high-ceilinged and beautifully updated, with a big comfortable bed, modern desk table and big flat-screen TV, and an elegant bathroom with faux marble flooring and glass-enclosed shower.  

I could have happily spent my entire time there in the room enjoying the 24/7 room service, but then I would have missed out on the excellent 1852 Restaurant, Black Forest Bar, and the Bier Hall, all of which are heavily patronized by Batesville locals, which is always a good sign. For dinner in the 1852 I had Jaegerschnitzel, breaded pork cutlets covered with a mushroom sauce and served with warm German potato salad, priced around $19 but the portions were HUGE and tasty.  Later I quaffed craft beers in the Black Forest Bar, an elegant space just off the lobby with an ornate antique bar from somewhere in Belgium, and yet the price was not outrageous. From there I went outside and around the corner to the Bier Hall (there was no direct interior access even though it's in the same building, my one pieve about the place), a large basement bar space that resembles every modern bar you've ever been to.  There was a decent live band on stage, a loooong bar, dart boards, and some video arcade game machines. Again, the prices were not outrageous and there was an eclectic mix of locals and hotel guests.

I checked out at noon the next day but decided to eat Saturday Brunch in the 1852 Restaurant, so the desk man (whom I suspect is the proprietor) secured my bags behind the desk while I ate.  The German Bacon, Egg, and Potato breakfast casserole was EXCELLENT, with half the plate shared by a pile of fresh spinach-- I asked for some vinaigrette dressing, and they brought 2 varieties, both home made and delicious. At $140 a night for the room ($125+ tax & fees), I didn't want to leave.  I can't wait to go back!  Prosit!  

West End Diner in Decatur, IN: Small-Town Goodness

After feasting at my bro-in-law's house in NW Ohio I swore I would never want to eat again, so the next morning I passed up the giant smorgasbord of leftovers in the kitchen and hit the road.  Thirty miles later, of course, there was a rumbly in me tumbly that could be heard over my vehicle's engine noise, music from the radio, and my cussing myself for not eating for free when I had the chance.   As if by magic the little West End Diner appeared, the glow from its "open" sign piercing the early morning gloom.

It is the kind of tidy small-town diner you've always imagined (well, that I've always imagined, anyway). with wood paneling and brick walls, cozy little booths, and a line of stools at a counter where all the grumpy old men customers always seem to sit.  I fittingly sat down at the counter and became grumpy because the stools are positioned too close to the counter, so that I had to do a kind of bow-legged spread to get where the stool was in a position to support my old butt. 

That, however, was the ONLY irritating thing about the place.  The wait staff was courteous if not outright friendly, and they were efficiently bustling about to keep everyone served.  I had the breakfast special full order of biscuits and gravy for $5.49 which included a drink, no less!  The coffee was okay but had a little bit of an alkaline flavor, maybe due to the water, maybe?  Biscuits were tasty but a little salty because they were homemade, and the gravy was a white milk gravy like you get at most Midwestern diners who've apparently never heard of bacon grease, but it had a decent amount of sausage bits AND some diced onions, which I've never had before-- they actually made it quite tasty.  

They had a big glass case on the wall with a sign over it listing the 15 types of pie they offer.  Out of all the exotic flavors I could have had, I chose Sugar Cream pie just so I could compare it to my bro-in-law's.  He began a long career in restaurant management by making pies at MCL cafeterias, so he has long been the piemaster of the family. I will say his pie was much lighter and fluffier than West End's, which was very dense like a heavy cheesecake.  Both tasted GREAT, though.  So, anyway, in case you missed it I got a full plate of biscuits and gravy, bottomles cup of coffee, and a piece of pie for $9.42, which made this $$ guy VERY happy.  As I left I put on my shades, looked at the cashier and did my best Arnold: "I'LL BE BAAACK."

Lima Memorial Hospital and St. Francis Hospital Food: Not Your Grandma's Gruel

I recently had occasion to visit with loved ones in both Lima Memorial Hospital in Lima, OH and St. Francis Hospital here in Indy, which leads one to make comparisons between the two similar institutions, especially (for me) their respective food services. When you spend hours watching your family member suffer while you have to sit there unable to do anything for them except be there, a short trip to the cafeteria can be a welcome respite from that constant anxiety.  

Lima Memorial and one other hospital serve that city of about 40,000 people along with a number of surrounding communities. It's undergoing a major renovation, so some problems, I suppose, are due to that.  The worst thing I can say is it seemed like a half-mile walk from the main entrance just to get to the elevators to get up onto the wards.  The cafeteria was down in the basement, so no windows, and was tiny for the size of the hospital, so at one mealtime I had to sit with another gent because all the other tables were full, I mean FULL of people, many of whom like me were forced to sit with people they didn't know, all taking off their masks to eat, which I doubt was a good thing Covid-wise, but maybe they were all vaccinated, at least.

On the plus side, their food was EXCELLENT!  My favorite dish was the Parmesan Chicken Breast: It appeared they had grilled the chicken, coated it with a creamy parmesan sauce and then baked it on for a few minutes more.  It was incredibly tasty, as was just about every thing else I had there.  The room service for patients was just as good: they were open until 10:00 p.m., and they accepted requests for patients' visitors as well. Every member of the hospital staff I met was as friendly and helpful as could be, and the longer I remained in Lima it seemd to be not just the hospital staff but the people of the city as well-- fast food restaurant employees, hotel clerks,  everyone!  

The staff of St. Francis (now named Franciscan-Indianapolis, although few locals call it that) are caring professionals who are very, very busy, so forgive them if they are more politely business-like than friendly.  The cafeteria is a busy place, too, but it is big enough to accommodate a lot of people very quickly with a very large selection of items.  The food is generally good but not outstanding; I have yet to find a dish I'm ecstatic about.  The two best things about the place are 1) it's on the second floor with big windows that overlook the parking lot, interstate highway, and some pastoral scenery, and 2) there is always hot Seattle's Best coffee available. I've several times spent a few peaceful minutes there at a table by the window, sipping dark roast while watching the traffic and pedestrians come and go, and not worrying about what the future holds for one particular room upstairs.  Every time a baby is born at St. Francis, the PA system plays a short music-box version of the children's hymn "Jesus Loves Me", which always makes me smile and pray that's really true. 

Newk's Eatery: Yeah, It's a Chain, but....

 ...It's not half bad, although it doesn't really pass the $$ Guy value test.  Newk's has locations across the South and Texas, with a few of locations each in Colorado and Maryland, and ONE, just one left in Indy.  It kind of reminds me of a stripped down McAlister's.  You order one of about ten sandwiches or entrees and they give you cups to fill your drink at a station in the back of the dining room. I had a Newk's Q sandwich and The Lovely Wife ordered a Grilled Steak sandwich.  Both come with a small side, so I had coleslaw and TLW had a fruit cup. The Q was sliced roast chicken on a kind of baguette with bacon and a white sauce that I supposed was meant to resemble Alabama white barbecue sauce, which was pretty good even though the sandwich was kind of small, like a 6-inch Subway sub for $8.  TLW's grilled steak was really shaved beef with a kind of minced horseradish sauce, again tasty but rather small.  My slaw was fresh but not memorable and TLW's little fruit cup was fresh and tasty.  We shared a $7.99 bowl of Tomato Basil Soup that was the hit of the meal even though it was sort of orange-colored and not very tomato-y.  They have little cups of add-ons you can take from the counter, so we added jalapenos, parmesan cheese, and crackers to the soup which made it quite flavorful.  Two large cups of UNsweet Peach Tea (which was nicely brewed and delicious) brought the price of our lunch to $34.51, which may be why the Newk's on the North side closed.  It was a nice working lunch, but not one this cheapskate could afford every day. ;-)

P.S. TLW was on a low-sodium diet at this time, and we found out too late that EVERYTHING at Newk's (except maybe the iced tea) is chocked full of sodium.  So if you're cutting down on sodium (and if not, why aren't you?!) you might want to avoid the place altogether. :-(

Ale Emporium: Like a Nationwide Chain But It Ain't.

Sorry, I wish this was funnier:  Maybe the Doc needs to up my meds! ...The southside Ale Emporium is in a nice strip mall (where else?) on the southwest corner of Emerson Avenue and County Line Road and opened a couple years ago after the original location was (and is) so successful at Alisonville Road and 86th Street, The original has a kind of old-fashioned pseudo-Victorian Bennigan's-like decor that makes for a comfortable living-room kind of atmosphere even though it is bustling and a little noisy, whereas this newer one down south has a trendy, modern marble and glass motif.  It has a family side and an adults-only bar side with an entire wall of flat-screen TVs, four of which are usually linked to make one great big screeen that can be seen from anywhere in the room, so it is likely a great place to watch the sporting event of your choice.  There is a covered outdoor section, too, which was nice today owing to the good weather, although I didn't see any TV screens there.  All of this gives the place a slick, polished look and atmosphere like you would expect from a major nationwide chain rather than a local establishment.  

And the food does nothing to dispell that big-box impression.  They have a full bar with a wide selection of draft and bottled craft beers, and a fairly varied menu of the usual restaurant dishes you might see at Applebee's, O'Charley's, or Chili's. They're sort of known for pizza and wings, and I have mixed feelings about both.  Like the rest of their food, it's all good... but none of it's what I'd call great.  They have both thin crust and deep dish pizza, very heavy on the cheese and almost no noticeable sauce.  The deep dish crust is rather thick and chewy compared to the pastry-like crust I've had in Chicago, the capital of deep dish, as well as some other places here.  I didn't get wings this time, but I remember being rather underwhelmed by them the last time.  ...Which is not to say I won't eat there again.  It's really a good place to eat.  I just wish it was better. 

The Cafe at the Super Kroger-- Who Knew?

We haven't been eating out much lately, so I'm reviewing the impromptu lunch we had today at Kroger, of all places. It seems like I'm the last to learn about new innovations in just about everything, so you may already be aware of things about the Kroger Company which continue to amaze me, with more and more varied offerings beyond mere groceries.  The Super Kroger or Kroger Super Center (I'm not sure what the company calls it, can't remember the actual title) at Emerson and County Line Road here in Indy is a wonder to behold, although compared to some of the other locations in other cities and states it may be rather tame:  My son in Union, KY lives near a Kroger location that is completely Online Pickup only, no indoor shopping at all.  It has numerous pull-up spaces where employees are waiting to load your vehicle with your order.  Also in Union, and in Anderson, IN there are full-fledged restaurants attached to some Kroger stores, named The 1883 Cafe & Bar, which have actual chefs and a full bar. Still others in Kentucky have their own liquor stores, some with beer bars where you can purchase samples of various ales (limit 2).

Still, our Super Kroger has a rather sizable Cafe area in a front corner of the store which you can access through its own entrance. It has pre-made sandwiches and deli-made microwaveable meals, a huge salad bar, and a deli counter with fresh baked pizza, sushi, and steam tables of baked chicken, fried chicken, and other home-made style delights with some nice sides as well.  Unfortunately for us it was 10:30 a.m. and this sumptuous smorgasbord didn't open until 11:00.  The Lovely Woman made do with a pre-made Chicken Caesar wrap and a small bag of Doritos while I had a Maple Turkey sandwich and a bag of honey-roast peanuts.  She chose a large fountain Iced Tea from the humongous drinks section which had that, a big cooler of bottled beverages, and one of those computer-controlled machines that offers myriad possible combinations of Coca-Cola brand soft drinks. I wanted coffee, but Cafe Guy apologized and said they couldn't sell coffee because of the in-store Starbucks which was like 100 feet away, even though it is run by Kroger with Kroger employees who won't let you tip them(?!) I really don't like Starbucks coffee (DON'T @ME, as they say. Most of it's too acidic for my taste, sorry... though I love their Iced Tea), so I went to the Great Coke Dispenser and had a Diet Barque's Cream Soda. Both sandwiches and drinks were fresh and delicious.  Our entire meal was like $14, a bargain these days, and the cafe was clean and comfortable, with a bunch of tables and another pit-like area around a big-screen TV.

It was quite a nice experience, and I would consider eating lunch there regularly if I worked or lived nearby.  I can only hope that someday soon Kroger adopts the 1883 Cafe & Bar concept systemwide, so I can eat, drink, and shop for groceries, home furnishings. and maybe a car, all in one place.  It'll be too easy to tell TLW "LET'S GO KROGERING!" 

Don Juan Taqueria: 'Way Authentic

 DJT, in a strip mall at Shelby Street and Hanna Avenue, is not a cookie-cutter Mexican like many other places: they have all the traditional dishes you see everywhere else, but also have a BUNCH of other actual Mexican offerings you won't find everywhere. The decor is more like many real places in Mexico, your basic storefront with polished concrete flooring, lunchroom-style chairs and tables as well as a few booths, and minimal festive decorations, which makes it a surprise when you find out they have a full bar with just about any liquor you want as well as a salsa bar with 6 or 7 different sauce selections. (The salsa bar was closed due to Covid restrictions when we went, but you could request the salsa you want to be brought to your table).  I ordered Birria, a type of mutton stew, but unfortunately they were out of mutton!  Still, they had other non-ordinary selections.  All in all, we loved eating there, and the proprietor and employees provided really courteous and helpful service.  They may not have all the carved wood and upscale atmosphere of some places, but the food is the thing there, and it is a GREAT thing.  iComemos!

Florida's "Forgotten Coast": The laid-back Florida of yesteryear--or not.

The Lovely Woman and I hit several places on vacation, so rather than put out a non-stop string of reviews I'll just try to give ya the highlights.  The Forgotten Coast is some travel promotion guru's name for 4 or 5 communities at the base of Florida's Panhandle, somewhere in between the tourist meccas of Panama City and Tampa/St. Pete.  The biggest of these is Apalachicola, the population of which is a whoppin' 2500 souls or so, but we had to stay there because TLW likes the way "Apalachicola" rolls off her tongue.  One of her recent favorite songs is Southern Voice by Tim McGraw, partly just because it mentions Apalachicola!  You may want to start over with this blog entry and take a drink everytime you read "Apalachicola", 'cause as I write this I imagine it's gonna be comin around a bunch o' times.

If you wanna stay at the beach, the best place is St. George Island, which has a reeeeally decent beach and only 2 actual hotels, The Buccaneer Inn and the St. George Inn.  The Buccaneer is a beachfront 1960's style motel with a pool that is nicely renovated and maintained and has fairly reasonable prices. The St. George is an old fashioned beachview 3-story wood construction hotel that seems like something out of the turn of the 20th Century but which was actually built in the late 1980's.  It is the tallest building on SGI except for the lighthouse, which is part of SGI's charm-- no giant hotels or resorts, only beach houses and  a few townhouse-style condo developments. SGI has one small Piggly Wiggly store/gas station, a bank, some stores, and 5 or 6 restaurants, all of which are pretty danged good.  The locals all seem to drink at Harry A's, a quintessential bar & grill you might find anywhere in the US, with old pics and junky memorabilia on the walls, etc., but the food is decent and prices are below the usual beach/resort level, which is probably why it draws the locals.  Unlike in Casablanca, everyone on SGI comes to The Blue Parrot, with outdoor dining and a bar that overlooks the beach.  It's a little pricey but a lot of fun.  Another drinking place, Mango Mike's is so unusual to me it deserves mention-- basically just a gigantic open-sided picnic shelter with an attached kitchen, where in the evenings they give you a can of insect repellent to use at your table or the horseshoe/cornhole pits.  The skeeters and no-see-ums can be murder on SGI at night, the only drawback to staying in such a  great getawayfromitall paradise.

This year we stayed in "downtown" Apalachicola (cheers!) a former King Cotton era shipping port. We stayed in an Airbnb apartment on the 3rd floor of the building which houses two stores on the ground floor and The Up to No Good Tavern/Up the Stairs Restaurant on the 2nd floor, which isn't a bargain but has really good food and drinks.  The crazy laid-back small town vibe of Apalachicola (chug!) means that lots of shops and eateries are closed on either Sunday 'n Monday or Tuesday 'n Wednesday, so when we arrived on Sunday it was a real hunt for somewhere to eat 'n drink, even though Apalachicola (bottoms up!) is nicknamed Oyster City due to its famous oyster industry.  Once we were finally able to eat at The Station Raw Bar on Tuesday, though, I really didn't need to eat anywhere else.  They had THE best fried oysters I've ever had, even though the delicious mollusks may not have come from Apalachicola Bay due to a present moratorium on oyster harvesting in the Bay itself (except for oyster farming) to give the oysters a chance to regenerate their populations.  Some places still get their oysters from Alligator Point, however, which is outside but near the mouth of the Bay, and they are no less delicious.        

We have yet to fully explore the other communities of Cap San Blas and Port St. Joe, but Eastpoint and Carrabelle have more of that sleepy small-town ambiance that makes the Forgotten Coast so attractive to folks who aren't drawn to the high-rise, high energy places like Miami, Ft. Myers, Clearwater and all the rest.  One culinary gem in Eastpoint is the Family Coastal Restaurant.   It's nothing fancy, with a decor kinda like the old Sunshine Cafes here in Indy, but it serves giant tasty mountains of seafood for a price that made this $$ guy's jaw drop in awe!  Carrabelle is a pretty little burg on a river cove tht not only has the World's Smallest Police Station but also a couple of great eateries, including Harry's Bar, a very dark but cool and comfortable little place downtown with really cold draft beer and decent prices.

I'm pretty sure The Forgotten Coast has all the fishing, boating, hiking, birdwatching, and other outdoor activities you could want, but why do those things when you can relax in the sun, drink, and eat???  Come to Apalachicola (thunk of beer mug hitting the floor) and enjoy the slow life!  Yeehaw!

Rager's Sausage Sandwich: Something to Look Forward To!

Rager's is in a nice, neat new space in one-half of a gas station/convenience store in Van Wert, OH, which if you're in Indy and reading this may be kind of disappointing, as it is to me because I don't have the ability to visit there EVERY DAY for breakfast or lunch like I'd want.  Pork is big around Van Wert due to the large number of hog farms there.  That and other agriculture make the Van Wert County Fair a really big deal: their fairground is much bigger than Marion County's here, for a county of only 15,000(?) people. Locally famous and one of the most popular food items offered at the fair is a great big sausage sandwich sold by a booth from the Lions' Club of the nearby village of Venedocia.  It has a big, round, dense patty that is thicker than a McD's quarter pounder and weighs twice as much, so it's almost a meal in itself.  It is well seasoned, nicely browned and VERY tasty. It seems everyone at the fair gets one sooner or later, they're so popular. 

Rager's sandwich has sort of the same rural origins but is different from the Venedocia sandwich.  Rager's store is sort of like Wheatley's here in Wanamaker, having begun as a farm and meat market in the little town of Convoy, OH, then a carnival vendor/food truck operator, and fairly recently opened their own actual restaurant.  Rager's patty is somewhat thinner and very irregularly shaped, like maybe they just grab a hunk out of a big pan of sausage and smush it on the griddle with a spatula.  It's REALLY well-seasoned, maybe more than the Lions', and is quite satisfying even though not as big.  I had Rager's lunch combo of a sandwich, some perfectly cooked fries, and fountain drink for under $7, so this $$ guy was in HOG HEAVEN!  I think Van Werters (Van Wertians?) agree, because the drive-thru line  at Rager's stayed almost 10 cars deep the whole time I was there...  SOOOOIE!  Y'all come get some!

Barry's Pizza South: A Matter of Taste, Not for Everyone...

On the one hand, I really want to support a local business like Barry's South Pizza & Wings, 5564 Madison Avenue, Telephone 317-974-9262 (carry out or delivery).  I list the address and phone here because you won't find it if you search "pizza near me" or "pizza indy southside", or even "pizza on Madison Avenue" on Google; it comes up only if you search for Barry's South Pizza.  I suppose that's because they haven't paid or done whatever they need to do to get recognized by The Great and Powerful G. On the other hand, I have to say that I was just a little disappointed with their pizza.   The thin crust was crispy but not hard, there was a good amount of cheese and sauce, and there were enough seasonings and toppings to give one that satisfying burp that signifies you've had a good meal.  The sauce, however, was a serious problem for The Lovely Woman and me-- it was incredibly sweet, so much so that TLW could not handle more than a single piece.  I was not completely put-off by it, but by the third and fourth piece I had to apply some Frank's Red Hot sauce in order to counterbalance the Candyland flavor. If you like that sort of pizza, you should be happy with Barry's:  Their service is quick and their prices reasonable. The pizza itself, however, was just not something I would ever want again.  Maybe next time (?) we'll try the wings....

OH, Pullup Grill & BBQ, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!

As a former Kentuckian (are there really "former" Kentuckians, hmm? Happy Chandler said that every Kentuckian he'd ever met was either going home or TALKING about going home) with family in Tennessee, I've eaten a LOT of barbecue in my life, so I was intrigued when reading someone's Facebook thread about good BBQ places in Indy and there were several mentions of one I'd never heard about, Pullup Grill & BBQ, 2412 E. Raymond Street. An old friend later went there and raved about it, too, so I decided life was too short to stay away from good barbecue for very long... and I'm glad I went as soon as I did, because this is truly THE BEST BARBECUE I'VE EVER HAD.  BBQ is almost a religion with some folks, and though I've eaten lots of it I have no clear idea what makes one better than the others, but whatever it is, Pullup has it.

The place is carry-out only, so I ordered online and it was ready when I got there.  The lady who waited on me was as nice as could be, and seemed truly concerned that I get everything I wanted.  The Lovely Woman at home is not a big BBQ person, so I ordered a dressed single 1/3 lb cheeseburger w/fries for her.  Now, I don't recall reading anything about Pullup's burgers, but this one was somewhere between very good and freakin' incredible: the thick patty had a nice bit of char on the outside for a rich flavor that was complimented by the soft bun and just the right amount of cheese and fixins.  The natural cut fries were merely great, cooked perfectly but with just a little salt/seasoning.  

The pulled pork in my dinner filled most of the large compartment of a three part to-go container, very pleasing to a $$ guy. I ordinarily hate the current use of periods for emphasis, but THE.BBQ.WAS.HEAVENLY. It was moist, juicy, and tender, with just enough smokiness to remind you it's barbecue. That luscious taste was combined with some kind of umami flavor the source of which I couldn't determine, so I can only conclude it is MAGIC.  I was under its spell from the first bite.  It's the only BBQ I've ever had that didn't benefit at least a little from a dab of barbecue sauce.  I found dipping a bite just a little way into Pullup's very good sauce to be disappointing because it concealed ever so slightly the delicious flavor of the meat itself, so I had plenty of sauce left over.  The sauce itself was deliciously different than most, only slightly sweet with more tomato flavor than molasses or brown sugar, and the hot variety had a lot of heat.

The Fresh Greens were good but not the best I've had, although I'm spoiled because TLW's Tennessee roots come out in her greens and are a little better.  The Green Beans are the best I've ever had from a restaurant.  Some of my Kentucky folks' beans might be a little better tasting, but I suspect that is only because they contains a dangerous level of bacon grease. Pullup's green beans had just the right amount of salty/bacony flavor to make them ever so tasty. TLW loved her burger & fries, and tasted my stuff and was duly impressed, so I know I wasn't just succumbing to the hype.

Pullup also offers ribs, rib tips, brisket, and pulled chicken, among other things.  So, that's at least four more trips I have to make there before I get back around to pulled pork.  I can't wait to get started!

Grillerz in Nineveh: I so WANTED to love it!

Grillerz doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside it is maybe the ultimate place to relax and have a drink. It sits in "downtown" Nineveh, which is eight or nine business buildings clustered around the 4-way stop at the corner of Nineveh Road and Hospital Road. The family dining room and the bar have that timber-frame hunting lodge/lake house kind of ambiance that I love, with lots of rough-hewn but polished wood, thick carpet, and in the bar a just-right dimness of lighting that puts you at ease. They have a good-sized parking lot and a nice deck in back of the building. The deck has some fixed benches and room for outdoor tables which they hadn't put out yet, owing to the cold today/hot tamale weather that is Spring in Indiana.  

I love just hanging out in there, and there's nothing really bad I can say about the place, especially the friendly service. It's just that there are a few things that don't wow me like I wish they would.  Although all the food there is decent, I have yet to find a dish that I really love.  The drinks are decent, too, and like the food not outrageously priced but still more than $$ cheap bastards like me want to pay. The online menu did mention some $2 draft pints on a certain day of the week, but this, as Aragorn says in Lord of the Rings, was not that day. I opted for the $4 Tito's Handmade Vodka that was on special, and that mixed with club soda and lime made an excellent drink. 

The Lovely Woman and I shared a Breaded Tenderloin sandwich which came with a side, so we chose onion rings.  I also ordered a bowl of French Onion Soup to make sure we didn't leave hungry. The tenderloin was a decent size and thickness, but lacked something-- seasoning, maybe?  The onion rings similarly were decent but (sorry, Cliche Police) nothing to write home about.  Everyone has a different preference, I suppose, but I don't really love rings that have such a thick coating that when you bite into them the onion doesn't separate and comes out in one long string, leaving you with an empty tube. of fried dough.  The soup, too, was quite edible but not outstanding.  I'm not sure what makes one French Onion Soup better than another, but this one just didn't have it. Still, I really like the Grillerz experience and we will likely visit there again to have a couple drinks whenever we get anywhere near Nineveh, hopefully after it warms up for good and the deck is open. Cheers!

Eddy's Neighborhood Bar & Grill on Geist: Comfort, and Comfort Food

Eddy's is at 11693 Fall Creek Road in the Geist Marina Complex, next door to Puccini's Pasta & Pizza and just a little way down from Wolfie's Grill, so you would have other options if you went there and found your primary target too crowded.  Eddy's view of the marina and reservoir is not as good as Wolfie's, but it's a little cheaper and still very nice.  There are umbrella tables out front, but as it was a windy 45-degree day we opted to eat inside. It has a comfortable semi-nautical ambiance like you might expect, and the large family dining room is almost completely separate from the bar so your kids won't have to watch the people drinking, and vice versa. They offer dock-side delivery to the yacht people, which I thought might be cool whenever I win the Lottery and can sail from our lakefront mansion over to the marina.

The Lovely Woman got a Turkcy BLT Wrap with a side of cottage cheese and I ordered a Pulled Pork Sandwich with Ketttle Chips.  A strange thing happened, though-- the kitchen runner brought me a Fried Tenderloin Sandwich with Fries, and TLW said that was what she thought she heard me order!  Now, I didn't have my heart set on Pulled Pork and didn't want to spend another 15 minutes waiting, so I didn't say anything and just started in on the Tenderloin. A minute or two later, though, the waiter brought out a small plate of Kettle Chips and said "Sorry for the mistake."  What the-?  I looked around to make sure that Obewan Kenobe wasn't seated nearby incantating "THIS ISN'T THE PULLED PORK YOU'RE LOOKING FOR" to us and the waiter....

My Tenderloin was very, very good.  The patty was maybe 8" around and a half-inch thick, perfectly cooked and nicely seasoned.  For me the best tenderloins are those with more of a fried chicken-type coating rather than the traditional corn meal.  Eddy's and the one at Foxgardin Family Restaurants are good examples of this. The fries were also good, having been dusted with seasoning, and the Kettle Chips were very interesting: not hard and crunchy like others I've had, and seasoned with some kind of herb like chives or oregano.  TLW's wrap was very good, too, with smokey bacon and turkey along with a hefty amount of a Southwestern blend of cheeses.  I just wish the cook had mixed up the ingredients before rolling them up in the tortilla so you wouldn't have a big blob of cheese on one side and big bites of turkey on the other.  With a big-around wrap like that, you can't get a mix of everything in one bite.  Damn first-world problems!

The Humble Taco: Classy, Tasty, and a little Pricey

The Humble Taco at 172 Melody Lane in Greenwood just opened in the space formerly occupied by a location of the defunct local chain The Stacked Pickle, which was decent but fell victim (they said) to The Pandemic. It's kind of ironic that THT just opened March 1, 2021 and is likely enjoying success partly because of this stage of our living with the virus.  There was a 2-hour wait when we tried to go there that first week-- it was the first warm days of Spring and new restaurant openings had been very few in number since The Big P started, so I think the severely cabin-fevered public was ready to get the HELL out of the house and GO EAT somewhere nice. We gave up trying to get in and went to Indy's Mi Abuelito instead that day (see review above) and were pleasantly surprised. 

The Lovely Woman and I came back to THT a week or so later in the middle of a weekday afternoon and were immediately seated.  They've opened up the dining room from its Stacked Pickle days and the high ceiling made it seem quite light and airy (although in my experience that tends to make it rather noisy, too, during the busiest times). The new owners are experienced restauranteurs and you could tell by the excellent and very fast service we received.

The menu is very similar to that of the Agave & Rye chain in the Cincinnati and Louisville areas, mostly designer tacos which are not authentic Mexican and range from $3 to $5 each-- you'll probably need at least 2 to make a meal since they're a little small (I thought) for the price. But here's the thing: they are FREAKIN' DELICIOUS! I forget the names of the two I had-- one was the Pulled Pork PBJ, I think, and the other was the Cheeseburger, maybe?  It had cheesy spicy ground beef and home fries, little cubes of fried potato, in a flour tortilla.  Both were excellently seasoned, substantial,  and quite satisfying in their own way.  I had a side of rice as well, which itself was a culinary masterpiece, smokey flavored, fluffy and thick.  TLW had a Taco Salad, which was big, perhaps a better value, and a little different from any other I've had.  The pastry crust shell was fried a little hard but that gave it a toasty flavor and kept it from losing its molecular integrity due to the moisture from the salad ingredients, which were a little light on the lettuce and heavy on other components, which was a GOOD thing, to me.

I had a bottle Modelo and TLW had their signature Watermelon Margarita, which was excellent, but both were at a price that would keep this $$ guy from ordering more than one.  With all that cheap bastard stuff said, however, I have to say we loved the place and will soon return.  iCOMEMOS, DUDE!

Mi Abuelito: More of Everything!

 Mi Abuelito is (sigh) in a strip mall on the east side of the 8300 block of South US31, in yet another of those black holes of the business universe where each new entity soon disappears: It's been 4 or 6 different types of restaurants or bars in the last 10 years or so. Mi Abuelito has been open for about 6 weeks. There is another Mi Abuelito in Franklin, Indiana, but I dunno if the two are connected.   We stumbled upon this place after finding that the newly opened Humble Taco (review to come) had a two-hour wait:  This $$ guy despises waiting in lines, traffic jams, or on hold, and I'm glad we didn't wait....

Mi Abuelito has more of an upscale appearance than most other Mexican restaurants, very beautiful with a LOT of colorful carved furniture and wall decorations.  The artsy menu also had slighly higher prices than I expected, but it was our night out, so WTH.  The Little Woman had a 3-taco plate and I ordered the Fajitas de Lujo (de Luxe).  TLW ordered a Jalapeno Margarita to drink, and when they asked what size she wanted, she said the largest one, not knowing how big that was-- turns out it was a whopping 58 ouncea, so we shared it.  It was delicious but not overly strong, and the jalapenos added a nice zest to the tart sweetness of the margarita mix.

TLW's tacos were very, very good-- traditional with lots of cilantro and nicely browned ground beef. My fajitas were excellent, a GIANT mound of meats, including a large barbecued pork rib, mixed with a decent amount of green peppers and onions. My motto is "leftovers are for quitters", but for one of only a few times in my life I had to admit it was more than I could eat, and in fact there was so much there that it made for lunch the next day for both of us!  In sum, Mi Abuelito is a great Mexican Restaurant, not because it's radically different, but because it does all the usual dishes very well and in a big, BIG way.  iComemos!

Indy's Burger Joint: Good, but Good Enough?

Indy's Burger Joint is NOT in a strip mall, it's in a free-standing building on the lot of a strip mall at Emerson and Stop 11 Road.  Since it was first built that building has been one of those black-hole locations where no business survives for very long: It was a new Huddle House, then a couple years later it was somebody's blah blah cafe, then it limped along for several years under different owners as Diana's Diner.  Now it has been open for 6-8 months as Indy's Burger Joint, not to be confused with Teddy's Burger Joint at a different black-hole which closed a few years ago (but has reopened as Between the Bun's new location).

From the menu that had been circulating I kind of assumed it was an upscale sort of place because the burgers looked a little more like $$$ and they advertised a full bar.  When we pulled in at like 9 in the evening on a Sunday night, however, it had more of a greasy spoon ambiance that was only a little spiffier than the diner it replaced, with bright lighting, wood tables, and cushioned wood chairs.  The bar looked more like a soda counter with unlabled chrome spigots for beer and no liquor bottles visible anywhere. There was a faint musty odor about the interior, too, which I thought might be natural gas but The Little Woman took to be old sour mop smell.

Those unpleasantries aside, the food and service were very good. My Cantina Burger was like $12 but it was quality ground beef perfectly cooked and had a thick slab of pepper jack cheese, spicy aoli, and jalapenos that gave it some good heat and made it very tasty.  TLW's Turkey Wrap was likewise very flavorful, with the tortilla wrap nicely browned.  Both came with a mess of seasoned natural-cut fries that were reeeeeally good.  I paid extra to get the Garlic Parmesan fries with a garlic sauce applied as well as a generous sprinkling of grated parmesan, but the base fries were just as good. Our server was very attentive and kept our drinks constantly refilled.

All in all, we will likely eat there again, probably sometime early in the day when my beloved The Tailgate (which is maybe 100 yards away in the strip mall) is not yet open. It depends on the type of burger you want, but The Tailgate's charcoal-grilled masterpieces are equal to or better than IBJ's griddle creations and a little cheaper. Dangit, I'm hungry now!

Caplinger's Fresh Catch Has a New Southside Location-- YAY!

For its size, Indianapolis seems to have a dearth of seafood restaurants: a few fine-dining places like The Majestic, Oceanaire, and McCormick & Schmick's, none of which impressed me very much, especially given their price; a few more cheap chains and local joints, but not that many.  I'm a little spoiled having come from Louisville, which is full of them (I've previously reviewed two of Louvul's best on here, the iconic Mike Linnig's and a hidden gem, Passtime Fish House.)  I don't know if it's because the Derby City is part of the South,  is on the Ohio River with greater access to shipping and local freshwater fish, or what. Lucky for Indy, however, Caplinger's Fresh Catch has been slowly but steadily expanding their number of locations, although up to now they were up North or Northeast in Whitestown, 75th & Shadeland, and Pendleton Pike near (I think) Post Road.  Now, finally, FINALLY they have opened a location I don't have to drive all day to get to-- 7620 S. Meridian Street.

Caplinger's is primarily a seafood SHOP, selling fresh fare flown in daily (so they claim) for you to take home and cook your own danged self, but they also have a simple kitchen and dining room (except for the one on Pendleton Pike which is carryout only, being housed in an office trailer in the middle of a parking lot) which serves up dishes in to-go containers.  All the stuff I've had at several of the other locations, both fried and grilled, seems very fresh and perfectly cooked.   The new location is in a former Pizza Hut that has been nicely renovated, with a cute 12-15 table dining room that is closed now due to (moan it with me) The Pandemic, so everything is sold to-go. 

I had a combo platter with grilled Basa fish and blackened shrimp that came with hushpuppies and 2 sides; The Little Woman had a Lobsta Roll Sandwich dinner with puppies and one side.  Our sides were Collard Greens, Chipotle Coleslaw, and Red Beans & Rice.   To me everything was EXCELLENT, but TLW's lobster had a dressing that has some sweetness that she disliked.  The Collard Greens were not as good as hers but were better'n any I've ever had from a restaurant, the Chipotle dressing did spice up the coleslaw, but the RB&R was just a little bland. The bun for the Lobsta Roll was INCREDIBLE, a sort of light pretzel outside with a soft and sweet inside-- Cap's says they buy them from a local bakery. Finally, service was fast and friendly and the prices, though a little high for this $$ fella, were not outrageous.  Mangeons!  

YATS spelled backwards is STAY, but I saw no reason to do so, even if you could.

YATS, the southside location of which is on US 31 across from Greenwood Park Mall is, like almost everything else, in a strip mall. It has a fairly simple dining room which is closed presently due to the pandemic, but you have to enter the store and go to the counter in the back to order your stuff to-go (although you may be able to get curb service, I dunno. I didn't see or try to find out-- this is a blog not a research paper, 'kay?) If you didn't know, YATS is ostensibly Cajun cuisine, though it was hard for me to tell except for the framed photos of New Orleans locations on the walls. Pretty much everything on the menu is a type of stew or soup: The Little Woman had some sort of Spicy Etouffee and I had White Chicken Chili, both of which seemed to us to lack any seasoning or flavor, although the few and far between bits of crawfish in the etouffee were nice.  Perhaps I was mistaken when I assumed that Cajun food was supposed to be rather nicely seasoned like it was at Zydeco's when I went some time ago.  Not so at YATS. The only positive thing I can say (and you know that's unusual for me) is that the prices were fairly reasonable for the quantity of food you receive, bland though it be. And that's all I have to say about that....