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!

The Tailgate: I'm in Burger Heaven!

The Tailgate, 8028 S. Emerson Avenue #V is (sigh) in a strip mall, in part of the old space where Gallagher's I was located.  It's a neat, clean little place (capacity 99, according to the fire marshal sign) with a nice bunch of TV's, including one humongous HD flat screen on one wall.  Other than that, it's your run of the mill kind of bar, except that they have a charcoal grill in the kitchen... I said, they have a charcoal grill IN THE DANGED KITCHEN!  It's vented to the outside so no one gets asphyxiated, but the grilling aromas nevertheless permeate the place, making you hungry the moment you walk in, just like the Weber Grill Restaurant downtown, but at half the price. We had just eaten, the last time I went in there, but I vowed to retu rn for something from that wondrous innovation in olfactory excitement as soon as possible.... 

Low and behold, some of The Little Woman's high school buds are regulars there, so we arranged to meat them (d'oh! I meant to say meet them, but the memory of the grill is overwhelming my typing subconscious) to watch the Colts' skin of their teeth win over Jacksonville.  I had the Bacon and Bleu Burger, which is one of their "stuffed" burgers.  It had bacon crumbles and cheese INSIDE the patty, with additional bleu cheese and bacon on top, which was AWESOME!  Really, though, the star of the show was the burger itself: grilled to perfection, with exactly the right amount of char (which I have trouble achieving at home, dangit).  The next time, and there WILL be a next time, I assure you, I will eschew the "stuffed" stuff and opt for a simple, ordinary, exquisite Tailgater, so I can enjoy all that charcoal goodness without distraction.

Sorry to run a bit long, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the beer-battered onion rings ($1.99, with the burger) with which I thought I would be disappointed, since they were big and fat, which usually means a concrete-hard coating that is not to my taste, but hallelujah!   The coating was light, crisp, and nicely seasoned, making the mild sweetness of the onion inside a nice contrast.  TLW had a Chicken Wrap (which she said was good but how could you compare it to that magnificent BURGER?!) which came with homemade coleslaw.  Coleslaw, like potato salad and onion rings, is one of those personal preference kind of tastes.  The Tailgate's slaw was fresh and very unusual in that it was made with mayonnaise instead of Miracle Whip, making it more savory than sweet, and I actually liked that very much.  I can't say enough good things about this place-- The owners, Denny and Paula, are the nicest folks:  Denny makes homemade ice cream, I guess as a kind of hobby, and he was giving out free samples throughout the game, and it was deeeeelicious!  Ah, Sweet Mr. Reese of Life, I've found my Man-Cave away from home....