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   

Meridian Falls Bar & Grille: Soon to Be a Happenin' Place-- Maybe

Meridian Falls Bar & Grille, on Old Meridian Street a block or so south of Epler Avenue, is in a beautiful building just down the street from the Old Meridian Pub, which is about the best thing I can say about the place at this point, but it had only been open about two weeks or so when we went there.  The building used to be the offices and design center of a company that did major home remodeling, and it still retains the lush carpet and boardroom-style woodwork.  The bar itself is in a room with stone walls, a vaulted ceiling with a large skylight, and four small chandeliers.  A large patio-style sliding door opens out onto a humongous multi-level deck area with three different gazebos (one of which has a leather pit-group seating area), and there is even a little man-made waterfall at the bottom-- WOW! They are advertising live entertainment every weekend, and it looked like one of the gazebos is going to be used as the bandstand. I was told that for now there was a limited food menu but we couldn't see one because at that hour the owner was still printing them out.  Their special that day was supposed to be a hamburger with a fried egg on it.

And that is the end of the good part.  The food, drinks, and service are so far much less than impressive.  Regular beer and drink prices are 'way on the high side for my plebeian tastes:  Well drinks are $4, call drinks are $7, domestic beers $3.25, and crafts & imports $3.75.  The night we went there, the special was domestic drafts for $2.50 and wells for $3, but apparently nobody told the cash register, as our bill did not reflect the advertised savings, but by that time we were wanting out of there so badly we didn't complain.  I'd heard that the POlice had been called to remove someone the night they opened, and when I asked about it one of the employees (who took time out from arguing with the bartender about something) told me it was a disturbance between the owner and one of his "sweat equity" partners, a renovation contractor.  All the staff (and all the clientele, while we were there) had a kind of redneck rough & tumble appearance that seemed to indicate that MFB&G is gonna be one of those combat nightlife places I would have loved to visit when I was 19 years old, but which try my geezer patience these days.  We left and went down the street to Old Meridan Pub, where on that same night well drinks were $2.  Oh!  I forgot to mention, too, that the sliding door being left open several times led to a small swarm of flies in the area of the bar, most of which (except for a couple of  'em that were caught in a long cobweb hanging from the skylight) wanted to land on The Little Woman, probably because she's so sweet!  :-)

UPADATE 11/25/2012:  I've heard that the place closed down, but haven't been by to see.  One of the rumors was that a local neighborhood group persuaded ABC or Excise or someone to close them, but again, I don't know anything definite....  Boohoo(?)

UPDATE 08/29/2013:  The place is now called Private Reserve, a private club.  The sign out front said they sell annual and short-term memberships, whatever that means.

A Guest Review-- Vito Provolone's: Old Fashioned Italian

My brother-in-law sent me his impressions of Vito Provolone's in the strip mall on Meridian Street just north of Meridian School Road (it's a Strip Mall World here in the Midwest, folks).  Being as lazy as the next guy, I've included his musings here so I don't have to write a review myself, although I will say that I concur with his conclusions.  I love Vito's, and though it's a nice traditional sort of Italian restaurant with many fine dishes, the pizza there is the best I've found in Indy on any side of town.  Anyway, here is my bro-in-law's review, with some editing for content and so it will run in the time allotted.  He writes:

As a father of four I know about feeding teenagers. My youngest son is turning 16 years old and as good parents we wanted to take him out for dinner. The obvious thought was Taco Bell (ask any teenager and, for his/her money, Taco Bell rules!), but we wanted something more mature and less generic. Qdoba came to mind since we are not part of the 1%, but much to our surprise my son said he would like an Italian spot. The Little Woman and I were pleased since we both enjoy grub from the"boot"country, too. The Son said, however, that he didn't want to go to any "mall" type Italian places (He made air quotes with his fingers, like Doctor Evil talking about a "LASER").  I asked people from work and all the votes were for Vito Provolone's (except for one for The Old Spaghetti Factory, which would have been okay but we really didn't want to go downtown during Super Bowl week).


Off we went to a place of which I have heard for years but never visited. It was a Godfather's Pizza back when I used to pass it on the way to school on horseback or in the buckboard. .I don't think Mr.Caine still owns the place (or is even still breathing) but you never know!  We didn't need reservations and were greeted and seated quickly. A polite serving staff made sure our every need was met. There was even a complimentary treat for my Birthday Boy (I use the Boy term loosely, as he is a foot taller than me).
   
My wife can be a discerning (see "picky" in the dictionary) eater, but Sonny has Dad's sense of adventure. Son was torn between ordering lasagna or something he was worried he might not be able to pronounce (I love that boy, but as a teenager, not being embarrassed is everything to him!).  I knew Mom would opt for the pizza, because who could go wrong with that, right?(Note from SSBF: I did go wrong with pizza, once: With my blessing you may order any of the delicious dishes at Napoli Villa in Beech Grove except the pizza, trust me. -ed.) She was very pleased, although she thought they might've skimped on the cheese a little, but maybe that's the way it's done in Italy.  Sonny opted for the ravioli and soup (What, no salad?? I can't believe he hates lettuce.... Maybe he ain't my kid!), and given a choice between minestrone and cream of mushroom, he turned up his nose at the mention of mushrooms (WHAT??? Honey, what does our mailman look like?)


The boy had never had minestrone, but Captain's Wafer crackers made everything taste better. (He'd never had them, either-- maybe we should eat out more often, ya think?) A small loaf of Italian bread was nice and buttery but lacked that good gnarly garlic breath-causing flavor.  The Little Man (as I USED to call him. Our baby is all grown up, sniff sniff) really enjoyed the ravioli, saying the sauce was slightly sweet but very tasty and the lack of "chunky" tomato feel but with all the tomato taste was a real plus. He was treated to a free serving of spumoni ice cream (also new to him) and he loved it. He really liked that it came without all the birthday song and fanfare (again,  TEENAGER + EMBARRASSMENT = DEATH, Dad!  Duh!) My work buds had recommended the Pasta Diablo, but after much deliberation I chose.... wait for it.... drum roll.... building drum roll.... TA-DA! Spaghetti and Meatballs. The sauce was a little sweet and there were only two meatballs, but it was the tastiest spaghetti dish I've ever had. All in all, Vito's food was deeelicious, the price was very reasonable for the portions we received, and the servers made sure our colas and our spirits were never low!!!

What's behind The Green Door?

Well Marilyn Chambers sure ain't there, but sometimes pretty wild stuff happens in The Green Door Lounge, on the backside of the strip mall at Thompson Road and Manker Street.  The Door is best loved by hardcore bar goers-- it kind of reminds me of a 60's bowling-alley lounge, certainly smaller than Marcus Schrenker's old living room but maybe only a little bigger than Bernie Madoff's prison cell, with a giant mirror on one wall to make it seem bigger, cheesy Wayne's World basement-type wood paneling, a small bunch of tables & chairs (no booths) and the bar along the other wall.  That's all there is:  no pool table, no stage or dance floor, no food, just a place to sit and drink and talk with your friends (or yell, depending on what song is playing on the juke box).  It does, however, have an unpretentious, undefinable ambiance that makes you feel comfortable there for reasons I have yet to discern. Especially during the day and to some extent all night, The Door draws people of all ages and from all walks of life, lured in by the cheap, stiff drinks, no-nonsense bartenders who git'r done, and the prospect of seeing old friends. The Door stays open later than most other bars and clubs in the area, so it's a place of last resort when you don't wanna go home.  Like Times Square, most southside party folks pass through there at least once in a while, in order to have that last drink, or make that last try to hook up with someone, or to have that last cup of coffee in a futile effort to sober up before trying to get back to the house....

UPDATE, 03/22/2013:  Green Door has been bought by Art & Tina, a couple of the partners who own the Gaslight Inn.  They've given the place a thorough cleaning (Geez, I always thought those wall sconces were dimmed on purpose!) and put in two big flat-screen TV's that were actually manufactured in this decade.  Art hates paying credit card fees, so like the Gaslight, the Door is now cash-only but with a $2 ATM available.  So far none of the good parts have changed, including the potency of the drinks!  Hopefully they won't go the way of the Gaslight's weak-assed wells.  The Door has already had a number of good beer and drink specials, though, so I'm hopeful!

UPDATE, 09/27/2013:  Happy Days!  They're once again accepting credit cards.  I believe they don't open until like 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon on weekdays, but they do open at noon on the weekends.  Credit card fee is now 50 cents per tab, better'n before.....

Old Meridian Pub-- A New Old Standard

The Old Meridian Pub, at Old Meridian Street and Epler, recently opened in the building that for years was Smith & Dale's, then SmithDale's, then Mann's Tavern, although you'd never know it after the complete update it received this time.  The old place was dumpy but small and cozy.  After many years, Smith & Dale's' owner fell on hard economic times and sold out, after which it went through a couple of new owners who each renovated it, but not in a good way as far as I'm concerned:  It went from comfortably well-lit to a dark and grungy little place that you only went to at the the end of your night (see a review of The Green Door for more on this phenomenon).

Now, however, I think I've found my new go-to place:  The new owners are somehow related to famous old bar owner Red Taylor (of several Red's Corner(s) and The Hideaway fame) but apparently don't suffer from Red's cheapskateness (cheapskatery?) and completely gutted the place.  They removed the drop ceiling, tiled the bar area, and carpeted the dining areas so it has a modern, comfortable, airy feel.  The bar area is lit by cool hanging light fixtures that resemble old radio vacuum tubes (ya see, boys and girls, before there were transistors, the radios all had tubes. Huh?  What're transistors?  Oh, never mind!  I'm old, okay?).  The old game room is now an extra dining/party room.  There are 6 big-screen TV's around the place, and the new sound system is GREAT!  They had one of DirectTV's music channels going, and it made the new computerized juke box seem for a time unnecessary.

I'd heard a nasty rumor that the drink prices were sky-high, but they were quite reasonable:  pints of domestic draft (which were good and COLD, other lesser bars TAKE HEED) cost $2.50 and glasses of Santa Angelita wines, of Chilean vintage, were $3.50 (Schneider's TAKE HEED!).  We'd just eaten so we didn't order a meal, but Jeanie the bartender shared her cheese balls & ranch dressing appetizer with us.  It was deeelicious, perfectly cooked (Yes, Virginia, you can screw up deep-fried cheese-- I've seen it done, but not here, thank Heaven).  I really can't say enough good things about this place, although it sure looks like I've tried given the length of this post, huh?  I just hope they advertise and get the word out so all those nice renovations don't go to waste....

UPDATE, 07/21/2014:  Old Meridian Pub closed, dangit, but it has been bought and rechristened The Corner Pub.  The old place had like 6 owners or something, one who was drunk all the time and as I understand it got barred out of his own bar, and as I understand it, the rest apparently couldn't agree with the managing partner on anything. There is just one new owner, so we'll see how she does with the place... fingers crossed!

UPDATE, 08/14/2014:  I'm happy to say the Corner Pub is basically the Old Meridian renamed.  Most of the same employees are back, including Steve the chef, so the food and booze is still good and reasonably priced.  Hallelujah!

Pat Flynn's Irish Pub and Murphy's Steakhouse: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

We ventured away from Indy's Southside to the State Fairgrounds to watch my wife's great niece compete in a gymnastics meet, but as it turns out we arrived two hours before her part of the program, so we went in search of a cocktail or two nearby while we waited.  Pat Flynn's at 52nd & Allisonville Road (I think) is in a little strip mall and looked really inviting from the outside....  the inside wasn't bad, either, with lots of real-wood paneling and a substantial well-stocked bar.  There was a rather peculiar smell in there, though, and not a pleasant one. Now, I've been in a lot of smelly bars, but the smells can be differentiated between those of the remnants of good times past at one end and beginnings of a ptomaine incubator at the other, and Flynn's seemed to lean toward the incubator end.  From my seat at the end of the bar you could see behind the bar, and the view wasn't pleasant-- I mean, how much time and effort does it take when you're clearly not busy to pick up a handful of bottle caps, a fork, and some dirty napkins off the floor?  The barmaid had a cold, and she was constantly wiping her nose with the back of her hand-- she made a big deal of washing her hands before giving us our check, but I wished she'd done so before making our drinks!  Still, there were a number of regulars streaming in who really seem to love the place, and a few minutes later a pub crawl from a Hurling Club arrived, so maybe we just hit them on a bad day.  The Hurling Club was not a drink-till-you-puke organization as I had first thought, but was a sports team- Hurling is an Irish sport that is like a cross between field hockey and Lacrosse I guess.  On the plus side, the place has a good selection of draft beers: Guinness, Smithwick's, Bass, Stella Artois, and Bud Light.  The drink special was also good: Bombay gin for $3.25, although my bill included a 50-cent upcharge for having it "on-the-rocks".... WTH?  This barbaric practice unknown to us southside savages, Kimosabe!

We fell in love with Murphy's Steak House, on Keystone just south of Fall Creek Parkway, almost as we came through the door.  It is the epitome of the old Sinatra-era steakhouses, with a dim, heavy wood ambiance and delicious meaty aromas that put you in a hungry swoon even if you've just eaten, as we had.  We had drinks at the elegant bar behind the dining area while we lustfully checked out the menu like sailors at sea reading a Playboy.  I broke down and ordered us an appetizer of fried lobster bites, which, to quote my hip young niece, were THEBOMB.COM.  Drink prices were nothing special but the food was quite reasonable for such an upscale casual steak restaurant-- entrees range from $15 to about $30, and we each decided to each try a $21.95 two-entree Combination Dinner when next we visit.  Oh yes, there will be a next visit... and there will be BLOOD! (Although not much, 'cuz I get my steaks medium well.)

Wanamaker Revisited: Gusto! and Brewskies

We started out at Brewskies, which is on Southeastern Avenue in Wanamaker (ain't everything?).  It was a Friday evening and there was a big, big, crowd packed into a bar area not much bigger than Tammy Faye Baker's dog house, and just about everyone there was smoking, including the bartender and the waitress.  They have those activated charcoal ceiling fan add-ons (which you've probably seen if you've been in many bars-- they look kind of like big plastic wheels spinning overhead) to combat the smoke, but I'm sorry to tell you and Eddie the Wheel Salesman that those things don't work worth a darn, as far as I'm concerned.  We had to leave after one beer just to be able to breathe.  The crowd was friendly, though, with several folks recognizing us as newcomers and welcoming us to the place, which like several other Wanamaker establishments (like the Ordinary and Wheatley's fish fry) is something of an icon of the neighborhood.  The patrons were mostly of our own age group (40+) and appeared to be good solid citizens.  The beer and drink prices were decent, too.  We didn't get to see the family dining area, but the food smelled good.

After a couple of deep breaths of cold, clear winter night air and a short drive with the windows down, we passed up The Gold Mine (I'm sorry, we were in there about 6 months back and the place was dirty and kind of smelled, and the 2 cars parked outside on this Friday night told me things probably haven't improved), and arrived at Gusto! (the exclamation point is part of the name) which is on Southeastern in the same little 50's mall as the One More Lounge (see past posts).  Gusto!'s crowd was smaller, younger, and kind of smart-looking.  The owner (Tim? sorry if I don't get his name right) said all of their food ingredients are fresh and never frozen, and the food looked and smelled delicious, though we didn't eat because we'd just come from the Hibachi Grill.  The drink prices were good, and Tim poured a tasty new concoction of his own making for the 6 or 8 people at the bar to sample (for free!) that was called an Orgy, or Orgasm, something like that-- a combination of Red Bull and some French liqueur with a name similar to the drink, which I also can't remember.  I peeked in on the family dining room and it looked very homey and comfortable.  We had a great time, and definitely plan to come back for the food.  Ah, you Wanamakerites, or Wanamakerers, or whatever you are, you're a lucky people to have such great institutions devoted to beer, fish, pizza, and meat!

UPDATE, 06/30/2013:  The Marion County non-smoking ordinance has probably cleared the air inside Brewskies by now, but I saw where they were cited for having illegal gambling machines.  Heck, that'll be a selling point for some folks!

That Place in Greenwood-- Dr. Jekyll by Day, Hyde at Night!

I think the official name is now just That Place, since technically it's not in Greenwood now that they moved into the big strip mall on Emerson north of County Line Road.  That's a good thing if you're worried about being stopped by the cops-- The Indy Metro PD is much busier and more thinly spread than the Greenwood constabulary just across the county line, so if you're headin' north you might not even see one copper on your way home.  That Place is a Big Place which looks like it could seat maybe 400 people (wait a minute, the Fire Marshal's sign may read 252, if I remember right.  Anyway, it's big.) It's a true sports bar, with something like 13 satellite TV screens including a movie-sized projection screen on the wall behind the big ol' bandstand, tuned to every kind of sport imaginable. They have NTN game consoles, too, so you can play trivia quizzes if that particular screen isn't being monopolized by card game players.  Damn that Texas Hold'em!  There is something for everyone, like pool tables, arcade games, and a side room that has a two-lane miniature bowling alley! (Remember duckpin bowling?  Yeah, it's kinda like that.)  There is a humidor if''n you like your seegars, and a wall of maybe 15 draft beer taps with brews ranging from the usual Americans to exotic imports and local microbrews (the Sun King Oktoberfest is yummy!).   During the day the spaciousness of the place is rather intimate, like being one of the special insiders who get to roam Disneyworld when the park is closed.  At night, though, That Place is a happenin' place, as in if you aren't careful how you speak to people or whom you bump into, somethin' might be happenin' to YOU!  It gets pretty crowded, and although the high ceilings may mitigate the cigar smoke, the lack of acoustic padding combined with the hard non-carpeted concrete floors make my conversations go something like "HUH?  WHAT?" and that's when the band's not playing. (But then, that's how most of conversations go anyway.)  I understand, though, that you young people kinda like that sort of atmosphere, right?  Ha! Hey, the bar food's good all the time, at least.....