The Kentucky Beer Cheese Trail: Not Your Ordinary Tourist Experience

(Sorry if this is a rather long one, but Hey! It's my blog and I'll blather if I want to!) The Kentucky Beer Cheese Trail was dreamed up by the Clark County Chamber of Commerce.  It mimics the Bourbon Trail and various Wine Trails, in a small, plebeian way, which almost makes it more fun, like going to the Galt House Hotel in Louisville and eating burgers on the outdoor pool patio instead of filet mignons up in the penthouse restaurant.... You get some of the ambiance without the concomitant pretentiousness.

Kentucky beer cheese is a Cheddar cheese spread more or less invented by Johnnie Allman, who ran a small beer joint/restaurant/marina serving sport fishermen on the Kentucky River in the 1940's, one of those places where you could pull up in your boat and climb a precarious ladder/stairway about 100 feet to reach the cold brew and hot food.  The place burned several times, was rebuilt and expanded several times until it was a fairly good-sized restaurant (My Dad claimed a large ship's wheel chandelier in the dining room magically survived each of the fires, but I can't confirm that, and I would never besmirch Johnnie's legacy by claiming anything so heinous as insurance fraud occurred).  They'd become pretty big by the time my parents began taking me there in the 60's, and by then they were serving a little complimentary appetizer of Johnnie's "Snappy" cheese with crackers, radishes, and celery for scooping.  My 9 year-old self LOVED it:  That delightful food, along with my father's drinking habits, drew me to bars and beer later in life.  The spread was very cheesy, very beery, and very spicy-- everything a Kentuckian could want in a food.  Allman's cooked a delicious steak, too, and the romantic river location made for a great high-school date destination, so when Allman's burned for the last time in the late 70's, I was heartbroken.

Imagine my glee, then, when in the early 2000's I learned that Johnnie Allman's descendants began again producing his original recipe Kentucky Beer Cheese!  It's available locally in stores in the Lexington, KY area, but I didn't see any provision on their website for mail-order sales, so I have yet to sample the new/old product, DANGIT.  Then I heard about the Kentucky Beer Cheese trail, and we just had to go.  The trail has eight destinations, I think, and if you make it to five of them and purchase a beer cheese product from each, the Chamber of Commerce will send you a T-shirt, woohoo!  I know its cheesy (ouch!), but we went there, did that, and got the t-shirt.  The locations vary from little bars to a health-food store (ORGANIC beer cheese? Bleeeeeah!... but actually theirs was pretty darn good) to three riverside restaurants, including Hall's On the River, which is a restaurant a few feet away from where Allman's was.  Hall's recipe Snappy Beer Cheese is sold there as well as grocery stores as far away as Louisville, and is itself a very good, if very commercial product.  I had a couple of drinks in each of the establishments that served alcohol, so The Little Woman took over driving before we reached the last one.  It was all a lot of fun.  Despite being a border state, Kentucky folks have Southern Hospitality in spades, and everyone from bartenders to church folk (one of the locations is a Christian coffee house) were as nice as could be.

A few (I swear!) final words about KY beer cheese vs. other types.  First off, the beer cheese you get on that Hardee's specialty burger or with the Broadripple Brewpub's Ploughman's Lunch is really just a cheese SAUCE, malty and kind of wheaty and just okay tasting, as far as I'm concerned.  My Kroger in Indy dropped Owensboro's Big Russ Beer now sells Merkt's Wisconsin Beer Cheese, which is similar in consistency to the KY stuff and actually may have a little more beer flavor in that it's made in two versions with Stevens Point Brewery craft beers.  But EGAD, man, it's got no punch, no kick, no freakin' BITE!  The best Kentucky beer cheeses, even the mild ones, have enough nice cayenne or similar spice to get you craving beer to quell that little smoldering fire on your tongue, so DO IT!  Drink up!  

The Oasis Diner is True to Its Name....

The Oasis Diner, on the Western edge of downtown Plainfield, IN is a traditional diner, styled like a train car on the outside, with shiny chrome walls and a row of rectangular plate-glass windows across the front.  It sat derelict for years on US40 just west of the Marion County line, until the current owner had it moved to its current very nice location where it was extensively renovated.  It was still too early in the year to eat outside, but whenever the weather warms up it would be cool to eat out on the patio and watch the World go by.  The menu begins with diner food, but also features many other interesting dishes.  The Special of the day when we went was some kind of bourbon shrimp, I think, but it was Sunday and we wanted breakfast even though it was after noon, and they were happy to oblige.

I had the humongous Loaded Biscuits and Gravy, which had home fries underneath and three eggs on top of a thick layer of home-style white sausage gravy, which had big chunks of sausage the size of small meatballs.  The Little Woman had the Breakfast Sandwich with ham, cheddar cheese (you have your choice of meats and cheeses), two eggs and jalapenos on a large English Muffin (you have your choice of breads, too), and she added a short stack of pancakes that came with bacon maple syrup (oh yeah!).  The short stack was only two cakes, but they were HUGE, covering an entire dinner plate.  Everything was HUGE—we both could have split either dish and been perfectly satisfied, but of course I had to eat all of mine and then try to vanquish half of her pancakes, but I was (sniff*) unsuccessful.  Everything was freakin’ AWESOME!  As soon as they rolled me down to the Juicing Room to relieve some of the internal pressure inside me I was fine, although I didn’t eat anything else the rest of the day, and that’s saying something….  

Come 'N Git It! Not as Silly as It Sounds

Come ‘N Git It, in downtown Martinsville, IN is in a very pretty space, a former antique shop, and has a quaint small town café feel that’s much nicer than its rather silly name might imply.  It’s one of those breakfast and lunch only places, open 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  I had the Git It Breakfast Bowl which had real old-fashioned milk gravy ladled over two eggs and a pile of sliced pan-fried potatoes like my Mom used to make back home.  It came with one very thin pancake that was as big around as a Smart 4 Two's hubcap, and appeared to have been cooked in a skillet instead of on a griddle:  It was browned more than ordinary pancakes and had a smoky flavor that made it incredibly delicious, almost didn’t need syrup, but then what would’ve been the fun in that? It went well WITH syrup, too.  TLW had a BLT sandwich that had a mess o’ bacon and reeeeally fresh bread, lettuce, and tomato.  The service was friendly and fairly fast considering how busy they were.  This was definitely not going to be our only trip there, for sure!  

Rosita's Mexican Breaks the Cookie Cutter!

The Little Woman reeeeeeeally likes Mexican food, so we probably eat 1 out of 3 meals out at one Mexican place or another.  There's one near our house that we frequent for the sake of convenience, and several others fairly close by.  They're all decent, but in most respects they are ALL THE SAME, at least in the dishes they offer.  So, imagine my surprise when we visit Rosita's Mexican Restaurant, 8908 S. St. Peter Street, in a (yawn) strip mall just across County Line Road from the Greenwood Park Mall, and find an extensive menu with many variations on traditional dishes and a few items I've never heard of. (Yes, I ended a sentence with a preposition, so what?!  It's almost impossible not to do.... DANG! Did I just do it again?  Sigh....)

We've been there twice, now:  on both occasions, TLW had two chicken tacos and loved them-- they use a LOT of cilantro and spices, so they were very, very tasty.  I had the Burrito Roqueta the first time;  it's a burrito covered with a yellow-green cilantro sauce, the likes of which I've never had before-- it was deeeelicious!  On our second visit I had the Fajitas Toluca-- a combination of steak, chicken, and shrimp fajitas combined with ground Chorizo in the sauce, which was FANDAMTASTIC.  My iced tea was real brewed tea, which is quite the find for someone who really likes tea.  The service was excellent, and the waitresses both times were quite easy on the eyes (OW!  Sorry, dear....).  The only thing not stellar about this place was that the rice and beans were good but just like everywhere else.  I can't wait to go back and try the Molcajete that everyone on Tripadvisor is talking about-- it's named after the Mexican version of a mortar and pestle, and I think its served in the mortar, a combination of various meats and vegetables cooked together.  Umm....  Comemos!

Janko's Little Zagreb: You Vill LIKE IT, OR ELSE!

Just kiddin' about that "or else" part.  Janko's Little Zagreb,  223 W. 6th Street in Bloomington, IN:  The name of the place was so intriguing to me, conjuring up images of Eastern European dishes-- goulash and waitresses in Gypsy costumes and such, but there's nothing really exotic about this restaurant, although they do have some Old World dishes on the menu.  It has old fashioned pine paneling, red and white checkered tablecloths, and Indiana University athletic memorabilia on the walls, so it's nice and comfortable but nothing fancy.  The steak I ordered wasn't cheap, but oh, was it something to behold!  Two inches thick, with a delightful light char outside and tender, juicy inside. Omigosh, I was in HEAVEN, I tell ya!  It's a good thing we don't live in Bloomngton, else I would be broke from eatin' there all the danged time, but FAT and HAPPY, too.  

Sushi Club South - Exceptional Asian!

My wife and I were out and about for lunch and wanted to do some adventure eating, and I don't know which of us pointed over to Sushi Club, 8028 S. Emerson Avenue #BB as we were driving by.  I'm not much of a sushi person, although the little sushi displays at Kroger stores have gotten me hooked on California rolls, so I figured I could eat those, if nothing else.  What a surprise this place was!  It has a simple but elegant decor which is very comfortable and from what I gather is much nicer than the other Sushi Club on W. 10th Street.  The menu has a wide range of items beyond just sushi, and they have an all-you-can eat deal for $20 per person for lunch (not sure what the dinner price would be), but you can choose to order from the menu instead.  She had the 3 sushi roll lunch for $7.99 and I had the Tempura Chicken plate for $9.99... or vice-versa, I forget.  Her dish was actually like 3 rolls of each of the three varieties she selected, and my Chicken was a big pile of grilled chicken pieces with a rich sauce, and both dishes came with Miso soup and some excellently-prepared steamed rice, so we had enough for leftovers.  I'm told that the dinner menu there is more like $$$, but the lunch we had was definitely worth the price we paid.  Shoku beyou!  

IT'S ALIVE! Nick's Chili Parlor

When I first arrived in Indianapolis 25 years ago, there were (I think) three Nick's Chili Parlors: one 'way up North somewhere, the original at 2621 Lafayette Road, and the one I knew in the strip mall on the Northwest corner of Stop 11 Road and Madison Avenue.  I ate there once, really liked the chili and vowed to return, but by the time I did, the danged place had closed.  In its infinite wisdom, however, the strip mall management left the sign for the place up on their marquee out by the street for at least a year or longer, taunting me.  "Don't you wish you could eat here again?" it would sneer. I think the Northside location closed, too, and I actually had no idea at the time where the original location was, so I just assumed they had all closed.

Fast forward to the present:  I had cause to drive up Lafayette Road for work the other day, and lo and behold, what do I see but a big Nick's Chili Parlor sign out in front of the original location!  Welllll, you just know I had to have me some, even though I'd just finished lunch.  I locked up the brakes, returned the obscene gesture of the trucker who'd been behind me, and pulled onto the lot.  Contrary to the photos you'll see on Google, the place is quite nice and has a warm, modern feel.  It was about 2:00 in the afternoon, so the lunch rush was over, and I was able to step right up to the counter.  It was then that my digesting lunch audibly reminded me of its presence... so I decided to forego the delicious-looking hot dogs on the steam table and ordered a half-gallon of chili to go for something like $16.99.  The two ladies behind the counter acknowledged my order and then resumed their conversation, with one complaining about how her family members take advantage of her, and the other commiserating.  They acted like I wasn't there, but they worked as they talked and soon had my order ready, so I didn't mind.  

To cut to the chase, Nick's chili may not be the best restaurant chili I've ever had, but it's darned close: The Five Way had a really nice balance of meat, beans, and spaghetti, with two big portions of shredded cheese and diced onions on the side.  The liquid part of the chili was not a broth, it was opague, thick, and delicious.  It was the epitome of Midwestern-style chili, flavorful but not very spicy, so I had to add some Tabasco sauce, but that was just for to satisfy my Southern tastes.  The Little Woman and I ate half of it that night, and the rest will surely disappear before the week is out. It's worth the trip up to the 'hood, y'all!