3 Sisters Cafe

6360 Guilford Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46220


So this is the last post before I start my Adult Spring break entries. PJB requested I start posting more often, so here goes. If you dont know, 3 Sisters is located right outside of the heart of

 Broad Ripple... 

Home of the Rockets. 

Stick up your hands and

Empty your pockets

My older brother was trying to get me to go to 3 Sisters for a while, he had been before, but the restaurant was getting some major pub after their feature on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives (DDD). We went right before the church crowd hit on Sunday morning, so we were seated right away. Within 20 minutes, there was a wait out the door. Here is my quick take on DDD, I think Guy Fieri is kind of a d-bag. Okay, so he knows his food, I'll give him that. But his personality is a little too much for me. He is a decent chef, but a terrible host. I would watch Minute to Win It more frequently, but I just can't take his commentary. WJB did point out the fact that he stole my style in high school, where I flipped my sunglasses on the back of my head. Now, I know why I was made fun of for that... I do prefer him over Adam Richman (Man Vs Food). Now that guy is the epitome of a douche and I'm pretty sure his life expectancy is about 42. Keep up eating those 8 pound burritos bro! America can hear you getting fatter...

So let's talk food. I ordered the Thick Sliced Vanilla Cream French Toast. I haven't ordered French Toast in a while, so I went for it. I'd have to say I made a glorious choice. There were 5 hefty pieces of toast, enough for a grown man to get full. I don't know how they made the toast, but if I were to venture a guess, the toast was dipped in an egg and vanilla cream batter, then thrown on the griddle. They were savory and sweet and I always love the nice dusting of powdered sugar. My brother ordered the lemon blueberry corn cakes that were featured on DDD with blueberry compote.

The corn cakes were unlike anything I have ever eaten before. To me they tasted like something that you would eat on the prairie in the pioneer days. I think it is because I am under the impression that everyone back then ate some sort of corn meal based food. If you could imagine corn bread, with blueberries that is fried on a griddle. I'm not sure I would order them for myself, because I enjoyed the french toast so much, but I do recommend if you are in the market for something different and very filling. For dessert, we decided on the Blueberry Goat Cheese Pie, also featured on DDD. Blueberry Goat Cheese Pie you ask? Also unlike anything I have ever eaten before. If you ask anyone in my family, I love pie. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because of the pies. The crust on this pie was amazing. It was buttery and flaky and just worked well with filling. That is a breaking point for me, you have to have great crust. Graham cracker is a personal favorite. The filling was very creamy because of the goat cheese. The goat cheese was pretty mild in flavor and mixed well with the sweet and tart flavor of the blueberries. Overall it was not your typical dessert pie, it was more savory than sweet. The majority of the sweetness in the pie came from the whipped cream and caramel drizzle. I recommend this as well if you are feeling adventurous and if you have room after the generous entree.

Our service was wonderful. Our waitress was very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. I highly recommend trying this place out. The quality of ingredients really stand out. Most of all, I love the atmosphere. It is unique in that it was an old house, transformed into a restaurant. It really feels like you are eating at home, minus all the strangers milling around. I take that back. At our house on the weekends, sometimes strangers ARE milling around in the morning. Holla!

"I have a great diet. You're allowed to EAt anything you want, but you must EAt it with naked fat people."

Squealers Barbeque

5515 W. 86th Street 
Indianapolis, Indiana
Squealers BBQ


EAting Indy is now tweeting live. Follow me @RealEAtingIndy! Since it takes me a while to keep this up to date, you can now see where I am eating live. I promise I will get better at this. I'm thinking when I get my iPad2, I will be updating more frequently. I promise, no more sandwich/burger places for a while. I have something new in the pipeline, and I still have not even gotten to Adult Spring Break yet. Right before I left for said Spring Break, I went to lunch at Squealer's. I had a craving for some BBQ, since I was somewhat disappointed with Dick's Bodacious BBQ. Also I mentioned the delicious fried biscuits and apple butter in my previous post, so I did not want to leave you hanging. Squealers has two locations, one on the Northwest Side and in Mooresville. I used to drive by the one in Mooresville on the way to Bloomington, and it always intrigued me. My dad had always heard good things about it, but for some reason we never went. I think it is because if we were stopping in Mooresville, it was going to be at Gray Brothers Cafeteria.  It wasn't until I started working back here in Indy, that I had the opportunity to eat at Squealers. 



Now I have only been here for lunch twice, but both times I have left full and satisfied. First lets start with the service. Our waiter was very friendly. He came quick with the drinks and offered his suggestions on what to order, even though we had all eaten there before. After my first dining experience, I knew to order the fried biscuits with apple butter. Delicious. They came out warm and there were enough for our table of four to enjoy. Now if you have never had a fried biscuit, it reminds me of an elephant ear at the state fair, but not as sweet. You get a nice crispy outside, but it is nice and fluffy on the inside. These just melt in your mouth. I read somewhere that fried biscuits and apple butter are a Southern Indiana specialty. Imagine that, something fried is an Indiana specialty, like fried butter or fried bacon at the Indiana State Fair.  For my entree, I got the Squealers Favorite which is pulled pork, with cole slaw with pickle, and onion on the side. You have the option of hot or sweet BBQ sauce, and I chose a mixture of both. I just love the combination of sweet and heat. There is enough sauce where it adds a lot of flavor to the sandwich, but it allows the smoky flavor of the pork to shine through. The pork itself is so tender, the way BBQ is supposed to be. If you can recall how I like my cole slaw, Squealers is spot on. It is creamy and adds a nice crunch to the sandwich. Since I got slaw on the sandwich, I went with BBQ beans. I think the best BBQ beans are from smoke house restaurants like Squealers because they always add bits of smoked meat in with the beans and their house BBQ sauce.


Overall, I will go back time and time again. Their food is very resonably priced, and the service has never been an issue. Last time I dined, our waiter gave us all an extra punch on the frequent diner card. Moreover, the food is delicious. I will go out on a limb and say this is my favorite place for BBQ in the City. But at the same time, it can't touch Smoque. I forgot to mention, last time I went to Smoque, The Ladies Man himself, Tim Meadows, was there. For the younger generation, Principal Duvall from Mean Girls. Shoutout to RFS, who loves Mean Girls...and none for Glen Coco. 


Edible, adj.:  Good to EAt, and wholesome to digest, as a worm to a toad, a toad to a snake, a snake to a pig, a pig to a man, and a man to a worm.  ~Ambrose Bierce 

Cheeseburger in Paradise

4670 Southport Crossings Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46237
Cheeseburger in Paradise

It was a cold and rainy day the weekend before I went on adult Spring Break. JBH and I headed down to the Edinburgh outlet mall so I could hopefully find a new swim suit and some deep V's to take with me to St. Pete. After about a couple hours of shopping, it was lunch time. The options were to go to the Max & Erma's in Edinburgh or I also suggested Cheeseburger in Paradise in Greenwood on the way back to Indy. We decided on Cheeseburger. Hindsight is 20/20 and we probably should have gone to Max & Erma's. I love that place, probably because it brings back memories of the one on Michigan Rd. with the sweet arcade. One of my fondest memories was when we went there after our Junior High musical and I'm pretty sure we may left without paying, but we were stupid 8th graders. And there were about 100 kids plus parents there, so I think someone must have footed the bill for us. *Kids, DON'T dine and dash, its pathetic. I will admit wholeheartedly that I am a Northsider through and through. No I'm not from the Golden Ghetto known as Carmel, but actually the Northside of Indy (I had to explain that on numerous occasions in college). My coworkers know I like to razz Carmel. Stemming from my days playing CYO sports, I have not liked the Southside at all. This dislike has grown throughout my life, especially this year going to Pacers games. At one point I tweeted during the Pacers-Heat game, "I want to thank all the Heat fans for making the trek up from South Beach, now please have a safe drive home to Greenwood." So yes, my Northside bias runs deep. Well I guess I view it more as Cubs vs White Sox hatred., we are both from the same city, but we just don't get along. Anyways, its time to review Cheeseburger in Paradise.

Once we were seated, I bet JBH $5 that nobody will help us for at least 15 minutes. I am proud to say I won that bet. No drink order, not even a server stopping by to say they will be with us in a second. No contact at all for over 15 minutes. To me, that is ridiculous. The restaurant wasn't even that busy. We had at least 4 different workers walk by, and not one person said anything. Should I have stopped one of them? Probably, but as I mentioned earlier, I do not like the Southside, so I am for any reason to grow my animosity towards them. When the waiter finally showed up, we ordered everything right away, as we had enough time to fumble through the menu. I did like how they had Fresca on the menu, so I ordered one. *I created a drink during Junior Spring Break of college called the EA Special. Gratuitous amounts of flavored Rum and Fresca. **Try it if you are over the age of 21. Drink responsibly! For food, I ordered the Beach Burger (Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Dill Pickle, American Cheese) and JBH got the mini sliders. At one point, I thought the Beach Burger was actually called the Cheeseburger in Paradise, but I guess Mr. Buffet wasn't satisfied with his 4% royalty check for the naming of the restaurant, so they had to change the name (complete speculation). I substituted fries for Sweet Potato Chips. The food came out in a pretty decent time, which seemed only thing they did correctly. The patty is pretty thick and it is bigger than the bun, which is better than the alternative. I can't stand when I run out of patty and I am just left with bun. The sweet potato chips are a nice change of pace from fries. I think after 25 1/2 years, I am just bored with run of the mill fries. I just wasn't overly satisfied with my burger. I can name 10 different places in this city that have better burgers.  I think next time I go back, I will opt for the Mini Burgers. They remind me of White Castle, but with better quality meat. And am I in no way knocking White Castle. Someone once asked me, "If you could have one last meal, but you are drunk, what would it be?" Without thinking, I blurted out, "A crave case from White Castle. 15 burgers, 15 with cheese & onion petals." Please leave your answer to that question in the comments. I apologize for going off topic, but I thought I could make this blog more involved. Also, I got bored talking about an average meal from Greenwood.

Like Jay-Z, I'm on to the next one...

"Frogs have it easy, they can EAt what bugs them"

BBI Cafe & Sandwich Bar

4825 Oakbrook Dr. 

Indianapolis IN 46254

BBI Cafe

The Reuben sandwich as defined by the great source of information, Wikipedia, is “a hot sandwich of layered meat, sauerkraut, and Swiss cheese, with a dressing (Russian or 1000 Island), in between slices of grilled rye bread. In other words, one of the best sandwiches ever created. There are many stories as to where the sandwich first originated, but I will not bore you with those details. I mentioned in a previous post, one of my oldest and best friends, ABW.  One day we were talking and he mentioned how he bases how good a restaurant is on their Reuben sandwich. This had me thinking about how much I also love this sandwich and I decided to hop on board with ABW’s train of thought. Throughout this blog, I will go through a Top Ten of sorts on my favorite Reuben sandwiches and where they rank on the ever-evolving list. It’s amazing how many different variations of this sandwich there are.  All Reuben’s are compared to my personal favorite, the granddaddy of all Reuben’s, the Shapiro’s Reuben. More on that culinary masterpiece later. What I look for on a good Reuben is first and foremost, the quality of corned beef. This will make or break your sandwich, as this rule applies to all sandwiches. To a lesser degree, the bread is also a key to a good Reuben. I have had the rye sliced too thin or over toasted, which will also bring the sandwich down. My personal preference for is a New York style Reuben, with coleslaw instead of sauerkraut. Nothing against the traditional cabbage topping of the Reuben, I just prefer coleslaw. It is hard to go wrong with the other components, the Swiss cheese and Russian/Thousand Island Dressing.

 

Now you have heard the ins and outs of my thoughts on the Reuben, on to the review! The Reuben at BBI has the honor of being #7 on the Top Ten Reuben List. It has all the makings of a good Reuben, but not everyone can be the top dog. The corned beef is pretty good, it is sliced thin, and has a nice seasoning to it. The beef could be a little more tender and was a little on the dry side. The rye bread was a little soggy after it was toasted. I didn't see coleslaw on the menu, so I went with the default sauerkraut  option. There was a perfect amount of sauerkraut, as it added a nice crunch and tangy flavor to offset the sweetness of the 1000 island. The thing I look for when it comes to cheese on a sandwich is that it covers the whole sandwich, so there is cheese in every bite. BBI's Reuben nailed it with the cheese. After my below average sweet potato fries at Goose Island, I opted to try BBI's. I like how they were fresh cut, and they were perfectly seasoned. They had a sweet heat to them, spicy and sweet. The downside was they were a little soggy. AS got the Roast Beef Special: Roast beef, bacon,1000 Island dressing, Swiss & Colby cheeses grilled on sourdough.  He described it as, "Phenomenal". I might have to try it next time.   

As for the restaurant itself, it has a cozy feel. The staff there is very friendly. It is a family run restaurant, and you get that feeling there. Everything runs pretty smoothly and the food came out pretty quickly. I guess the downside is that BBI is only open for breakfast and lunch. I will definitely go back as the two times I have been there, I have left completely satisfied. 

“Part of the secret of success in life is to EAt what you like and let the food fight it out inside” -Mark Twain

Midday Gourmet Deli

5501 W 86th St # G Indianapolis,IN 46268
Midday Gourmet Deli


Sorry for the delay again. It has been a pretty busy couple weeks. Be prepared for a slew of new posts here in the next couple days. My brother introduced me to this little sandwich place when I first started my job, as it was one of his go-to restaurants to dine during lunch. They are only open for weekday lunches from 11am to 2:30pm. The restaurant isn't very big, but I have never had a problem getting a table. The service is very quick. You walk up to the counter, place your order, and within 5 minutes they bring it to you. The do a good job catering to the work crowd, as they get you in and out pretty quickly. 

I decided to go with the daily lunch special, the Rachel. The Rachel is like a Reuben, but it is pastrami instead of corned beef, and cole slaw instead of sauerkraut. In my next post, I speak at length about my affinity for the Reuben Sandwich.  The lunch special included chips and a drink. The sandwich itself was pretty average. I have had better food at Midday. The meat tasted fresh and I really liked the sourdough bread as it was nicely toasted. The sandwich just didn't blow me away. I probably wouldn't order it again.  I think it was the cole slaw. I am very particular about my cole slaw. I do like a creamier slaw as opposed to a more vinegar based slaw. I also like the cabbage chopped more fine instead of longer strands of cabbage. There was a nice crunch to the sandwich, which I enjoy, but the slaw just didn't add a whole lot of flavor. The thousand island was not too overpowering


I will definitely come back, as they have a delicious egg salad which is a great option for you Catholics out there that need a non-meat option during Lent. 


“Civilization has taught us to EAt with a fork, but even now if nobody is around we use our fingers.” - Will Rogers

Sunrise Cafe (Keystone at the Crossing)

3309 E 86th St
Indianapolis, IN 46240

It was a Sunday morning and I decided to go with WJB and RFS to brunch before I had to run errands. For any of you who chose Sprint as your mobile carrier, if you have crappy service in your house, you can call and complain and Sprint will send you an Airave (mini cell phone tower) for free.  I learned this in running my errands. I decided to provide you something with something nice, before I rip into this restaurant.

When did I piss off the great service gods? Jeeze. Two days in a row I received terrible service. First of all I had already eaten breakfast, so I just wanted lunch. Too freaking bad! They didn't have anything that resembled lunch there.  I can only blame Le Peep for being too crowded and for us choosing a place called the Sunrise Cafe. I guess I could be more angry if I went to a place called the High Noon Cafe and they only served breakfast. You live and you learn. Anyways, I chose to order the quiche and hash browns. As you can see by the picture, you would have have thought I ordered an extra crispy potato pancake and an overcooked egg, cheese, and bacon pie. The texture of the quiche was kind of rubbery. It wasn't fluffy and the top was more done than I preferred. Google pictures of a quiche: golden brown is fine, but the Sunrise Cafe took the brown part a little too literally. I don't even know where to start with my hash browns. Apologies for using the same joke twice, but they took the hash brown part a little too literally. They were the crispiest, driest hash browns I have ever eaten. No amount of ketchup could mask how terrible it was. Should I have sent it back? Yes, but I always have a fear of the chef staff doing something gross to my food. Ever see Waiting? I prefer cheddar cheese as opposed to Fromunda cheese.

Back to the service...hell. Can I get a drink order? Can you take my food order? Can I get a refill? Can I just get someone over here to help us? It was crowded, but there were so many workers there, the busyness shouldn't have mattered. They seemed overstaffed. Also the place just seemed dirty. It was really dark and not inviting. Twice I sat there for over 5 minutes with an empty drink. This is the first time in a LONG time I actually tipped based on the service I received. I can give people the benefit of the doubt if they were short staffed and they told me they were extra busy. But it seemed like our waitress frankly didn't give a hoot about us.

NEVER GOING BACK AGAIN! **Note. This restaurant has different ownership than the one in Carmel at 116th and Meridian. That place is delicious. And they serve lunch!

EAt this (Sunrise Cafe 116th and Meridian), not that (Sunrise Cafe at Keystone the Crossing).

Destination Chicago: Goose Island Brewery

1800 North Clybourn
Chicago, IL 60614
Goose Island Brewery



First I want to apologize for the delay in my posts. It has been a pretty busy couple weeks. RFS and I made the trip up to the Windy City to visit a good friend from college and his fiancee. AG, if you are reading this, I wish I could send a nice little nut tap to Austin. It is always good to go back to what was home for me for two years. Unless I went for an entire week, I don't think I would be able to eat at my some of my favorite restaurants and see all the people I would want to see up there. When people ask me what I miss most about the Second City, I am quick to say the people, the food, and the nightlife. Turned out the time I lived up there, I was able to experience the coldest winter in 60 years and the coldest summer in 100 years. I don't miss the traffic and the biting cold winters. So let's get to one of the things I do miss, the people and the food.

There are two Goose Island locations, one in Wrigleyville and the other in Lincoln Park. We went to the one in Lincoln Park. I went to this one more as it was closer to my house and there is a place to park. That is one thing that you can't do a whole lot in the Chi, just pull up to a restaurant and park. Point Naptown. GI brews their own craft beers. 312 is one of my favorites. I'm sure you all know you can purchase their beers here. Drink responsibly friends. I obviously couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a fresh brew. The menu is always changing at GI. I think this is due to the fact they get all their ingredients fresh from local farms. I was sad to see their mac n cheese wasn't available. So for appetizers, we ordered the pretzels which came with jalapeno cheddar and stout mustard dipping sauce. The pretzels were amazing. The texture was spot on, soft and chewy. I preferred the mustard dip. It had a nice bite to it.  The cheddar dip had good flavor as well, but I prefer my pretzels with mustard. I can't even eat bagged pretzels without dipping them in mustard. We also ordered the Short Rib Pierogis.  I had never had fresh pierogis before and I have always wanted to try. JBH swears by made from scratch pierogis, so I had to give them shot. You could really taste the freshness in the ingredients. The meat was really tender, but other than that, I thought they lacked flavor. For my entree I ordered the lamb burger. It is organic ground lamb, topped with brie, poached pears, and frisee. KJM would not like this burger. I, on the other hand really enjoyed it. I haven't eaten a lot of lamb in my life, but I think one of the big differences is lamb is leaner than beef. The burger was really peppery. It paired well with the soft, creamy brie. The pears had a nice flavor, reminded me of Christmas, because of how they were spiced. Frisee has a more bitter taste and I could go without it. For my side, I chose the sweet potato fries. They were the least fresh tasting part of my meal. I thought they tasted like the fries you can get at the freezer section in your local grocer. They came with a curry ketchup. It was so-so. I prefer regular ketchup or maybe if they had a chipotle ketchup. The curried ketchup is just not my style. 


Now that I have pimped their food, let me get to the worst part of the meal., service. God awful! Our waitress had no sense of urgency. She was not prompt in any areas of service and she wasn't friendly. I think she showed up maybe 5 times the whole meal. Lucky for her groups of six get 18% gratuity, because she deserved no more than 6%. I ran out of water and had to drink the other glasses off the table a few times. Why was I drinking water instead of the delicious beer? Well RFS and I decided to drive back that night. Believe you me, I would have had my fair share if we weren't heading home. 


Well I do recommend this place as the beers and food are delicious. Just know that the service is sub par. 


“Eat what is cooked, listen to what is said.”