Indiana Eats

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
-The Signature Eats of Indiana 

Over the years we've featured handfuls and handfuls of spots from the Hoosier State. Today's post is a handful of spots I've been to that feature one of Indiana's signature regional eats. As you scroll down you may wonder is anything they eat healthy? Sure. There's good produce such as corn I guess. Other than that though these spots don't exactly cater to a South beach like diet. Though I still managed to squeeze in a completely vegan meal while in-state, and it was delicious. Please read on for the info.

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Nick's Kitchen

Huntington, IN

What's a round-up of Indiana regional eats without the inclusion of a breaded pork tenderloin? Incomplete. I don't like to leave readers hanging so instead of just any old tenderloin the first stop up is the place where the sandwich is said to have originated. Due to this claim Nick's has been featured in many publications and is always mentioned when BPT's in Indiana are discussed. Nick's is a full fledged kitchen churning out a variety of standard diner fare offerings but the breaded pork sandwich and pie are what most people are there for. Looking down on the pic of the menu I took that day I can see I made the wrong call by going peachy apple with the pie. It was just ok and Sugar Creme is the official food of the state so I should've known then and there what to get. Can't win 'em all.

Pie is Life in Indiana

As mentioned Nick's claim to fame is the breaded tenderloin. Maybe the most well known restaurant in the Hoosier State. So they claim it made it's debut in 1908 when Nick's was just a pushcart serving the more well known hamburger at the time. So they say the rest is history and the BPT is now the signature eat of Indiana. I liked Nick's just fine but have had better both in Indiana and also Iowa.

Breaded Pork Tenderloin

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A Kaung Zarr

I've featured Burmese food in Indiana before. As mentioned in that post Indiana has one of the highest populations of Burmese refugees. Many of them reside in Ft. Wayne. So with them there's a decent amount of Burmese food in the area. More than in Chicago and many other metropolises. One day we took a ride to explore the scene and came to find many of the spots closed on Tuesday. Luckily this one here was open and even better it's probably the spot you want to check out. We would end up ordering samosas, tea leaf salad, and a lo mein salad served Burmese style. This would unintentionally be a vegetarian meal that was also fantastic. It was fresh and had some flavors we don't get to experience every day. I'd say this spot is worth a detour. A true hidden gem.

Burmese Feast in Fort Wayne

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Gray Brothers Cafeteria

The Cafeteria is a staple in Indiana cuisine. If you do alot of travel thru the state I suggest taking a look at Joanne Raetz Stuttgen's book titled 'Cafe Indiana: A Guide to Indiana's Down-Home Cafes'. She documents all of the states hometown mom-and-pop restaurants in celebration of small-town Midwest culture. One of the more well known Cafeteria's in the state is the roadfood approved Gray Brother's Cafeteria which rests about 20 minutes southwest of Indianapolis.

Moorseville, IN

This would be my first visit to one of these fill your tray up Indiana cafeterias and thus I learned a few things as I went. The line starts with dessert and there's lots of it. So much I was overwhelmed. Even though I'm not the biggest dessert guy you cant go thru one of these diners in the middle of the Midwest and not get a piece of pie.

Start of the Buffet Line

Moving thru...Beef and Noodles, Fried Chicken and Meatloaf

Along with my slice of apple pie I went ahead and had them put three pieces of dark meat fried chicken and a few hush puppies on my tray. For my sides I went overload and got green beans cooked in ham juice, mac and cheese, sliced potatoes, and of course the standard Hoosier classic of beef (or chicken) and noodles, second only to the pork tenderloin for most beloved eat in-state. Read more on this in this excerpt HERE.

So photogenic

My friend went slightly lighter than I and got the Friday special of baked cod and some sides and pie to go with it. My next learning lesson would be in the price of all this. It wasn't cheap, maybe the fact it was being served cafeteria style led me to believe this but my tray and drink were easily over $20.

Friends Plate

First up the fried chicken which is taken very seriously around this way. It was ok. I'm not totally opposed to it when it's pre-fried and served cafeteria style and there wasn't a problem with it as far as temperature or crunch on the exterior, it was just plain. I didn't hate it but I don't feel the need to return for more. The sides were all pretty good and in case anyone was wondering, the meat in the beef and noodles was indeed real and not from a can. I know this because I got a little piece of butcher string that was still stuck to a piece of beef in my order. I'd imagine this place gets packed on the weekends. There were multiple generations of family in there on our visit.

My Plate

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The Flamingo

Lenten season is coming but you don't need to go go to The Flamingo Lounge on a Friday just to get some fish. Lake Perch is a specialty of the Northwest Indiana region which I wrote about HERE. This historic Gary Indiana restaurant now located on Miller Beach serves plates of lake perch year-round. While the old school neon sign is gone most of the bars charm inside remains intact.

Gary, IN

Opened in 1941 as a lounge serving pizza I read elsewhere that it was one of the first pizzerias in the state. The current owners added a dining room addition onto the bar and to keep the local feel they sourced the building material from other local establishments now out of business. We stopped in out of season thus there were locals cuddled up at the bar smoking cigarettes watching football and not much else going on. The Lake Perch was lightly dusted and very flaky, tasted good in my book. Extra points for the cup of drawn butter included with each order.

Plate of Lake Perch

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Lisa's Pie Shop

 Atlanta, IN

Here's a place I found one day when returning home from Indianapolis. I took an off-highway route and came across this pie shop sitting on a corner in what was basically the middle of nowhere. How could I not stop? It was nearing the end of summertime so they had some fresh apple pies on display. No way I walked out without one. As good as I expected it to be. Another spot worth a detour.

Apple Pie

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Nick's Kitchen
506 N Jefferson St
Huntington, IN 46750
(260) 356-6618

A Kaung Zarr
5205 Decatur Rd
Fort Wayne, IN 46806
(260) 203-9056

Gray Brothers Cafeteria
555 S Indiana St
Mooresville, IN 46158

(317) 831-7234

Flamingo Pizza of Miller
8341 Locust Ave
Gary, IN 46403
(219) 938-0323 

Lisa's Pie Shop
5995 US-31
Atlanta, IN 46031
(317) 758-6944

Sawa's Superfan Smorgasbord

-Grubbing in Chicago (land)
Where the locals eat.

After the Bears fourth straight loss in embarrassing fashion to the Vikings this past Sunday I would rather not talk Bears football anytime soon. Bill Swerski and the boys were fuming after yesterdays defeat at the hands of Brett Favre and the really good (I told you so) Vikings. I got a chance to catch up with them after the game over at Sawa's Old Warsaw Polish Style Smorgasbord at 9200 Cermak over in Broadview, Illinois. It was something that had to be done as my appetite for NFL football was worsened yet again. I needed the comfort of beer, Bill and the boys telling me Ditka might come back as da next coach and maybe some pierogis and potato pancakes from a smorgasbord of food.


a Chicagoland favorite

If my appetite for food wanted to return after the bottle of Jameson it took to make that hot mess somewhat entertaining to watch there's plenty of it at Sawa's. I chased the shots during the game with bottles of High Life so I could be reminded that while life in Bears camp isn't so high right now, it can be again sometime soon like it was in '85. At least that's what I thought about 3/4 of the way into the bottle and a "we can still play Bears football and be a proud tough franchise" speech that I got from Swerski. As I sobered up it became more and more clear that we have a couple of linebackers one of whom is going to be returning from a season ending injury, a Kicker and a quarterback and that's it. Much work is needed to be done and we have no draft picks which aren't of much use for a team that has as many busts as the Bears do this decade. But hey, at least we got a quarterback...right? Don't be jumping ship now and begging for a spot on board when Jay gets to put this season behind him. I'm looking at it as a bad season for number six and nothing more. Not much was said at the roundtable discussion with most of the superfans too busy eating and trying to drink enough beers to forget whats happening.


The table where the superfan meeting took place oversees the buffet


Swerski insisted we drink Zywiec so something was good about the day

Founder Walter Sawa was a pork butcher in Poland until 1939. The decorated war veteran opened Sawa’s Old Warsaw in Broadview in 1973. Over 30 years later, the restaurant is as popular as ever serving up great tasting Polish - American cuisine. It took about six-seven beers, 22 pierogis and 12 potato pancakes to make me forget about the mess that is Bears football but forget I did. Sawa's menu is the buffet which will run you anywhere from $10-$16 dollars for adults depending on what day it is. The food is really fresh because that's what the people are eating. IF you dine in then you are getting the Polish smorgasbord. They also have a carryout menu with just about everything available from the buffet table cooked fresh to order. Most of the items are available by the piece like the pierogis, blintzes, stuffed cabbage, potato dumplings, fried chicken and all their pastry's. On my visit I really liked the meat pierogis and thought the fresh made potato pancakes were the best I've had in a while.


Really Great Potato Pancakes. Click HERE for Sawa's history.

I hope to return one day and engage in full combat warfare with the buffet table. Maybe after a Bears Super Bowl sometime in the near future? While that might not be realistic, me putting down a bakers dozen of them pancakes as an appetizer is. I would however like to point out that my preseason prediction of a Chargers-Saints Super Bowl is very realistic. I also told you that all the Vikings were missing was a QB and a big play receiver who's also a threat on special teams and that they were getting both. What I didn't know was they would get two big play wideouts. Oh and I also said that Aaron Rodgers is going to be really good, as is Jay Cutler, which he still will be. Got it? Good. Oh and so are those potato pancakes. Really good that is.

Sawa's Old Warsaw Restaurant
9200 W Cermak Rd
Broadview, IL 60155
(708) 343-9040
Website

America's BBQ Capitol: Owensboro, KY

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
--The BBQ Rich: Owensboro, KY

After stuffing our faces at the WSNC fall fest on a recent trip down south we crossed over to Kentucky and took a ride into Owensboro to eat some more BBQ because our tour thru hog heaven wasn't enough and we needed to taste different regional variations of BBQ in one trip. There is a ton of BBQ selection in this part of the country hence the nickname BBQ capitol but we didn't have any type of previous information and since the Shady Rest is now closed we settled on the world famous Moonlite BBQ. When we arrived we were told that the buffet wouldn't be ready for another 30 minutes so already in a food coma we kind of just assumed that we were now eating the buffet. So we stepped outside to do what we do and then went to a good looking hamburger place next door called The Big Dipper for a little appetizer. The burger wasn't great, it was alot like Wendy's and the chili wasn't chili but the shakes were really, really good. It didn't matter though because it was just a little snack before our 2nd feast of the early afternoon. Joey Chestnut might be able to stuff his face with a bunch of watered down hot dogs but I wonder if he could keep up with me and my crew on one of our food tours?


The Big Dipper, a burger & shake shack.


Chili


Big Dipper's square burger

Onto the BBQ already, the crew was one of the first groups on the scene when the buffet opened at 4:30, I assume the senior citizen couples ahead of us had been hungry for dinner since 2p so they were ready to eat as well and somehow managed to beat us to the buffet upon entrance. The specialty meat of this region is BBQ mutton which is a female or castrated male sheep that is smoked and either chopped finely for sandwiches or chopped into large pieces for serving and some places slice it. As far as buffets are concerned the Moonlite's is the real deal. Its my belief that most buffet's are a few steps below average and you might as well spend the $20-$30 on a real dinner but at $11.97 this was a bargain in my book. They know good eatin' down south there, don't you forget that.


Whiskey Captain?


The world famous Moonlite BBQ


easy on the sides, there's meat to be eaten


Mutton


Mutton up close


Sliced mutton or was that beef...I forget


chopped mutton


whole fried catfish was da bomb!


Peach Pie


Rhubarb pie


cherry sumthin


nanna puddin'


Hambone


Hot ham hoe! here we go again!


Take it to go, take it to go, tangy, take it go... sorry I don't do canned meat


Where you at Man v. Food? I got a beef with you about your hottest hot wing claim.

See: Ever had Bhat Jolokia hot wings? doubt it. The pic above was plate #3. Get at me.

All in all this was a fun experience in Kentucky and the drive thru liquor stores out there sure are something you would only see in the south. I didn't care too much for the mutton at the buffet but I also didn't think it was bad either and wont put it off until I get a chance to try other spots around town. Everything else was just decent but nothing was bad. The catfish and catfish nuggets along with the dessert selection were the best item's of the buffet and that alone all you can eat is worth the twelve bucks. If you get there remember that the country ham isn't in the buffet and you should try and order it in one of their sandwiches at the to-go counter if you do go the route of the buffet. I know that there is a return in my future to try out the rest of the legendary smoke shacks in town. Hopefully sometime this summer during one of the big BBQ fest's around the area.

Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn
2840 W Parrish Ave
Owensboro, KY 42301
(270) 684-8143