Weekend in Indy

Due to work, family obligations and weather, I had been stuck at home on too many consecutive weekends. But the weather looked much better this past weekend, so I headed to Indianapolis.

Oh, and I think my fellow pie lovers, CajunKing and Billyboy will be very happy with some of the pictures. But I do fully expect to get chided by my buddy Wanderingjew for some of my choices.

Friday March 14
My plan for the first stop after leaving work was to go to Hocutt's in West Virginia, one of my very favorite Roadfood restaurants. I don't know what is going on, but I having trying to call them for a week straight and have never been able to get through. It has been alternating between no answers and busy signals. Not wanting to drive out of my way if they weren't going to be open, I went to plan B.

For those who don't know, there is no food that us Pittsburghers are crazier over than fish sandwiches. And one of the very best fish sandwiches in western Pa. can be found at the Muse Italian Club. Muse is a tiny little blip on the map right outside of Canonsburg in Washington County. By the way, bonus points to anyone who can name the two famous singers from Canonsburg, Pa.

The Muse Italian Club

only serves their fish sandwiches on Fridays and people drive for long distances to eat here. The fish must be really good, because people don't stand in line for the ambiance or the deluxe accomodations.


The lines are always long, parking spots are at a premium, but it is well worth it to eat this expertly prepared cod sandwich.

And like any good fish sandwich, there is way too much fish for the bun. The fries are quite good, too. I brought my buddy Doug here one time and he ordered the fried shrimp and liked it, so I got a side of those, too.

This is definitely better than most fried shrimp you will find in the area, but I wouldn't drive a long distance for it. I will, however, keep coming back for that fish sandwich, though.

You may have noticed that the sign out front says Muse Independent Club. This is the first time I have ever seen that sign. On the menu board inside it still says Muse Italian Club, so that is what I am going to keep calling it.

In the mood for some ice cream, I stopped at Tom's Ice Cream Bowl in Zanesville, Ohio. Located in a residential neighborhood, just a block or two off of I-70, this place looks like it has been here forever.


Before dessert though, I decided to try something off of their regular menu. I chose their ham sandwich, which was a couple slices off ham grilled, dressed with lettuce and relish.

Not bad for two bucks.

But the reason you come here is for their homemade ice cream. I have tried many of their different sundaes and this time went for the banana split.

Big sundae, little bowl!!!

This thing was huge and made a big 'ol mess. What was unusual was that instead of the length-wise sliced bananas you typically see in a split, the banana were cut up in small pieces. No matter, that was a really good sundae, highlighted by the candied nuts sprinkled on top. I should note that Tom's also sells their own candy and nuts.

http://www.tomsicecreambowl.com/

After leaving Tom's, I checked into my hotel in Springfield, Ohio for the night.

Much more to come.....

I wanna fish sandwich now!

I am curious as to where you go in Indianapolis. My choices right now are...

John's Famous Stew
The Workingman's Tavern
Plump's Last Stand for a BPT (Bobby Plump made the miracle shot in 1954 for Milan HS that inspired the movie, Hoosiers so seems appropriate this time of year)

...because I haven't been to these places and John's and Workingman's are in the neighborhoods of my pre-high school years.

If you go to Mug'n'Bun I will disavow knowing you online.

Anxiously awaiting your report.

Saturday March 15

I purposely stayed in Springfield so I could be close to where I wanted to eat the next morning. I wasn't there when they opened at 6:00AM, but I arrived at Young's Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs, Ohio at 6:45. While everyone else was eating breakfast, I went straight for the good stuff. Here is one scoop of black raspberry on top of a scoop of peaches & cream.


What I like about the ice cream here at Young's is that it isn't overly sweet or too soft. In fact, it was so hard that I snapped my plastic spoon while eating it and had to get another one. Here are the flavors available that morning.


If you visit enough Roadfood places, you are bound to have some strange experiences. But sitting at an ice cream parlor at 7:00 in the morning, watching news of Saddam Hussein on a tv inside a cow has to be one of the weirder ones.


http://www.youngsdairy.com/

I got back in my car and started the drive on I-70 to Indy, which was quite challenging thanks to the fog.


Much more to come.....

quote:

Originally posted by Davydd

If you go to Mug'n'Bun I will disavow knowing you online.

Forgive me Davydd, for I have sinned! But, at least I didn't get a pork tenderloin.

And Plump's Last Shot will get a mention.

quote:

Originally posted by Davydd


If you go to Mug'n'Bun I will disavow knowing you online.

Anxiously awaiting your report.

Oh, now, Mug 'n' Bun isn't that bad!! Their cheeseburgers and onion rings and root beer are excellent! There's more to their menu than the BPT. We eat there probably every other month or so, and have never been disappointed with the burgers and coneys.

That black raspberry ice cream looks wonderful! I can almost taste it!

Perry Como and Bobby Vinton.

My first stop once I reached Indy was to have a real breakfast at Shapiro's Deli.


This is a huge cafeteria style deli that says it is Kosher style. Here is a shot of the large dining room.


They apparently don't get as crowded for breakfast as they do for lunch, so you just walk down to the end and tell the cashier what you want. I did like these signs in the line, though.


I went for the corned beef omelet.


This omelet is huge and extends well underneath the toast. I expected to see small cut up pieces of corned beef, but it was long, tender flaps of the delicious meat.

The home fries were nothing special, but the thick slices of raisin toast were warm and delicious!


I had tried to get a side of potato pancakes, but the cashier said the wouldn't be ready for another hour.

They had an impressive assortment of dessert available, so I grabbed a slice of Butterscotch Praline pie.

Not bad, but nothing special. I know I will be eating much better pie than this during my weekend.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=601&RefID=601

From the parking lot of Shapiro's, I could easily see the new football stadium going up. So, I drove over to take a closer look. I can't get over how big this thing is. It dwarfs everything else around it.


Next, I drove over to visit IUPUI, which stands for Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis. Not really sure how they did this year, but they have made the NCAA basketball tournament several times in the past. I stopped in the bookstore and bought a t-shirt.

Right down the street from the campus is my favortie art deco building in the city, so I stopped to take a picture of the Walker Theater.

I would love to see the inside sometime.

Much more to come.....

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Perry Como and Bobby Vinton.

Well done! They even have a statue of Perry Como in front of the city building, with piped in music. The first time I drove past it, I didn't know what was going on.

Which was mroe challenging... driving in fog or driving while trying to take a picture of the fog?

divefl-
Luckily, there wasn't too many people on the road. Surprisingly enough, not everyone was up that early eating ice cream.

Bet you didn't know that Perry Como had a barber chair in his Jupiter Inlet home.

Michael Hoffman-
You are right, I did not know that. Thanks for the information. I just looked it up and apparently at one time he wanted to be a barber and even had his own shop. Seems he did okay with his career choice, though!

Cliff,
Try pronouncing IUPUI...I believe it comes out like "OuuEeePooEee" which makes the cheerleader's work extra difficult !

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

divefl-
Luckily, there wasn't too many people on the road. Surprisingly enough, not everyone was up that early eating ice cream.

That's because the morning is for spaghetti. Why am I the only one who knows that?

Saturday March 15 cont.

Even though I don't think of Indy being a chili town, the Roadfood review from IndyRick intrigued me. And since I love a good chili parlor, I headed over to Nick's Chili Parlor.


Located in what used to be a fast food franchise building, they have a small cafeteria line set up.

I started off with a fine chili dog. The chili has just a hint of heat to it and works well with the soft bun and wiener.


I had also asked for a bowl of chili. The nice lady taking my order asked if I wanted cheese and onion on top and of course, the answer was yes.

What I didn't realize that this was going to be Cincy style 5-Way chili. Now, I love 5-Way chili, but this wasn't what I was expecting. No problem, though. As much as I enjoyed the chili on the dog, I didn't like it as much by itself. Yeah, I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but.....

For dessert, I grabbed one of their sweet potato pies, that neither looked or tasted homemade. Because it wasn't.


http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=5165&RefID=5112

Next was a visit to a place that both Wanderingjew and Davydd dislike, Mug "n Bun.



Now, I hope I am correct here, but the reason those two dislike Mug 'n Bun is because of the pork tenderloin and I admit to agreeing with them that it is embarrassingly awful. But, I absolutely love the root beer. It is incredibly rich and creamy and I can't get enough of it. So, I stopped in and got three half gallons to take back to Pittsburgh.

Curiousity did get the better of me and I went ahead and ordered a cheeseburger.

This is a double, topped with lettuce, onion, pickle and tomato. By no means was this a great burger, it was still miles ahead of the BPT. But, oh man, do I love their root beer!!!

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=1321&RefID=1321

Time to visit the Butler University campus.

As luck would have it, the bookstore was closed for Spring break. But, I wish the team well in the NCAAs anyway. Go Bulldogs!


Much more to come.....

BB, my mom works at and my little brother attends Butler. If I had known you were headed that way I would have let you know they were on break this week! The new stadium is certainly massive. I was surprised to see it there when I visited home in December - somehow I missed the memo that they had begun work on it, and so when we got off the interstate at West St, I said "WHOA! What is that???" Oh, and I'll have to try breakfast at Shapiro's next time I'm up on the north side. Looks delicious! Can't wait to see and hear more.

BB

So far so good on your trip, The bananana split @ Tom's looked awesome.

I think @ Young's I would have gone for the caramel chocolate toffee or the vanilla cherry choc chunk

I love Shapiro's Sugar Cream Pie or their Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Cake

I too love the mug & bun for their root beer, only for their root beer though

I can't wait to see the rest of the trip

Definitely adding Shapiro's to our breakfast rotation--that omelet looks wonderful.

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

Now, I love 5-Way chili, but this wasn't what I was expecting. No problem, though. As much as I enjoyed the chili on the dog, I didn't like it as much by itself. Yeah, I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but....

No, Cliff that makes perfect sense; in fact I think you hit the nail right on the head as to my problem with 5-way chili. It tastes too much like spaghetti sauce or sloppy joes to me. I'm like, huh? when I eat it, which is now not often.

Don't let wj and Davydd tease you about the Mug & Bun--those onion rings and the root beer are to die for. I gotta have some good BPTs to know what I'm talking about with that, but I'm going back up for a kid-visit in mid April so I'll get the chance.

Hey BB - You still planning on Carolina for this weekend. Only I am supposed to take so long to answer emails! It's my trademark!

I can vouch for the Muse Fish Sandwiches. My co-worker's husband flipped her car over a couple weeks ago on a Friday night on terribly icy roads because he HAD to get to the Muse Club for his Friday fish sandwich. He wasn't hurt; car was totalled. All for a fish sandwich. Yup, Pittsburghers are definitely serious about their fish sandwiches.

I grew up in Speedway when the Mug'n'Bun was known as the Frostop. We hung out there in high school. Our girl friends were the car hops. That is really dating myself. Morris May bought the place, changed the name, and then eventually sold it in 1998. At one time they did have a very worthy breaded pork tenderloin sandwich but no longer. I grate whenever someone believes the hype of yore and thinks they are getting a true BPT. There are a half dozen places in Speedway alone that have better ones.

When my mother was alive my brother and I when we visited used to go frequently to the Shapiro's that was located on 86th Street for breakfast. It was our little get together. Breakfast might be one of the best thing about Shapiro's. Cafeteria style breakfast kind of places are rare and the breakfast offerings they have are even rarer. The 86th Street location has since closed and they have a new location farther north in Carmel.

Those old gothic Indiana limestone Butler University buildings were designed by the architectural firm I first worked for the summer I graduated from high school. Their office was just north of the campus. The firm was established in 1868 and they had all the old inked drafted drawings stored in their office. I spent my lunch hours and spare time pouring through those drawings. They were fantastic.

So much to comment on, so little space!! The food looks wonderful, descriptions are great, and pics of the surrounding areas are excellent!The new stadium being built looks VERY much like the new Miller Stadium here in Milwaukee...

Great report so far Buffetbuster. I enjoy the way you use a variety of photographs in your trip reports. Thank you for taking the time to share.

YUM YUM YUM YUM yum yum yum...!

You always make me so hungry, Cliff.

LOL about IUPUI, and I love that Al spelled it out exactly right!!!! They almost made it to the tourney, but they lost in their conference final to Oral Roberts. Oh well! They have only been once I think, in 2003 (or maybe they went before 1994, not too sure, but doubt it...) Butler, now that's a different story! So cool you visited both!

Keep it coming. Awesome as ever...!

quote:

Originally posted by jettababs

quote:

Originally posted by Davydd


If you go to Mug'n'Bun I will disavow knowing you online.

Anxiously awaiting your report.

Oh, now, Mug 'n' Bun isn't that bad!! Their cheeseburgers and onion rings and root beer are excellent! There's more to their menu than the BPT. We eat there probably every other month or so, and have never been disappointed with the burgers and coneys.

Another vote thumbs up, here. After sipping the rootbeer and eating a handful of the best onion rings I've ever had, I was satisfied. The BPT was huge, and the two bites of so I took were ok, but I set it back down and ate more of those amazing onion rings. Yum.

The rest of the weekend, when my friend and I would try hand-dipped onion rings form another place, we would ask, "Were they Mug N Bun good?" Then answer was always no. ;)

And...I doooo wanna try the BPTs that Davydd loves.

quote:

Originally posted by Dana67


And...I doooo wanna try the BPTs that Davydd loves.

Dana, When you do you will then understand what I have been saying.

or as Ahnold would say, "Listen to me know and believe me later."

Lucky me has come down with strep throat. So it looks like it might be a while until I finish this trip report.....