US-50 across Indiana

I have a trip to Ohio coming up next week and 1 of the routes I'm contemplating features crossing Indiana solely on US-50.  Are there any worthwhile stops, dining or otherwise, along the way?  Anything else I should know?  Thanks in advance.
 
Brad

Don't know if I can help you much food wise -- but the wife and I drove that route from Washington IN to Cincinnati a few weeks ago.  There is always the Black Buggy Amish Buffet in Washington.  There is a neat little roadside park/overlook in Shoals that we have been known to take a sandwich to.  Pretty good road in much better shape than the interstates around here.  Bedford is a bit of a pain as is Seymour Traffic/stoplight wise.  I did drive past quite a few potentially interesting food stops but we were on a bit of a schedule

Enjoy the trip
Scott

Brad_Olson


I have a trip to Ohio coming up next week and 1 of the routes I'm contemplating features crossing Indiana solely on US-50.  Are there any worthwhile stops, dining or otherwise, along the way?  Anything else I should know?  Thanks in advance.
 
Brad

Slim pickins out that way.

But a short side trip from Seymour to Columbus on SR-11 presents the opportunity to try the famous "Cheese-brr-grr" at the newly restored Zaharakos. It's a loose meat sandwich, basically a sloppy joe. Another option in Columbus is the tenderloin at the Columbus Bar. A guy I used to work with ate one for lunch five days a week, 52 weeks a year.

Another short trip down SR-7 to North Vernon picks up US-50 again.

There used to be a little bar type place in North Vernon that had great steaks, I cant think of the name

I've been studying that road with the book "Road Trip USA" (Jamie Jensen, 5th Edition. I can't vouch for any of this, but his take on roadfood in IN is kind of bleak, with the following exceptions (and these apparently require you swing south on Highway 56):

In Madison: He says there are a number of good places to eat, but only name one. Hinkle's (204 West Main Street): a 1950s-era roadfood stop for "great greasy-spoon burgers, round-the-clock breakfasts, and fresh fried fish".

He says you can get a good milk shake at the soda fountain in the back of Rogers Drug Store (no address given)

In Lawrenceburg: he says Whiskey's (343 Front Street) serves steaks in an old-fashioned button factory.

That's all he highlights for food (yikes)! Other sites he found worthy include:

George Rogers Clark National Historical Park (Vincennes);
French Lick Springs Resort Casino (French Lick);
Bluespring Caverns (Bedford);
Grand Victoria Riverboat Casino and the Ohio County Historical Museum (both in Rising Sun);
Hillforest Mansion (Aurora)

Good Luck; let us know what you find!

Brad, when you get to Loogootee, Indiana, you might take a 10-mile detour south of U.S. 50 to go to The Chicken Place in Ireland, Indiana (4970 West State Road 56, Ireland, IN 47545).

That's where Buffetbuster, Carolina Bob, Mayor Al and several others have been in the past, and I don't think they walked away disappointed.  It's four miles west of Jasper, IN on IN-56.  They open at 4:00 p.m.  Get their peppery fried chicken.

As to Jasper itself, while it's a little upscale, the the best restaurant in town is the Schnitzelbank  (393 3rd Avenue, Jasper, IN  47546-3429).  If you like German cuisine, this is the ticket.

Thanks for all the replies.

Unfortunately The Chicken Place doesn't open until 4pm and my plans call for me to be settled in at Spring Mill State Park by then.  I'm hoping to have a couple of hours to spend in the park before dinner.

Whisky's has actually been reviewed here in the forums and looks like it might be a lunch stop before crossing into Ohio and a possible visit to Jungle Jim's, although I'm not sure I'll want to be seated in the Malt Room!

Brad

AM NOT SURE IF YOUR ROUTE WILL TAKE YOU NEAR SEYMOUR, BUT IF SO LARRISONS IS DEFINETLY WORTH A DETOUR- GREAT HOMEMADE DOWN HOME FOOD- ALSO YOU CAN STOP NEARBY AND SEE THE JOHN MELLENCAMP MUSUEM, FUN IF YOU ARE A FAN

Brad,
 
Give me a date and time you plan to be at the Inn at Spring Mill for Dinner. I hope that Jan and I can make the ride up to the Park to meet you and your family.
AL

californyguy


AM NOT SURE IF YOUR ROUTE WILL TAKE YOU NEAR SEYMOUR, BUT IF SO LARRISONS IS DEFINETLY WORTH A DETOUR- GREAT HOMEMADE DOWN HOME FOOD- ALSO YOU CAN STOP NEARBY AND SEE THE JOHN MELLENCAMP MUSUEM, FUN IF YOU ARE A FAN

 
Thanks!  After checking out the website it sounds like they're pretty proud of their burgers (the locally raised bison looks interesting) but since Seymour isn't far from Spring Mill there's a chance I might choose breakfast instead.  Decisions, decisions...
 
Brad

Hey thanks for the website;I'll be back that way in October,,,breakfasts at Larrisons were great, but those daily specials & the tenderloinw were really sumthin special- have a great trip!!

Brad_Olson


Thanks for all the replies.

Unfortunately The Chicken Place doesn't open until 4pm and my plans call for me to be settled in at Spring Mill State Park by then.  I'm hoping to have a couple of hours to spend in the park before dinner.

Whisky's has actually been reviewed here in the forums and looks like it might be a lunch stop before crossing into Ohio and a possible visit to Jungle Jim's, although I'm not sure I'll want to be seated in the Malt Room!

Brad

To bad you will miss The Chicken Place, however we really like Stolls Lakeview Buffet in Logootee, IN.  This an "Amish" buffet but in this cae the lady cooks are Mennonite rather Amish, but the food is up to the Amish buffet.  Of course, great fried chicken, but every thing else is topnotch also.  Also, in a great location overlooking a lake.  Below is the website:
http://www.stollslakeview.com/
 
If you decide on eating at Spring Mill, then the buffet there is also very good.  If you like sugar cream pie or persimmon pudding & they are not on the buffet, just ask your waitress & she will get you what ever you want

Clara...  You are so right about Stolls Lakeview restaurant...We won't stop as the Stoll's on US 41 near the I-64 ramp north of E-ville, but the Lakeview is really a nice little place.  We also like the Gasthaus Village just off US 150 in Montgomery...on 'non-tour bus' days. We Avoid the rush-hours when the buses are in.  The place is a sea of grey hair and impatient customers. Pick an off-peak hour and the buffet is always quite good and the pie cabinent is filled with a wide variety of choices.

Scott C


Don't know if I can help you much food wise -- but the wife and I drove that route from Washington IN to Cincinnati a few weeks ago.  There is always the Black Buggy Amish Buffet in Washington.  There is a neat little roadside park/overlook in Shoals that we have been known to take a sandwich to.  Pretty good road in much better shape than the interstates around here.  Bedford is a bit of a pain as is Seymour Traffic/stoplight wise.  I did drive past quite a few potentially interesting food stops but we were on a bit of a schedule

Enjoy the trip
Scott

forget the black buggy not that good any more there is one a lot better out on us 50 east of washington knemphs i belive it is spelled just had a family reunion there in july and W O W ate too much
enjoy my home state was born in washington ind

Whisky's is a good place to eat in Lawerenceburg. The building/restaurant is really cool. But if the weather is nice, go south to the river to Captain Mike's Riverwatch. Good food, good prices and very relaxing sitting on the Ohio River.

http://www.riverwatchinc.com/

Thanks again for all the suggestions.  Unfortunately my stomach and wallet capacities are both limited so while I would've liked to visit all the places mentioned it just wasn't possible.

I wound up having lunch on Thursday at Larrison's and it's definitely a place with character.  I had the bison burger on a wheat/grain bun and found it pretty tasty; even though I ordered it without onions it was cooked near them on the flattop and picked up some flavor.  For "dessert" I had a ribeye (not bison) sandwich and it wasn't quite as good as the burger, but I think it would've been better had I ordered it medium-rare instead of rare so I'll take the blame.  Unfortunately I was there right at the peak of the lunch rush and while being elbow-to-elbow at the counter meant that photos weren't very practical it did give me the opportunity to watch the staff in action, and they knew what they were doing.

I did have Wednesday dinner at Spring Mill and enjoyed it both for the food and for the atmosphere, and having access to miles of hiking trails meant that I was able to burn off some of the calories.


Dinner is buffet-style so for my entree plate I chose chicken, potatoes and gravy, and hominy.  I thought about it during my after-dinner hike and honestly think that this might've been the very first time I've eaten hominy; at the very least it's the first I can remember.  The kernels had a starchy, somewhat firm texture and an interesting flavor that I found enjoyable.


The potatoes and gravy were solid in a figurative sense and while I couldn't figure out exactly how the chicken was cooked it tasted fine.  I do know that the Spring Mill kitchen is well-acquainted with the salt shaker as none of the items I ate required any additional seasoning; the only negative to the meal was that the split pea soup I accidentally chose (hey, it looked different under the buffet table lights!) was too salty for my taste but at least it had nice chunks of ham (or possibly bacon) which gave a definite porky, smoky flavor.

Spring Mill also serves a breakfast buffet, and while it was pretty basic it gave me the fuel for a good 4-mile trek through the woods before cleaning up and getting back on the road.

Brad

Here are a few joints on Highway 50 in IN..........
 
Bill Bobe's Pizzeria @ 1651 North 6th St., Vincennes, IN 812 - 882 - 2992.
Montana Mike's Steakhouse @ 1626 Willow Street, Vincennes, IN 812 - 882 - 2818
Black Buggy Restaurant and Bakery @ 558 S State Road 57, Washington, IN 812 - 254 - 8966.
http://www.blackbuggy.com/
Larrison's Diner @ 200 South Chestnut St., Seymour, IN 812 - 522 - 5523.
http://larrisonsdiner.com/
 

Here are a few joints on your way E on Highway 50 in OH.

Paxton Restaurant @ 108 West Main Street, Bainbridge, OH 740 - 634 - 2922.
Carl's Townhouse @ 95 West 2nd Street, Chillicothe, OH 740 - 773 - 1660.
Old Canal Smokehouse @ 94 East Water Street, Chillicothe, OH 740 - 779 - 3278.
http://www.oldcanalsmokehouse.com/
Oak Room @ 14 Station St., Athens, OH 740 - 593 - 8386.
http://www.oakroom.net/
Court St. Diner @ 18 North Court Street, Athens, OH 740 - 594 - 8700.
Cutler's Restaurant @ 331 Richland Avenue, Athens, OH 740 - 589 - 3714.
Union St. Diner @ 70 West Union Street, Athens, OH 740 - 594 - 6007.
http://www.unionstreetdiner.com/

hey glad you liked Larrisons -I will be there in a month yahoo! also the spring mill chicken looked great-thanks for posting!!

I just went to a wedding in Madison IN over the weekend.  They had 350 hamb urgers from Hinkle's catered to the wedding reception.  They were awesome, and a local legend!!

I've been studying that road with the book "Road Trip USA" (Jamie Jensen, 5th Edition. I can't vouch for any of this, but his take on roadfood in IN is kind of bleak, with the following exceptions (and these apparently require you swing south on Highway 56):

In Madison: He says there are a number of good places to eat, but only name one. Hinkle's (204 West Main Street): a 1950s-era roadfood stop for "great greasy-spoon burgers, round-the-clock breakfasts, and fresh fried fish".

He says you can get a good milk shake at the soda fountain in the back of Rogers Drug Store (no address given)

In Lawrenceburg: he says Whiskey's (343 Front Street) serves steaks in an old-fashioned button factory.

That's all he highlights for food (yikes)! Other sites he found worthy include:

George Rogers Clark National Historical Park (Vincennes);
French Lick Springs Resort Casino (French Lick);
Bluespring Caverns (Bedford);
Grand Victoria Riverboat Casino and the Ohio County Historical Museum (both in Rising Sun);
Hillforest Mansion (Aurora)

Good Luck; let us know what you find!

Merci, Monsieur Pierre!
 
I'll have to revisit your post when I pass through Indiana next year.  I mentioned Lurton's in Commiskey in a different thread so it appears Fate is suggesting I stay at Clifty Falls State Park!