Review: Broad Ripple Tavern
Author: indianapoliseater | Filed under: Food Reviews, Location: Indianapolis, IN, Tenderloin of the Month
[Editor's Note: This is the first post in our "Tenderloin of the Month" feature mentioned in a post by wibia this past Friday.]
Broad Ripple Tavern
745 Broad Ripple Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46220
http://www.broadrippletavern.com/
Some friends and I were wasting our lives drinking beer in Broad Ripple on a lazy Saturday afternoon and it came around dinner time, so we decided to peek our heads into Broad Ripple Tavern (an old favorite) for a bite to eat.
Broad Ripple Tavern is part of Lux Restaurants, which is made up of several local bar/grill type places. Since they are all part of the same group, they all share similar menu characteristics and since I’ve had the Breaded Tenderloin at some of their other establishments and have liked it, I decided to try it here.
What I Got: Breaded Tenderloin sandwich (comes with chips, but I substituted fries for $1.00 extra), $8.99.
First impression: Like any true Breaded Tenderloin sandwich, this one was huge and if you can get that part of the execution down right, you are off to a good start in my mind. It was thick and oddly shaped too, which was also a good sign in my book because that means that they hand pounded and shaped it themselves, which always leads to a better sandwich.
Second impression: The breading on this sandwich was like a breading that I have rarely encountered on tenderloins in the past and I’ve had a lot of them. It was crispy, as you would expect, but it had the consistency and flakiness of fried chicken and that was incredible. Once I tasted it, it tasted like fried chicken breading too, which was particularly awesome because like any other good, red-blooded American male, I love fried chicken.
The pork tenderloin meat was also quite good as well. Like I said previously, it was thick and ample, so it was quite filling. It was also cooked perfectly as each bite gave me a little bit of juice oozing out and I couldn’t have been happier.
The fries were good too, but there was nothing outstanding about them. Just your typical crunchy fries.
Would I Buy It Again? Hell yes. Like I said, Lux Restaurants share a lot of similar menu characteristics and I’m glad that the tenderloin has made it to many of their establishments because this one is damn good. Not only would I order this again from Broad Ripple Tavern, but I’ll also order it again at the other restaurants in the conglomerate.
As a quick aside, has anyone ever seen anyone order a grilled tenderloin in their entire life? I guess this applies most to Indiana residents since the Breaded Tenderloin is the state sandwich and is more prevalent here, but I’ve never seen a grilled tenderloin ordered EVER. I even asked the waitress and while I don’t remember her exact response, I think she said something to the effect that she rarely, if ever, has seen one.
-IndianapolisEater
Tags: breaded tenderloin, broad ripple tavern, Food, Fries, lux restaurants, Tenderloin of the Month
I’ll own up to ordering a grilled tenderloin… though I think I was fresh from from a blood pressure reading! It was actually quite good – if lacking the textural awesomeness.
another restaurant in the lux group is the nickel plate – my last one from there was actually pretty disappointing. Don’t know if the fryer wasn’t at the right temp… or if they maybe didn’t give it a good enough drain. but there was a grease factor that made the breading plain wrong. I respect some people who swear by their tenderloin, so I’m willing to chalk it up to an off day.
cheers
-tom
@tom h: Nickel Plate must have lost its marbles, because I’ve heard several less than stellar recent reviews of their tenderloin, which goes against what I thought since I believed their tenderloin to be oustanding. Admittedly, it’s been a few years since I’ve had one from there, so they must have lost their magic in those few years.
I’ll back the grilled tenderloin sandwich. I’ve had too many fried ones that reminded me of middle school hot lunches.
Looks like it should and we like about the same condiments.
I have ordered a grilled tenderloin once. I have grilled pork at home all the time, so I like it..but it just doesn’t compare to the breaded version.
Btw, you and your ketchup usage kill me..
Curious to why they had to squish the bun like that.Would be a beautiful sandwich otherwise.
I had the same curiosity as Bill, why is the bun squished? It looks like fingers dented it up!
Looking forward to the rest of the tenderloin reviews. i had a tenderloin at the state fair the other day. pathetic… i ate like a third of it and threw it out. and i NEVER throw away food.
last really good tenderloin i think i got was at the union jack. i was impressed.
@ALRUI & Bill: That bun may have been smashed by me prior to the picture, but I can’t recall. I am guessing that was the case though as I was probably trying to smush everything down so that it woud fit in my hand prior to eating it and then I remembered right before my first bite that I needed to take a picture.
Would much rather have seen Man v. Food go there. At least then it would have covered Broad Ripple instead of the freaking race.
Plus, we could have counted how many different places we stood in there when intoxicated.
Wow….I don’t believe I’ve ever even HEARD of this place…have I been living under a rock?
Anyway, it looks fabulous, and I’ll visit here based on your review alone!
@Rick: I think you have been living under a rock. Ha! Broad Ripple Tavern is right on the strip in Broad Ripple and is a pretty sizeable place. Give it a shot if you are ever down there.