To my detriment or not, I follow a lot of random stuff on Twitter and Facebook.  On my Facebook feed a few minutes ago, this article on the “10 Quintessential American Meals” popped up via Skyline Chili’s news feed.  At first I laughed and thought no way, but sure enough, I clicked on the link and there it was at #5 on the list of ten best American meals.  I realize that chili is what they are focusing on and I agree that chili is a quintessential American meal and belongs on the list, but the best example they could come up with was Skyline Chili?!

Now, I like Skyline Chili a lot and have done reviews on their 4-Way Chili and also on their Cheese Coney Dog here on the blog and gave them both positive reviews and said how much I liked them.  That said, not even I am dumb enough to think that what I was eating was one of the ten best meals in America.  Totally absurd and I think most, if not all, people would agree with me that Skyline Chili does not belong on this list as the best example of chili.  I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I’ve actually eaten the best chili in America and name the place that provides it, but what I am going to say is that I know if I did eat the best chili in America, it wouldn’t be at Skyline Chili.

Anyway, just some food for thought (like the pun?) today to hopefully entertain you on a random Tuesday.

-IndianapolisEater

Starting last year, restaurants on the northside of town started their own restaurant week with special and/or discounted menus to try to capture a business spike similar to Devour Downtown. Well, they are back at it again this year starting with their spring edition starting on March 8th and running all the way through March 18th.

Restaurants have started posting their special menus on the Northside Nights website, so check it out to see if some of your favorites are on there and also to see what kind of discounts they’ll be offering.

As an aside, we’ve reviewed several restaurants on the list in the past and here are those reviews:

*Arni’s Restaurant

*Claddagh Irish Pub

*Daddy Jack’s #1

*Daddy Jack’s #2

*Eddie Merlot’s

*Mitchell’s Fish Market

*OAKLEY’s bistro #1

*OAKLEY’s bistro #2

*Peterson’s

*Pizzology #1

*Pizzology #2

*Sahm’s Bar & Grill

*Stone Creek Dining Company

-IndianapolisEater

Super 46 Sandwich and Brat Contest (renamed)

The winner was announced today and guess what?! It is NOT EVEN A F*CKING SANDWICH!!??

First, a tenderloin should’ve won, even though the selection of tenderloins from the list are some of the worst in the state.

Second, a sandwich should’ve won.

I will admit, I would put that pretzel-brat thingy straight to the face, it doesn’t look half bad.  It is not a sandwich though.

I give up.

-wibia

I thought about writing a list for the Super Bowl, but Indianapolis Restaurant Scene did a nice job on her site.  Let me add a few things.

First, EAT A PORK TENDERLOIN SANDWICH!  It is our state sandwich.  You have to ask your server if it hand cut or frozen as some restaurants believe that it is acceptable to pass of a frozen pork fritter as the real deal.  If your sandwich is perfectly round and not awesome, you probably got duped.

Second, if you are looking for a few of our favorites in downtown or Broad Ripple, check these out (reviews linked where applicable):

Downtown

*Kilroy’s Bar & Grill (get the Stuffed Breadsticks)

*King David Dogs (this is a review of the airport location, but there is one downtown too)

*Scratch Truck

Broad Ripple

*Zest

*Fat Dan’s Chicago Style-Deli

As a side note, we have some of the worst Italian food in the country.  If you are visiting (especially from New York), there are probably better options for you.

That should take care of you.  All in all, if you are from New York or New England, I think that you will walk away pleasantly surprised.  Our food scene is respectable and our downtown is a lot of fun compared to other Midwestern cities.

Enjoy our city!

-wibia

Remember the post from a little over a week ago about Indiana’s Super 46 Sandwiches and the contest to pare the list down to a winner?  Well, the first and second round of voting are over (don’t know how I slept through the second round) and now they are down to eight sandwiches.  Several people, including me, voiced their opinions that some of the sandwiches on the list were a joke, so now you can check to see who has made it this far and who did not.

If you go to this link, you cast your vote for your favorite sandwich in each match-up.

For a Cliff’s Notes version of the match-ups prior to visiting the site, here’s how it shakes out (Indianapolis metro area restaurants are in italics; others are spread throughout the state):

Match-up #1:  Hamburger from Hinkle’s Sandwich Shop vs. the Bratwurst from Schnitzelbank

Match-up #2:  Ultimate Grilled Tenderloin from The Streamliner Restaurant vs. the Roast Pork Po’ Boy from Papa Roux

Match-up #3:  Breaded Tenderloin from The Nickel Plate Bar & Grill vs. Duane Purvis All-American from Triple XXX Restaurant

Match-up #4:  Mile High Club Sandwich from Rock Cola 50s Cafe vs. the Grilled Cheese Sandwich from Fair Oaks Dairy Farm

So, if you want to go out and vote for a favorite sandwich or make sure to vote against a joke of a sandwich so that it doesn’t embarrass our state, feel free to head to the site and cast your vote for this round before it ends next Friday!

-IndianapolisEater

Through a review done by me and comments by other readers on that post and also in other posts, our love for Black Diamond Barbecue has been shared on this blog many, many times.

So, when I was watching the news this morning and saw that Fox59 is putting together a deal this week starting this Thursday, January 12th, as part of their weekly “Be Our Guest” promotion (think Groupon-like), I knew I had to make mention of it on the site to drive traffic to Black Diamond.

Quite simply, you can buy a $50 gift certificate for Black Diamond for $25 starting at 7:53 a.m. by visiting this link.  The deal includes two $25 gift certificates.  The certificates expire within six months and there’s only 200 of them available, so you’ve got to buy them and use them quick!

So, if you want to grab a deal the best barbecue that I’ve had in the city of Indianapolis, make sure you visit the Fox59 site starting tomorrow and snatch up one of the deals.

-IndianapolisEater

It’s that time again!  Starting this Monday, January 9th and running through January 22nd, Indianapolis’ annual winter celebration of downtown restaurants is returning once again.

If you are unfamiliar with Devour Downtown, several downtown restaurants band together to offer special menu items, special/discounted pricing, etc. in order to attract business to their establishments.  The only catch is that you have to order from that specific Devour Downtown menu (They’ve even added a mobile website this year as well in order to make it easier for you to access info on your phone as well.  Isn’t technology great?!) in order to get that special pricing.  If you don’t, well, it’s just like any other visit to the establishment.  FYI, some of these establishments are offering special lunch menus, so you can check those out as well.

If it seems like it is at a different time this year, well, that’s because it is!  It’s usually held a bit later in the winter, but they are doing it early this year due to the fact that there’s this sort of a big game that’s brings all sorts of festivities with it in the first week of February that is going to clog up downtown.

We’ve reviewed several of the restaurants that are participating, so if you have any questions or are curious about a particular establishment, feel free to check out our Review Archive for a little advance scouting.

Devour Downtown Winterfest ends on January 22nd, so make sure you get there between the 9th and the 22nd if you want the experience.

-IndianapolisEater

Here’s a fun little something that I saw a story about on the news this morning (also in the Indianapolis Star).  Apparently the Indiana Office of Tourism and Indianapolis Monthly have teamed up to create a list of the 46 best sandwiches in Indiana and with this list, they are holding a contest to find the best sandwich in Indiana and has provided a list of 46 sandwiches from which you can cast your vote.  The list and voting form for these sandwiches can be found here.

There are several longtime favorites on there that you would expect such as Shapiro’s Reuben, the double cheeseburger from Workingman’s Friend, the Boogie Monster from Boogie Burger, etc.  Of course, there are options for Indiana’s state sandwich, the breaded tenderloin, on there as well.

In fact, we’ve reviewed one of the sandwiches on the list.  Here’s the review:

*Beef Tongue Cheese Steak | The Local Eatery & Pub (Westfield)

I’ve had a couple of the sandwiches on there from my pre-blog review days (tenderloin from the Nickel Plate, etc.), so I think I have an inkling of what I’ll be voting for.

So, if you want to have some fun, check out the voting and cast your vote for the best sandwich.  There’ll be several rounds of voting before a champion is crowned, so you’ll have to check back frequently to re-cast votes each week.

-IndianapolisEater