If you read my friend’s blog, Indianapolis Restaurant Scene, I am the “very indecisive friend” of this review.  The reality is that Erin usually recommends bullshit places that include fruit as a side and serve crepes at lunch.  I am a man, I eat like a man.

Big Daddy’s is the food equivalent to the Miller High Life commercials.  Very straight forward bar food done really well.  The servers call you “honey” and smell like Aqua Net.  This is about my fifth time to Big Daddy’s and I ventured out of my usual go to of Beef Stew and went for their tenderloin.

What I Ate:  Breaded Tenderloin Sandwich; $7.99.

I have had half a tenderloin from here before, so this was my second time.   This is a really good tenderloin.  My only issue is that this one was pounded a little too thin for my taste and it was a bit dry.  A swipe of mayo would put it back on track.  The odd part about this tenderloin is that they use Corn Flakes as the breading.   It makes the sandwich really crispy and a bit sweetish.

Chips are out of the bag and the bun is nothing to talk about.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, to both Big Daddy’s and the tenderloin.   It is not my favorite tenderloin in the city, but it is in my top five.  I really like Big Daddy’s.  The service is friendly, the food is always good and I wish that I had a reason to go there more.

-wibia

Jimmy B’s Eatery & Pub
10598 North College Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46280
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jimmy-Bs-Pub/149395358345?sk=info

I have mad respect for our friend, The Tenderloin Connoisseur.  One of his favorite tenderloins, if not his favorite, is the tenderloin at Jimmy B’s.  So, I had to give it a try for the Tenderloin of the Month segment.  Jimmy B’s is like every other somewhat dive-y strip mall bar.  I stopped by at lunch and it was a little smoky, but it didn’t bother me after the first minute or two.

What I Ate:  Breaded Pork Tenderloin with fries (add $1).  Don’t quote me, but it was around $8. 

It arrived and it surely looked good.  The bun didn’t look as toasted as I like it, but the tenderloin itself looked great.   Well, it didn’t disappoint.   The thickness was perfect, the bread-to-meat ratio was perfect as well.  The breading was not softer, not really crunchy or crispy.  There was no gristle to be found.  Plus, it was flippin huge!  I skipped dinner that night.

My only complaint about the meat is that it could’ve used a little more seasoning (read: salt).  The rest of the sandwich was nothing special, but the tenderloin itself was so good, that it didn’t need to be.  Fries were straight out of the bag, so nothing to talk about there either.  Service was friendly and attentive.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, easily.   One of the better tenderloins in the city.  I would not pick a fight with anyone that told me that this is the best tenderloin that they have had.    I liked it quite a bit and it is a very fine version of the official state sandwich of Indiana. 

-wibia 

Slippery Noodle Inn
372 South Meridan Street
Indianapolis, Indiana  46225
http://www.slipperynoodle.com/index2.cfm

I love this segment because it gives me the excuse to eat at least one tenderloin each month.   Great success!   I am a big music fan and a bad ass musician in my spare time.  Recently, I went to go see the extremely awesome Blues/Soul guitarist/vocalist Tab Benoit.   The show was outstanding and I would highly recommended it to yall! Back to the food.

What I Ate:  Breaded Tenderloin; $7.00.  Served with chips and a pickle.

My first thought was, “wow, this is kind of small for an Indiana tenderloin.”  It looks big in the picture, but the plate was pretty small.  The produce was really good.  Lettuce, onions, ripe tomatoes and thick-cut crunchy pickles, so it was a nice effort.   The bun was nicely toasted as well.  So far so good.

The tenderloin was pretty tasty too.  It was pounded a little, but left pretty thick.  I would say that it was the thickness of a normal chicken sandwich.  It was juicy and the seasoning had a little bit of salt in it as well.    I didn’t find any gristle and found it to be of decent quality considering this is bar food.

Would I Buy It Again?  I am torn here.  It wasn’t a bad tenderloin, but there was nothing going on here that I can’t get anywhere else.  Plus, it was pretty small when comparing it to other tenderloins in town.  It reminded me of a tenderloin that they would serve to an uptown girl that wanted to stick her toe in pool of the common people’s food without jumping off the deep end.

If I am eating a tenderloin, I barely want to see the plate.  I want it about as big as a small pizza.  I want it to stare me in the face and say, “bring it champ, you can’t finish me.”

In sports terms, I was Nolan Ryan and this tenderloin was Robin Ventura.  No match.

-wibia

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
4790 W 16th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46222

Race season is a special time in Indianapolis.  People around here have different things they like about the race; maybe it’s seeing a loud, angry band at carb day, taking their kids to see the practices on a family day or hobnobbing with celebrities and local politicians.  I get most excited about going to the track purely for seeing the people, drinking beer outside and eating a tenderloin sandwich.  Seriously.  The fast cars and all that is pretty good, but it’s only part of it.  I go with some friends and neighbors and we have a great time, but I’d be hard-pressed to say what my absolute favorite part of the day is.  After digging into our Marsh box lunches (and trying in vain to trade my baked beans for someone else’s chocolate chip cookie), eating some fried chicken, potato chips and maybe a turkey sandwich, I’m almost ready for the main attraction.  Wait, did I mention I’m maybe four or five beers into my day at this point too?  That’s probably a pretty important factor in this review.

What I Had: I got what I get every year:  a plain pork tenderloin sandwich.  There are no choices as to what comes on it, and it’s six dollars even.  It seems like every year there are none available when I go to get one (usually around section 18 of the paddock) and I have to wait anywhere from five to fifteen minutes.  This year it was five minutes, and that only added to the anticipation of what was to come.  I also had to wait about ten minutes for it to cool down before it was edible.  It didn’t help that it was a hot day.

This sandwich is utterly plain.  It’s a big flat piece of pork, breaded, seasoned maybe with pepper, deep fried and put on a plain hamburger bun.  It reminds me of the burger Ron Swanson recently made on Parks and Recreation; nothing but the basics.  There’s a fixings bar where I wouldn’t touch anything (see how many people are standing there just now?), but when I get back to my seat I spread mayonnaise from my box lunch on the top bun.  The bun only covers about half of the pork, which adds to the presentation, but decreases my mayo coverage.

Would I Buy It Again?  Absolutely. Whenever I eat this sandwich, I enjoy it immensely.  What is it that makes it so good?  Is it the pepper?  The batter?  The smell of the racetrack?  The multiple beers leading up to it?  I think it’s a combination of all of these things.  Buying one the first time was a real gamble as you’re hoping it will be good, but you know the odds are that it won’t be.  But that gamble paid off, with dividends I collect every year.  I wonder whether or not I would ever order one of these without the beer, the track and the excitement of race day, but I’d rather not learn the answer to that question.  For now, I will instead look forward to having this sandwich again next spring.

Do you have a favorite track food that you look forward to every year?  I did see a guy walk by with a turkey leg that looked really good…

-BigRedEater

Big Mike’s Cafe Americana
9611 College Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46280
http://www.bigmikescafeamericana.com

Big Mike’s is a new restaurant in the area located at 96th and College in the former Tomato Pie spot.  I was glad to see something else go in there as Tomato Pie never did anything for me.  We ordered lunch in lunch at work and I wasn’t sure what to try.  The menu is full of club sandwiches and burgers, but once I saw a tenderloin, the choice was easy.

What I Ate:  Breaded Tenderloin sandwich and fries, $6.99.

The tenderloin came with lettuce, tomato and red onion with  few things out of the norm.  The tenderloin appeared to be panko breaded.  I pretty much like anything that is panko breaded, so I liked this variation.  The meat was pink.  I believe that it was cooked long enough because it was temperature hot, but it didn’t have the normal gray look to the meat.  This didn’t bother me at all as I thought that the meat was a notch above on quality.  The sandwich was served on a pretzel roll.  I also like pretzel rolls, however, this didn’t work for me at all.  I found it to be too chewy and it took away from a really tasty tenderloin.

The fries were cold and without any seasoning.

Would I Buy It Again?  Sure.  This was a very fresh and tasty tenderloin with a lot of homemade love.  You can tell that Big Mike’s is trying hard and put a lot of thought into putting their own stamp on this tenderloin.  It was a perfect lunch size, but smaller than a normal tenderloin.  Not the best that I have had, but well above average.  I would give it a 7.5/10.

-wibia

Muldoon’s
111 W Main St
Carmel, IN 46032
http://www.muldoons.net/index.htm

March’s Tenderloin of The Month brings us to Muldoon’s in Carmel.  Something tells me that I have had this one before, but I didn’t remember any of the details.  Muldoon’s is usually one of the most recommended places to get a tenderloin, so I thought that I would see what the hype is all about.

Muldoon’s is an Irish themed bar.  Just because a bar carries Guinness, it surely doesn’t mean that it is an Irish bar.  Now, I have never been to Ireland to experience the real deal, but my wife is of Irish decent so I will continue on with my consistent know-it-all attitude.

What I Ate: Breaded tenderloin; served with a choice of sides and I went with chips,  $7.95

Served on a toasted sesame seed bun and with a tomato, lettuce, red onion and mayo.  At first glance, this tenderloin was huge.  I ripped of a piece of the meat and it was juicy and flavorful.  The thickness of the tenderloin and the breading-to-meat ratio was perfect.  It wasn’t the overly pounded out thin and dry type.  Considering the size, I thought that it would be thinner.  I would’ve liked a little more lettuce and tomato, but what they gave me did the trick.  Chips were straight out of a bag, so I will pick a different side next time.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes and frequently. It was one of the best tenderloins that I have ever had and a fine representation of the Indiana state sandwich.  At roughly $8, it is competitively priced and well worth a trip to give it a try.  On a number scale, I would give it a 9.5/10, only leaving .5 for anything that I run across that is better, if it exists.

In tenderloins we trust,

-wibia

Max & Erma’s
http://www.maxandermas.com/

It has been a long time since I have been to a Max & Erma’s and I didn’t really know what to expect.  I don’t remember seeing a commercial or any promotion for them in the last five years.  I always grouped them with the Applebee’s, Ruby Tuesday’s, TGI Friday’s, O’Charley’s of the world and I was interested to see if they had anything that rose above the rest of the pack.

What I Ate: Breaded Pork Tenderloin; around $8 with fries.

What was interesting here is that they had the “Breaded Pork Tenderloin” listed on the menu without a description.  All other sandwiches had a description.  I assume that they only carry this at Indiana locations.  I asked the server if it was hand-cut and homemade and she said “I am not sure, but we make a lot of our items on site and I would be willing to bet that it is.”  My follow up:  “Is it perfectly round?”  Server: “No, that I know for sure.”  So, I rolled the dice.

The tenderloin was served on a toasted sesame seed spilt top bun that held the sandwich well and was an ideal thickness.   The tenderloin itself looks like it was pounded out too thin, but it wasn’t.  The meat had the thickness of about three stacked quarters.  The meat was gristle free, though a touch on the dry side.  The breading didn’t add any flavor, but it was the perfect amount a very nice meat-to-breading ratio.   Produce was as fresh as it could be in the dead of the winter.

The fries were slightly larger than the new fries from Wendy’s, but tasted exactly the same.

Would I Buy It Again?  Only if I was at Max and Erma’s, I would not seek it out. On a rating scale, I would give it a six.  Slightly better than the average, but not good enough to really get me excited.

However, this was a surprisingly nice representation of the Indiana state sandwich.  Surely not the best that I have ever had, but it was better than I thought a chain restaurant could make.

-wibia

Yogi’s Grill & Bar
519 E 10th St
Bloomington, IN 47408
http://www.yogis.com/

As if you haven’t been able to tell from the blog so far, several of us on this blog are graduates of Indiana University.  Since I am a graduate of that fine institution, I spend a lot of time in Bloomington supporting my alma mater by going to see football and basketball games. 

Due to this, I recently visited what I consider to  be one of the many Indiana University institutions (albeit not as old of one) on one of my recent trips there for a basketball game and since I hadn’t had a tenderloin in a while (and the menu is reduced prior to home basketball games), I figured I would give it a shot.

What I Got:  Breaded Tenderloin Sandwich, served with cole slaw and chips (I substituted tater tots for an addtional charge); around $8-$9.

This was your classic Indiana breaded tenderloin sandwich as it was way too big for the bun and if you can get that right, you are off to a good start.  If I had to guess though, I would say that they bring this in from off-site (or at least pre-prepare them and then freeze them) because it didn’t have that “hand-pounded on site” look to it.  If you’ve had as many tenderloins in your life as I have, you can just tell what that “look” is.  The breading was a little soggy too, so I’m guessing that they just defrost a bunch of these at the beginning of the night and throw them in the fryer to heat them up as the orders come in.  That’s too bad, but unfortunately, you are bound to run into that from time to time.

In terms of taste, it wasn’t bad.  Considering that I’m speculating that this was of the frozen variety, I would rate in the “above average” column when all things are considered.  In terms of fresh tenderloins, no way.  In terms of frozen tenderloins, it was not too shabby.  It was helped by the fact that the tenderloin, while slightly on the thin side (again, compared to fresh tenderloins) was juicy and the produce was fairly fresh for the time of year.  The bun was toasted, as I prefer it and while that may seem like a simple part of the sandwich, I’ve been to a lot of places that manage to screw that up.  The tater tots were crunchy too (also of the frozen from the bag variety too, I’m sure), so all in all, it wasn’t a bad meal.

Would I Buy It Again?  Sure.  I wouldn’t go out of the way for it and wouldn’t rate it as a “must have,” but overall, it was not a bad tenderloin and you wouldn’t be filled with regret if you ordered it.  Lord knows that I’ve certainly had worse.

As for Yogi’s in general, I would highly recommend it.  They have a nice restaurant area with a small bar and then they have another large, attached bar area that is filled with televisions.  It really is a great place to watch a game and with over one hundred different flavors of beer available (over forty of them on draft), you certainly aren’t going to go thirsty.  Ha!

-IndianapolisEater