Ruby’s Diner
Bush International Airport
3870 North Terminal Road
Houston, TX 77032
http://www.rubys.com/

Contrary to what you might think, I try to eat relatively healthy the majority of the time.  However, when I am on business or a vacation, I seem to think that if I am out of the zip code, calories don’t count.  Plus, since I have been on a whirlwind tour for work this week (in Atlanta, back to Indy, Houston and Salt Lake City), those rules did not apply and I just wanted a burger and fries.

What I Ate:  Hickory Burger; $9.50.  1/3 lb burger with barbecue sauce, bacon, onion rings, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato.

I have had this kind of a burger a million times before, but it just sounded like the fatty meal that I was craving at the time.  Good news…it did the trick.

This seemed like it was a bigger burger than a 1/3 lb.   I had to unlock my jaw to take my first bite.  The meat was cooked to medium well, the sesame seed bun was flattened and held the burger nicely.  The cheese was more oily than creamy and I wish that there was a little more barbecue sauce on the burger, but that was my only complaint.  It was actually a good burger.

The fries hit the spot.   Nothing special, but thin cut (almost Steak ’n Shake thin).

Would I Buy It Again?   Sure, why not?!   Quick and attentive service and if you are wanting a meal where you want fried, cheesy, beefy goodness and are stuck in an airport, this will do the trick.   However, I must warn you, if you have a long flight and are in the middle seat, you might want to re-think this meal as you will feel pretty fat and bloated (more than usual at least).

-wibia

Logan’s Roadhouse
http://www.logansroadhouse.com/Default.aspx

Logan’s Roadhouse is a casual type of steak/barbecue type of eatery that is along the same lines as Texas Roadhouse (it’s almost an identical clone) and has several locations scattered around the United States, but focuses primarily on the Midwest and Southeast.  Logan’s has been in the Indianapolis area for quite a few years, but for some reason, I had never been to one until recently.

What I Got:  Steak and BBQ Ribs Combo.  It comes served with two sides (I chose Sweet Potato Fries and the Grilled Mushroom skewer); $18.99.

Before I get into my entree, I will point out that each table is adorned with a steel bucket of unlimited peanuts and if you are a peanut loving freak like me, this can be either the biggest positive in the world or the biggest negative because you’ll eat a ton of them.  Once your done, just toss them on the floor or on the table and you are good to go.  Thankfully, I kept myself under control on this visit so that I could actually leave room for my entree.  [Note:  If you or someone you know has a peanut allergy, Logan's is not the type of environment you want to bring them into, because there are nuts and shells EVERYWHERE.]

By it’s menu description, my entree was “Our 12-ounce Rib-Eye & a half portion of BBQ Ribs” (there was also a 6-ounce option for the Rib-Eye, but I chose the larger version). 

Let’s address these individually and start with the rib-eye.  I ordered mine medium rare and it was served perfectly.  The outside was was seared perfectly and had the beautiful grill marks from the grill imprinted into it.  The steak was moist, tender and flavorful and I can really give this one a big thumbs up.

The Ribs were also outstanding.  They had that sometimes overplayed “fall off the bone” quality and were moist and flavorful.  They were also lathered in a sweetish flavored barbecue sauce that I found very appetizing.

As for my side items, they were kind of what you’d expect.  You can never go wrong with grilled mushrooms and these were no different.  They were decent sized and had that wonderful grill flavor.  The sweet potato fries were crispy and flavorful, although I wish I had more (not a knock on Logan’s, but just a knock on how hungry I was).

Would I Buy It Again?  Definitely.  I don’t know why it took me so long to get to Logan’s, but I’ll definitely be going back in the future.  It’s a great competitor for Texas Roadhouse and since it is closer to my house, it would probably be my first option if I was looking for the casual steakhouse experience.  Plus, if I ever have a craving for a truckload of peanuts, this is my place!

-IndianapolisEater

Bender’s BBQ Pit
7035 East 96th Street, Suite P
Indianapolis, IN 46250
www.bendersbbqpit.com

When I saw the coming soon sign go up for this place a few months ago, I got really excited because I’ve always been disappointed by the lack of locally owned barbecue joints on the northeast side of Indianapolis (Fishers/Castleton area).  There’s always been my mainstay at Black Diamond, but that one is a bit of a hike for me and a bit farther south.  When I saw this was opening on East 96th Street, I was hoping my desires for this type of barbecue joint would be fulfilled.  They opened as a carry-out only joint, but just moved a few doors down in the same strip center within the past week to add a dining room option.

So, armed with a $25 Indianapolis Perks gift certificate, a huge appetite, a free Saturday and a glowing review from Random Dude Eats Random Food, I decided to give Bender’s my first ever visit.

When I first took a look at the menu (they have it available on their website; FYI, it changes weekly so make sure to check the website before going), I noticed that their prices were very affordable.  Since I had a $25 certificate, I knew that I would be able to sample a wide variety of the menu in order to try to find my favorite items and/or their best items.  In order to break this down, I’ll review this menu item by item.

What I Got:  1/2 slab Baby Back Ribs combo (served with two sides; my sides were macaroni and cheese and brisket hash); $14.99.  Add Pulled Pork; $3.  Add 1/4 chicken; $3.  Cole Slaw side item; $1.50.  Baked Beans side item; $1.50.

1/2 Slab of Baby Back Ribs:  When I got these, I was given the option of sweet, mild or spicy barbecue sauce.  I chose their spicy sauce and as far as terms of taste, it wasn’t too spicy, but it was the kind of spice that you didn’t notice initially but were hit by at the back end.  As for the ribs, well, I’ve got to say I was disappointed.  The ribs were tough, gummy and lacked a smoked flavor.  They definitely did not have that “fall off the bone” quality as it took some work to get them off the bone.  Maybe I just got a bad batch, but I would not recommend these.

Macaroni and Cheese:  I’ve lamented on this blog before about how hardly anyone seems to get macaroni and cheese right and so has wibia, so when I ordered this, I didn’t have high expectations.  Well, not only did they surpass my expectations, they hit this one out of the park.  The macaroni and cheese was creamy (but not too creamy) and was tender with a strong, but not overpowering cheese flavor.  Honestly, the only thing that upset me about this was that I wish I had more.  I would definitely recommend this.

Baked Beans:  These were just standard run-of-the-mill baked beans.  They had bacon and onions in them, but nothing about them was memorable.  I’m sure they were homemade, but they still reminded me of something that you would get out of a Bush’s baked beans can.  Too bad, because I really do like baked beans and I would love to recommend good ones, but in this instance, I can’t.

1/4 Smoked Chicken:  I’m sure you can figure out which one in the plate above is the smoked chicken.  That said, the picture is about as dry as this chicken was.  It lacked any sort of smoke flavor and it was really tough and dry as well.  The skin was crispy and kind of flavorful, but the meat was dry and chewy.  If you could just eat the skin, you might be happy, but eating the chicken would ruin it for you.  Not recommended.

Brisket Hash (top of the plate):  This was the one I was most curious about because I’ve never heard of Brisket Hash before.  Bender’s Brisket Hash is made of soft potato chunks, cooked onions and beef brisket and after listening to them talk about it in the restaurant, this is clearly the menu item they have the most pride in and I can see why.  When I took my first bite, I thought to myself that this was weird, but in a good and appealing way.  Soft, chewy and all ingredients perfectly complimented each other.  I’ve never quite tasted anything like this before and I can honestly say that I liked it quite a bit.  Much like the macaroni and cheese, I would definitely recommend this.

Pulled Pork (bottom left of the plate):  I was really excited about this one because of Random Dude Eats Random Food‘s review.  Unfortunately, I was let down.  Maybe I got a bad batch (is this a running theme or is this just the way all of their meat is?), but this was not really all that tender and didn’t have any smoke flavor (another recurring theme).  Actually, it didn’t have much flavor at all.  I had to douse it in my Famous Dave’s Georgia Mustard sauce in order to make it somewhat tasty.  Major disappointment and unfortunately, I can’t recommend this either.

Cole Slaw:  Much like the baked beans, this was pretty run-of-the-mill too.  The cole slaw was crunchy, which was nice, but that was about it in terms of making it memorable.  It had a white watery base, which doesn’t bother me at all, but outside of the crunch, I can’t really recommend this unless you have a craving for cole slaw or are one of the barbecue types that feel cole slaw is the mandatory side item for pulled pork.

Would I Buy It Again?  Most likely not.  I really, really wanted to like this place because of my aforementioned desires, but I just can’t do it.  The prices are great, but the majority of the food is just average at best.  It’s a nice husband and wife team that own Bender’s and I really hope they succeed because it is nice to have locally owned options, but I am seriously doubting that they get my business again.  Please don’t let that stop you from giving it a shot though because maybe you’ll get better batches of food (assuming they don’t run out; they were running out of everything the night that I went) and if you do, you may become a frequent guest.  When you do go though, make sure you order the Brisket Hash and/or Macaroni and Cheese.

That said, I’ll be sticking with my old reliable Black Diamond.  Back to the old drawing board for a Fishers/Castleton barbecue joint.  This stinks.

-IndianapolisEater

Mudsocks Grill
14741 Hazel Dell Crossing
Noblesville, IN 46062
http://www.mudsocksgrill.com

I am not sure how to describe Mudsocks Grill and what their target market is.   The interior is pretty nice (think Charleston’s) and their menu has anything from salads, pastas, steaks, sandwiches and a few other entrees.  There was also a list of daily specials.  A quick look at them menu and some parts of it seemed pretty pricey with $12.00 for chicken fingers?   Salads were mostly $10 and up as well.

What I Ate:  Pulled BBQ Pork Sandwich with Mac and Cheese; $10.00.

A relative bargain compared to other items on the menu.  The sandwich came with lettuce tomato, pepperjack cheese, mustard and…onion strings.  This is the last time that I am going to get onion strings on a sandwich as they get soggy and they really don’t add anything, except fat and calories.

The BBQ was actually pretty decent.  Knowing that it is not a BBQ joint, I am curious about how they made it.  Either way, I would give the actually meat a 5-6/10.  It wasn’t anything better than what most people pass off as BBQ around here.  The sauce was a little sweet for my liking, but it wasn’t bad nor…awesome!

The server said that I should try the mac and cheese.  Rotini-esque noodles and they tried to pass this off as a gourmet mac.  The cheese was so thick that it was the food equivalent of soft mud.  It tasted just fine, but there was a consistency issue there and I didn’t end up finishing.  It is pretty rare that I don’t finish mac and cheese.

Would I Buy It Again?  Maybe. This sandwich really hit the spot, but I can’t say that it was a great sandwich.  I had a taste for BBQ and I got my fix.

I enjoyed Mudsocks efforts to class up casual food, but while they offer some scratch made dishes, they also offer the southwest egg rolls that every bar has now and a few other items that would be better off the menu.  We had spinach artichoke dip, the aforementioned Southwest Egg rolls and wings for apps and I thought they were all pretty pedestrian.

This is one of those reviews where I didn’t dislike anything that I had, but I surely didn’t love it.  The hunger quest continues…

-wibia

Black Diamond Barbecue
6404 Rucker Rd
Indianapolis, IN 46220
http://www.blackdiamondbbqcatering.com

I’ve driven by this place on Binford Boulevard (it’s on a side street right off Binford) about a thousand times over the years and have never stopped.  In all honesty, when it first opened, I figured it would last about three months and then go out of business because it’s not in the greatest location.  Three years later, it’s still chugging along and has even expanded to include outdoor seating.  Good for them.

Ordinarily, I do all my barbecue smoking by myself, but I was feeling lazy one Sunday and didn’t want to spend my entire day waiting for meats to smoke.  So, seeing that this place recently expanded, I figured it must be good and finally gave it a shot (one of the owners was working and gave me a little ribbing by saying, “you know we’ve been here for three years right?”).

What I Got:  Hungry Man’s Special (not listed on the online menu), $19.99.  This includes three meats (I got ribs, brisket and chicken wings) and two sides (I got cole slaw and macaroni and cheese).

First things first, the name of this combo does not lie…this is a TON of food.  Any regular reader of this site knows that I can throw down some food from time to time, but even this was too much for me for one meal.  It was actually enough for two meals because they serve you ample portions of all the meats and all the sides.  As such, let’s address these individually:

Ribs:  I’ve got to say, I was really impressed by these.  You often hear the term “fall off the bone” to describe how ribs should be cooked and these ribs fit that description to the letter of the law.  They were tender and had a strong smoky flavor.  A little greasy, but when you smoke meats as opposed to grilling them, that is to be expected.  Honestly, these were the best ribs I’ve had in a while.

Brisket:  These were served in a separate container because there was so much of it (LOL) and much like the ribs, this was also tender and had a strong smoky flavor.  I prefer my brisket to have juice oozing from it when I cook it and unfortunately, this brisket did not have that.  That said, when compared to other barbecue restaurants in the area, the brisket was exceptional.  The only reason I can complain at all is because of my ego when it comes to making it myself.  Ha!

Chicken Wings:  I’ll admit, I don’t know that I’ve ever had smoked chicken wings before and since I am thinking of doing it on my own smoker, I decided to give these a try in order to see what I was in store for.  My first impression of the wings was that they were HUGE (a good thing) and there were A LOT of them (a recurring theme).  What I found interesting about these wings was that while they were meaty, tender and juicy on the inside, they had a crispy outer skin that provided a nice texture contradiction to the softness of the inside.  As with the ribs and brisket, these also had a strong smoky flavor and I liked them quite a bit.  So much so that I’m anxious to try this myself.

Sides:  Along the lines of the recurring theme, the sides didn’t come in little miniature cups…they came in sizeable containers as you can see in the picture above.  The cole slaw was obviously homemade (big positive in my book) and was more vinegar based as opposed to mayonnaise based, which I prefer.  It was crunchy and fresh, although it could have used a little something extra to give it some kick.  I would rate this as a B/B+ effort.

As for the macaroni and cheese, well, I’ve got some strong thoughts on this one.  I will be the first to admit that I’ve never been a huge macaroni and cheese fan because it is so often botched and lazily made (cheeses are too bland, not enough cheese, etc.) in so many different places.  Because of that, about the only time I will eat macaroni and cheese is when it is out of the Kraft box and yes, I know that is pathetic.  So, in what I thought at the time was an act of stupidity, I decided to give Black Diamond’s macaroni and cheese a try and I am so glad that I did because this was incredible.  It was easily the creamiest and richest macaroni and cheese that I have ever had and I loved it.  They certainly didn’t skimp on the cheese and unlike most places that I’ve eaten macroni and cheese, they actually used a cheese that had a little kick to it and I LOVED that.   Honestly, if you skipped all the meat and just got a huge order of macaroni and cheese, you would be delighted with your order.

Would I Buy It Again?  Absolutely and without hesitation. I can see why that despite an odd location, Black Diamond has managed to stay in business and actually expand in the three years that it has been open.  This is damn fine barbecue and it will always be my FIRST choice on the days that I decide to not make it on my own.  There are not a lot of great barbecue options in this city, so I would strongly advise you to give it a try if you are a barbecue lover.

By the way, Black Diamond caters (one of the owners made sure to let me know that) and also has coupons on my new favorite website, Coupons4Indy.com.

-IndianapolisEater

HotBox Pizza
12510 East 116th Street
Fishers, IN 46037-8907
(317) 849-4200
http://www.gethotboxpizza.com/

If you spent any time in Bloomington, you would know that for a while Pizza Express owned the town.  Mostly because of their breadsticks, cheese sauce and super cheap Big Ten Special  (Large one topping, breadsticks and two sodas in plastic cups).  Most of my friends still have the cups somewhere around.  I’m rambling, but note that HotBox and Pizza Express basically have the same food.  HotBox has six locations with five in Indiana and one in Texas.

What I Had: Large BBQ Pizza, Large Sausage, Pepperoni and Mushroom and two orders of breadsticks.  I had a buy one-get one coupon and the total was around $25.  The BBQ chicken was $18.95 for a large alone and breadsticks are $3.99.

I ordered the S,P & M on thin crust.  Wow, this was bad.  I think they were going for low carb, but the taste was really bad.  The sausage pieces were so small, it had the consistency of sand.  The mushrooms were very small and really sparse as well.  There was very little sauce, but the soggy crust couldn’t handle the weight anyway.

The BBQ was ordered on hand tossed crust which I enjoyed more, but it was pretty weak as well.  Very small pieces of of chicken were sparsely scattered throughout the pizza.   The BBQ sauce was too sweet for my liking and the red onion didn’t add anything.   The crust to toppings ratio was flirting with them being pretty cheap.

The breadsticks were okay.  The cheese has to be straight from a can and the breadsticks were really chewy and salty.

Would I Buy It Again?   No.  I’d rather make a Red Baron and get a kick in the nuts as I would feel better than I did after this meal.  Even with the buy one-get one coupon, I didn’t feel as if I got a deal because the toppings were such low quality and very sparse.  Honestly, it is my least favorite pizza in Indianapolis.  No, scratch that…Indiana.  Sorry.

-wibia

Just a little status update on what will be going on for the rest of the summer here at WouldIBuyItAgain.com:

As of yesterday, summer has officially started that that means that it’s barbecue season.  Because of this, we here at WouldIBuyItAgain.com are eating a lot more barbecue and going to a lot more cookouts than we are going to restaurants.  Thus, we are going to slow down the pace of our reviews until the weather starts to cool down and we start going to restaurants more often.

So, instead of seeing the usual four reviews per week that you’ve been seeing for a quite a while, you will probably only see a couple reviews a week during the summer and a total of three to maybe four posts per week.

Have a great summer and we appreciate all of you for reading and we will be back bigger and better than ever later in the summer!

-IndianapolisEater

P.S.  By the way, in case you were wondering, the picture above is of beef brisket that I smoked for eight hours in my smoker recently as part of one of my summer cookouts.

Uncle Sam’s Barbecue
Hueytown, AL (outside of Birmingham)
http://www.unclesamsbbq.com/

At the start of 2009, I never would’ve thought that I would spend anytime in Alabama, especially Hueytown.  Funny where life take you though!  Okay, maybe not.

Uncle Sams Barbecue is a converted Long John Silver’s.   Walk in and sit where-ya-like type of place.  Service was attentive and friendly, about four waitresses in the dining room and running the cash register.   I found my server to be the definition of down home hospitality as she called me “hun” a few times. I couldn’t help but think there is a light cigarette somewhere behind the counter that she has a few puffs of between tables!

I ordered the Jumbo Pork Sandwich for $3.99   They had a list of sides, so I mentioned that I would take the potato salad.  She corrected me and said that that I get all of the sides!

So, get this, for $3.99 I had a Jumbo Pork Sandwich, Baked Beans, Cole Slaw and French Fries!!  So far, so good and I was loving this place.

$3.99 for this entire plate.... Boo-yeah!

Meal arrived and the jumbo sandwich was a strong serving, no doubt about it!  I found the pork to be tasty, but it lacked a smoky depth that I like in my barbecue.  It was moist and lean, but a little bland for my taste.   The sauce was thinner than Sweet Baby Ray’s and had more kick to it.   As far as a barbecue sandwich, I would give it a 7/10.

Cole slaw was watery and bland.  It was more vinegar than mayo and it is difficult to identify vegetables otherwise than cabbage.   The fries were out of the bag frozen, but politely salted and hot…they really hit the spot.  Baked Beans were pretty solid.  I couldn’t find any bacon in them, but they were pretty good.

Would I Buy It Again?   On value alone, sure!   This place was packed for lunch and it is easy to see why.  How they made a profit with this meal was beyond my comprehension!?  It wasn’t the best barbecue that I have had, but it surely wasn’t the worst.  I have to admit that Uncle Sam’s was a fun find in Hueytown.

Btw, I have to include that Pat Robertson’s TV show was playing in the background.  I always have to make note of when there is religious propaganda with my meal.  I always get an e-mail or so and plenty of shitty comments that I have to admin out!  No comment here, just saying what was on the TV

-WIBIA