10-01 Food & Drink
1001 Broad Ripple Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46220
http://www.1001fooddrink.com/

I was excited to see 10-01 open and really looking forward to giving it a try.  With a prime footprint in Broad Ripple Village, I was looking forward to actually eating good food that overlooks Broad Ripple Avenue.  I like the idea too, as it is comfort food with a twist.  However, after the meal, I am not sure if I liked the twist.  My brother EatHSE was also along for the party, so let’s get this started.

What I Got:  First up, Mac and Cheese.  Four Cheese blend with Nueske Bacon; $6.

I didn’t like this at all.   As I mentioned, most Mac and Cheese at restaurants is horrible and this was no exception.   This mac was very oily and not very cheesy.   The bacon was fine, but this was messy and just flat out bad.

Next, Flatbread Pizza with Andoullie Sausage in a ancho basil sauce; $8.

Better, but still pretty bad.   This needed onion or something else on it.  One slice of sausage on each piece and the crust was really soft in the middle.  The ancho flavor was heavy and I liked that, but that is about it. 

For my entrée, I tried the Fried Chicken; $14. 

Half Chicken, Bourbon gravy, Fontina Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli.  I have to admit, I actually liked the taste of the fried chicken.  It was half of a chicken, but I will assume that the chicken was about a week old at slaughter because it was pretty small.  I would struggle these days to eat half of a rotisserie chicken, but I polished this off without a problem.   I liked the mashed potatoes and gravy too. White gravy with a little sweetness of the Bourbon.  Everyone else at the table liked my dish as well.  Notice the omission of the buttermilk biscuit.  At this point in the meal, I was so unsatisfied that I didn’t even care about the biscuit. 

Would I Buy It Again?  No.  I usually don’t give a flat out No after my first visit, but there were so many issues here.  My brother’s portabella burger was flat out bad and I had a taste of wild mushroom fettuccini and I didn’t like that either.  Service was akward, ill paced and not really even friendly.  I like the fried chicken, but that is all I can say.  The menu repeats itself a lot and needs to be more seasonal.  It was 97 degrees that night and I didn’t want meatloaf or a meatloaf sandwich. 

Just like their neighbor of La Jolla, I really want to like this place, but the grub is not to the level that it needs to be.  Is it worth a try?  Sure.  I imagine that there are a few items on the menu that fair better than the ones that I ordered. 

-wibia

P.S.  Thanks to Indianpolis Restaurant Scene for the outside picture.

For someone that LOVES Taco Bell, I was thinking recently how odd it is that I haven’t been there in a while.  So, since I was sort of craving it and saw that they had introduced a new menu item, I thought I’d make a visit over this past Labor Day weekend.

What I Got:  Chicken Flatbread Sandwich, $0.99.

To Taco Bell’s credit, they are pretty creative in finding ways to use existing ingredients that they have on hand to create new menu items.  Along those lines, they now have joined the flatbread craze and created this new “sandwich” that they are currently running on promotion.  According to their website, it consists of:

“Warm, square-cut flatbread, filled with marinated all-white-meat chicken, and a melty three-cheese blend of cheddar, pepper jack, and mozzarella topped off with flavorful chipotle sauce and melted to perfection to seal in the flavor.”

As always with Taco Bell, I can confirm that all of these things were in my sandwich (it still feels funny to me to use sandwich and Taco Bell in the same sentence), so the presentation was nailed.  The taste component was nailed as well as the flatbread was both warm and soft, the cheese was perfectly melted, the chicken was tender and the chipotle sauce taste was definitely noticeable.  Although, I will say that the chipotle sauce tasted more of sour cream to me and that’s not a positive in my book because I am not a fan of sour cream.  Still, even with that drawback, I will say that this was not bad.  It’s not earth-shattering in any shape or form, but it is a decent menu item, especially when you consider it is only 99 cents.

Would I Buy It Again?  No, probably not.  While it tastes fine and it definitely does not cost much, there is nothing inherently memorable about the experience that would get me to order this “sandwich” again.  I’d much rather stick to tacos, burritos, etc. before I went and ordered another one of these.  If you are looking to mix it up with your Taco Bell order from time to time, go ahead and order one of these.  If not and you aren’t curious, don’t waste your time.  Trust me, you’ll have no regrets.

-IndianapolisEater