Granite City Food & Brewery
150 West 96th Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46290
http://www.gcfb.net/

Every now and then you just feel like eating a huge meal and being fat.  That feeling happens to me more than I’d like, but I try to control it by limiting myself to no more than two giant meals a month.  If I didn’t do that, well, we’ve been there before.

Anyway, I was experiencing one of those moments a while back and that led me to Granite City Food & Brewery for their Sunday Brunch.  I’ve been before and didn’t do a review, but since I’ve told so many friends about this offline, I figured that it was time to share with my blog friends as well.  FYI, WIBIA has been there before to review their non-brunch food items and has been there for brunch as well.

What I Got:  Sunday Brunch; $14.99.

Here’s a link to the menu their brunch offerings on their site, so I’ll spare listing them all out and just hit what I got and took photos of.

When you first arrive, they bring out a plate of caramel rolls and that’s what you see in the picture in the top of this post.  They bring one roll per person and these things are about as big as your head.  If you know anything about nutrition at all, you know that cinnamon rolls are just about the unhealthiest thing in the world, so when you are getting a giant cinnamon roll dripping with warm caramel sauce to start your meal, well, you might as well throw your calorie counts out the window for the day and/or week.  In terms of taste, these things are soft, sweet, gooey and basically the most sinful  and delicious thing you could ever eat in your entire life.  Frankly, you could stop after this and be okay, but I had to get my money’s worth in this meal!

After gorging myself on a caramel roll, plate #1 was a stop at the make-your-own Eggs Benedict station with assorted meats, cheeses and vegetables and as you can see above, I was definitely not shy about my creation.  They have a cook working there that will construct everything to your liking, so I chose a mixing of just about everything they had on the line (by the way, that’s a sausage patty under the poached egg).  Ha!  Unfortunately, while it looks delicious, it really wasn’t all that great.  The hollandaise sauce was flat and since this was a make-your-own station, a lot of the food had been sitting for a while so it wasn’t fresh/crunchy.  It’s too bad too, because when done right, Eggs Benedict is awesome.

Plate #2 wasn’t exactly healthy either.  From top in clockwise direction, you’ve got hickory smoked bacon, biscuits and sausage gravy and then baked reggiano hash browns.  Let’s start with the bacon and I’ll use one word to describe it:  delicious.  First of all, it’s extremely thick and that is awesome.  Secondly, it straddles the line between being too soft and being too crunchy…in other words, perfectly cooked.  The peppery kick from the seasoning added a nice bounce to the bacon and frankly, I can’t say enough good things about it.  Unfortunately, that’s not the case with the biscuits and sausage gravy.  The biscuit was pretty standard, but the gravy was pretty weird.  First of all, it could have used more flour because it wasn’t particularly thick.  Secondly, it had more of a yellow-ish color instead of your traditional white coloring and that was not something that I would ordinarily expect.  As you can see in the picture, there’s also little specs of red and green in the gravy and that comes from the pepper and herb seasoning that they put into the gravy and I can honestly say, I was not a fan.  Peppery and spicy sausage gravy is something I don’t mind…I prefer it in fact, but that is usually a black pepper heat.  The spice in this gravy was more of a red pepper flake spice and zingy (nice word) and I was not a fan of that.  Granite City gets points for trying to be different here, but it just didn’t work.  The last item on the plate is the baked reggiano hash browns and once again, one word describes these:  delicious.  The reggiano makes these things thick and creamy and also adds a nice salty bite to the mix in general.  It also makes them creamy and when you add in the fact that these were baked to add some crunch, you get a bit of heaven.  If I had the recipe for these, I would seriously make them at least once a week because these are the best hash browns that I’ve ever had in my life.

Plate #3 brought one of my favorite foods in the world, prime rib.  In addition to that, in clockwise fashion again, we had garlic mashed potatoes, more baked reggiano hash browns and some salad.  Let’s start with the prime rib…all I can say is that I had such high expectations and left so disappointed.  First of all, as you can see above, they carve it paper thin and that is just ridiculous since this is a buffet and you can have them add more and more prime rib until you get enough.  What a joke.  Dissertation aside, the problem with thinly slicing prime rib is that it ends up with no juices and that affects your product and honestly, the roasts that they are using for their prime rib roast are not particularly high quality anyway.  It lacked flavor and when combining that with thinly slicing it, it really makes this a loser and a huge disappointment in my mind.  The garlic mashed potatoes were good, but there’s not much of a point wasting a lot of time on them.  They were creamy and had a nice garlic kick and I appreciated that.  Outside of that, there’s not a whole lot to say.  I’ve already covered the hash brown, so I’ll just say that there’s a reason they made it to the second plate.  As for the salad, I had to be healthy at some point, right?  LOL.  On a side note, if you manage to sneak up to the carving station while the carver is away, you can cut yourself your own piece of beef so that can get a little extra juice/thickness and not get the shaft like you would from the regular carver.

The Sunday Brunch also had a make-your-own station for waffles and French Toast (the slices are absurdly thick) as well, so you can hit those as well (I have on other trips for the brunch) and the toppings for those include, various jams, syrups, whipped creams, candy toppings (chips, Heath bars, M&M’s, etc.) and it’s definitely a good thing to have for kids or the little kid hiding inside of you.  They also have various other items on their buffet such as sausage links (enormous), pastas, vegetables, pastries, fruits, soups, etc.  Basically, if you attempted to try some of everything, there is no doubt you’d gain fifteen pounds before you exited.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.  At $14.99 for a lot high quality food, you really are getting one of the best brunch buffet options that I’ve ever seen (keep in mind that I’ve never been to Las Vegas).  The prime rib may be substandard at best, but the quality of everything else more than makes up for the low quality beef.  Heck, I might even spend $14.99 just to eat one of those sinful caramel rolls again.  Dear lord, I’m drooling on my keyboard now…

FYI, Granite City also offers a Saturday brunch with some different menu items.  It’s more of a stripped down version of Sunday’s and I think it costs less too.  Saturday’s brunch menu has a make-your-own omelet station and that is the primary attraction.  All you need to know though is that they have the caramel rolls and the hash browns on Saturday too, so you’d be more than set no matter what day you choose.

-IndianapolisEater

Giordano’s
http://www.giordanos.com/

Food in Chicago is a battle between the million hot dog/gyro/beef joints versus a very progressive food scene with superstar chefs.  To be honest, I am glad that both exist and continue to thrive.   However, if you ask anyone that has a clue what kind of food Chicago is known for, they will say pizza or Chicago dogs.   Both are some of the most awesome things you can cram in your gullet.

In my opinion, Giordano’s is the epitome of Chicago Style pizza.  Uno is a chain whore.  Gino’s East has a crust that tastes like cornbread to me.  Sure there are others in the city and some of them are quite good, but Giordano’s is the king.

What I Ate:   Medium stuffed pizza with Sausage and pepperoni; $23.00.

The most awesome part about this review is….this was my lunch order.  Yes, I was alone.

For those of you that are not familiar, Chicago style is kind of upside down.   From top to bottom:  meat, cheese and then sauce.  You have to plan accordingly because it takes about 35 minutes for the pizza to bake after you order it.  Don’t try to pick it up, this is a fork and knife pizza.  In my opinion, it’s the only acceptable fork and knife pizza.  If you eat regular pizza with a fork and knife, you are either a grandma or a snooty prep.

When they deliver it to your table, they scoop a piece out and the cheese is dangling from the slice to the plate and they have to cut it on the side of your plate with a spatula.  Words cannot explain how much cheese is on this.   In all reality, it is really an unacceptable amount.   The toppings were of good quality, and I really like their sauce.  A sprinkle of oregano and red pepper flakes really bring it to life.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes.  It is one of the most awesome foods in the country.  So basic, yet so good.  I have been going to Giordano’s for a long time while on the way to concerts and Bulls games growing up.  At this point, I feel like I would be letting my family down if I was in Chicago and didn’t go to Giordano’s.

I have to admit though, ordering that much food at lunch was asinine.  I had a ton of leftovers, therefore ate it in my hotel anytime I thought I was hungry.  I think that I gained four pounds from this pizza.  However, it was worth the time at the gym.

-wibia

Maria’s Pizza
1106 Prospect Street
Indianapolis, Indiana  46203
http://www.mariasoriginalpizza.com

Maria’s Pizza is located in historic Fountain Square.   They have been open since 1955, so I figured that they must be doing something right.   Pre-show to see The Healing Sixes at Radio Radio, I decided to stop by and give it a try.

It was a Friday night and they had a piano player and a sax player knocking out jazz standards.  I was digging that, and it’s a nice touch for a pizza joint.  Tables were scattered around and there were a few couches by the fireplace as well.  It seemed like there is a better seating arrangement to fit more people in.  The place was pretty much full.

What I Ate:  Medium Sausage and Pepperoni.  I can’t remember the price specifically, but it was around $12-$13 range.

The pizza took 45 minutes to arrive.  Plus, Maria’s does not serve alcohol.  It is a rare occasion that I am out on a Friday night and there is not a drink in my hand for 45 minutes straight.  Tragic.  They were apologetic that it took so long and kind about the wait.

Toppings were strategically placed on the pizza.  The sausage was tasty and didn’t feel like the normal mass produced chain sausage.  The pepperoni was buried between the cheese and dark red sauce.  Nothing special there.  The crust was thin, but not foldy/bendy like NY Style.  It was flaky/buttery and stiff-ish with very little bend.  Not my favorite type of crust by any means.

Would I Buy It Again?  Probably not.  It surely wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t anything that I would travel for.  I liked the jazz duo and the place was homey and friendly, I just didn’t love the pizza.  Based on the audience and the recommendation from a friend, there are plenty of people that enjoy the pizza here and it is surely worth a try.

-wibia

NY Slice Food Truck
Location varies
https://www.facebook.com/TheNySlice

I am always really excited when I see a new food truck.  I spent a good amount of time in Portland, Oregon where there are a ton of food trucks.  My understanding of the mission of a food truck is to have a narrower focus and do that really well.  Sure, there are some that offer a wide variety of items, but it seems like everyone of them has a hook.  NY style pizza is a big enough hook to get me excited.  I am a big fan of NY style pizza and Brozinni’s is the only place in town that does it well.  Let’s see if we can add another one.

What I Ate:  Pepperoni; $3.00.  Sausage and pepperoni; $3.25.  Garlic Knots; $3.50.

The pepperoni slice wasn’t all that bad.  You can get a nice fold out of it, I liked the sauce and I thought that it was an honest size for the price.  Good coverage on the toppings as well.  The slice of sausage and pepperoni was considerably smaller and the amount of toppings on the pizza is embarrassing.  The garlic knots were very doughy and extremely bland.  The cheese sauce was the straight out of the can variety.  I feel like I should be writing more, but it was pretty straight forward pizza.

Would I Buy It Again?  No.  I love the idea, but execution needs a good amount of work.  The pepperoni was good, but if I have $3 in my pocket and I want a slice of pizza, Brozinni’s is still my go to.  It pains me to write this as I fully support the food truck scene, but take the food truck experience out and this pizza is forgettable.

-wibia

International House of Pancakes
9750 North by Northeast Boulevard
Fishers, Indiana  46037
http://www.ihop.com/

Over the years, I’ve seen a ton of IHOP commercials but have not been to one often (maybe not ever) because the nearest IHOP location to me was at least a twenty minute drive away.  With Denny’s, Bob Evans and Cracker Barrel all within five minutes of my house, I really didn’t have the motivation to drive that far for a similar chain breakfast.  When this IHOP location opened five minutes from my house within the past month, I knew it was time to finally break the seal.

What I Got:  Stuffed French Toast Combo; $7.49. 

Since I’m too lazy to type out the description, I’ll just ”borrow” the text from IHOP’s menu page:  “Cinnamon raisin French toast with a sweet cream filling, crowned with your choice of cool strawberry topping, warm blueberry or cinnamon apple compote and whipped topping. Served with two eggs, hash browns, two bacon strips or two pork sausage links.”  For my purposes, I chose the cinnamon apple compote and the two pork sausage links.

First, let’s go with what I’m going to call the “accoutroments” (i.e. the basic breakfast stuff) in the eggs, hash browns and sausage links.  I got my eggs scrambled and they were pretty much what you’d expect.  It was the same with the hash browns and the sausage links.  There was nothing special or memorable about them and that’s why I didn’t bother to include them in my picture.

The real main attraction of the dish was the Stuffed French Toast.  I’ve had French Toast countless times in my life, but never stuffed French Toast.  I’ve seen countless food programs where they make stuffed french toast and I’ve always wanted to eat my television while watching, so I was pretty excited for this one.  When it was delivered to my table, I thought that while it looked good, I was less than impressed with the size.  It was two small pieces of toast with filling and toppings.  I would have expected two monster pieces of toast when you are trying to make something the star of the show.  Not off to a good start here.

As far as taste was concerned, I would rate it as slightly above average.  The toast was well cooked/toasted and it did taste pretty solid.  It was a little dry for my liking, but that could be fixed with one of IHOP’s five syrup options, which inlude Original, Sugar Free, Blueberry, Strawberry and Butter Pecan.  Perhaps I’m a rube (I am), but I had no idea they offered multiple syrup options.  I tried every single one of them and chose the Butter Pecan because it was weird, yet appealing.  It really did save the dryness of the toast for me.  The sweet cream filling was tasty, but very runny.  I was expecting something a little more solid to hold the toast together.  Still, it wasn’t horrible.  The only true negative in this entire order was the cinnamon apple compote.  I LOVE cinnamon and I especially love cinnamon apple compote, but this did not taste fresh, nor was it warmed up at all.  It was cold and tasted like it had been spooned straight out of the can.  Frankly, it went from me sort of liking this stuffed French Toast to deciding that it was just “blah.”

Would I Buy It Again?  Stuffed French Toast…not from here.  IHOP…yes.  Heck, it’s breakfast and there are a million options, why not go there?  There’s got to be something decent on the menu, right?  For next time, I’ve got my eyes on the breakfast funnel cakes, assuming they still have them when I go.

In terms of IHOP though, it’s pretty much the exact same as Denny’s.  You can get a decent meal for a semi-decent price, but don’t expect any culinary masterpieces…that definitely includes this Stuffed French Toast.  I guess I’ll just have to go back to the drawing board to find another place that does this incredibly appealing dish right.

-IndianapolisEater

Napolese
114 East 49th St
Indianapolis, Indiana 46205
http://www.cafepatachou.com

Napolese has been around for a little while and it has been a place that I have always wanted to try.   I love pizza and I really enjoy pizza done well.   Knowing the level of detail and focus that goes into Patachou, I was really looking forward to this.

What I Ate: Side Focaccia ($3), Side Tomato Sauce ($2) and Hamaker Pizza ($14).

Having my two year old with me, I wanted to get him something to nosh on while we wait.  If not, he can turn into a diva at times.  The focaccia was bad.  Strips of what appeared to be pizza dough where some of them were saturated with oil and others with dry as a cracker.   However, I liked the sauce.  Plain, light on seasoning just like I enjoy it.  For $5 total, this was not very good at all.

The Hamaker is sausage, pepperoni and mushroom.  This is my favorite three topping combo, so I had to give it a try.  The pizza looked good when it was delivered, but  that is where the story ends.   I liked that the mushrooms were left whole on the pizza and they had a little bite to them.  The sausage was okay, but I tend to like a fennel-y sausage more than this versions.   What I didn’t like is the pepperoni.   There were two long slices there were difficult to chew and navigate.   The worst part was the crust because I couldn’t eat it with my hands.  I think the amount of meats pushed enough oil to the crust that you couldn’t pick this up.

When I ate my leftovers the next day, I put it in the toaster over to crisp the crust and I thought it was a lot better.   To be honest, I should’ve sent it back, but that wouldn’t have fixed the pepperoni problem.   However, sending back pizza  is difficult to do wait for another when your kid is ready to jet.

Would I Buy It Again?   I really don’t know.  I can only imagine that this was poor execution.  The quality of the ingredients was there, I liked their red sauce and it was a cool place.   And, if I am ever in the mood to trap a Meridian-Kessler Cougar, this place is like shooting fish in the barrel.

I will give it another try and report back.

-wibia

Good Morning Mama’s Cafe
1001 E. 54th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46220
http://www.goodmorningmamas.com

Good Morning Mama’s is a breakfast and lunch only place owned by the same folks that run Mama Carrolla’s Italian restaurant.  Open just 8:00 a.m.  to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday thru Sunday, this place just has to do it right to stay in business.  We tried to get in on a Sunday morning several weeks ago and the wait was crazy, so we passed.  The opportunity presented itself for a late lunch during the week so my wife and I took it.

Once inside I was surprised that the place is pretty darn big.  With the outside patio seating, Good Morning Mama’s can handle a crowd.  I liked the vibe of a dressed-up old gas station with clean, retro décor.

What I Had:  The Full Boat; $8.99.

I was in the mood for breakfast at nearly 1:00 p.m., so I was happy that breakfast is served all day.  The Full Boat consists of two eggs your way, fried potatoes, biscuit with sausage gravy and choice of meat.  Make mine bacon please.  The eggs were perfectly cooked over-easy and the fried potatoes mixed chunky, crispy planks with soft buttery rounds…nice.  I think there were five or six strips of tasty thinly sliced bacon, not a skimpy strip or two.  The sore spot was on the separate place of biscuits and sausage gravy.  The gravy was fine, sort of standard issue sausage gravy as it was good but not anything outstanding.  The biscuit short-circuited the entire plate by being dry and hard.  Not even the hot gravy could soften this thing.  It was late in the day and that may provide a bit of cover for the stale biscuit, but I am surprised that the cook put this thing out for consumption.  It had to be hard to miss how badly this thing was past due.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, with hesitation.  Let’s face it, it should not be a stretch for any professional kitchen to deliver a competent breakfast.  While this breakfast was good, the fact that a biscuit of this vintage made it to my table makes me wonder if they are really paying attention, particularly if you only serve breakfast and lunch.  I’ll give this place another try and report back.

-Smokin DB

Review: Augustino’s
8028 South Emerson Ave.
Indianapolis, IN 46237
http://www.augustinosindy.com

Italian food.  What’s not to like?  Sure there are tons of red-sauce emporiums around but there are also the more adventurous places that can take the world’s second most influential cuisine (Yeah, France at least you are number one at something other than being annoying) to new heights.  I’m easy; I like ‘em both.  Honestly it’s going to take a couple more visits for me to tell you with any certainty where Augustino’s fits.  I’ve had a few of my south-side brethren speak highly of the place so I decided to give it a try for lunch.  The décor is very comfortable and actually felt more fine-dining than strip-mall storefront.

What I had: I read in Indianapolis Monthly that the Italian wedding soup was good so I started with that and shared the Toasted Ravioli appetizer with my wife.

Before I get to those I have got to say something about the bread basket delivered to our table.  It was fantastic.  Hot and crusty with just the right amount of reluctance before giving way to reveal a wonderful spongy interior.  A slather of butter and I was very happy.  The Toasted Ravioli arrived and the too uniform appearance leads me to believe that they are not house-made and rather than toasted in a pan, I’m guessing deep fried.  Nonetheless, they were tasty, half with a beef filling and half with cheese., served with Alfredo and Marina served with a swirl in the same bowl for dipping.  Nice.

A cup of wedding soup was next.  My wife is a former regional manager for a high-end food manufacturer and one of the best things they made was Italian Wedding soup.  I think that Augustino’s is buying this soup. It was good but again, I just didn’t think it was house-made.

For my entree, I ordered the “Supreme Sausage Sandwich.”  If you’ve read more than just a couple of my reviews you know that I am a sausage junkie (Yeah, I just wrote that).  This really is a knife and fork sandwich for a couple reasons:  first, it is piled with sliced sausage coins, peppers, onions and cheese on that awesome bread and is just impossible to pick up and second, it was as hot as the face of the sun.  It was also really good.  I could have used a bit more sausage but that’s just me.  The pepper/onion mix tasted as if it was simmered in the generous marinara giving it a nice spicy bite.  Did I mention this was really good?

Would I Buy It Again?  Sure. The food was really well prepared, attention to detail was evident and it tasted good.  I do want to return for dinner so that I can see what else this kitchen can do.  I can’t remember what I paid for it but it was worth it so who cares?

-Smokin DB