Chief's (Greencastle, IN)

5 E Franklin St, Greencastle, IN 46135, T: 765-301-4135

Greencastle is a culinary and pig out wasteland! The only exception is Chief's, which brings a taste of New Orleans to rural Indiana. It serves catfish, cajun, bbq, and more. Over the past two years I have eaten at Chief's many times and virtually always I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

On this picture you can see the Sit Down, Shut Up & Hold On Burger ($11.95), which comes with their delicious crawfish/andouille sausage sauce. They also have a steak with that sauce, called BubbaZ Blackened Voodoo Strip Steak ($19.99), which is also delicious (although the quality of the steak varies and is sometimes sub-par). The other dish is a special, Hoosier's Surf & Turf ($11.99), which combines the best of two worlds: a half rack of ribs and half a catfish. The ribs are meaty but come easily off the bone -- take it with their spicy Filmore Fire Sauce -- while the catfish is delicious in every style - grilled, blackened or breaded. Other favorites of mine are the Catfish Submarine ($8.49), a perfect lunch sandwich, and The Big Brentlinger ($10.99), a 8oz Angus burger with bacon, bbq sauce, cole slaw, and a fried egg. The only downside of Chief's are the sides, which vary between poor (e.g. fries and slaw) and ok (e.g. onion rings and green beans).

VERDICT: 90/100

Chief's is a piece of heaven in Greencastle, but would also easily survive in more competitive cities (like Indy). They serve very good cajun and American food and some of the best fried catfish I have ever eaten. If they would only improve their sides.

Diggity Gourmet Dawgs (Danville, IN)

68 S. Jefferson Street, Danville, IN 46122, T: 317-604-6008

Diggity Gourmet Dawgs is a tiny hole-in-the-wall with just two tables on the main square of Danville. It serves only hot dogs and nachos and is open just 3 hours a day (5 hours on Friday and Saturday). In addition to various styles of hot dogs, you can also build your own.

I got a Chicago Style ($4.50) and a Classic Carolina ($3.50). In both cases the buns weren't steamed and the sausage was very thin and salty. The Chicago had a lot of fresh toppings with totally overpowered the dog. The Carolina comes with (tasty but salty) chili and too creamy slaw.

VERDICT: 74/100
Diggity offers tiny hot dogs with fresh toppings but at too high prices.

Mr. Gyros (Indianapolis, IN)

5358 West 38th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46254, T: 317-388-9788

According to various online reviews, Mr. Gyros serves the best gyros in Indianapolis. To be fair, most reviewers note that Indy is not a city of gyros or shawarma, but they nevertheless praise the gyros at this unappealing place at a busy street. It serves a broad range of fast food, from greasy American to greasy Greek.

I order the Gyros Value Meal ($6.98), which includes a gyros sandwich, a generous portion of fries, and a soda. The fries are crispy, but fairly tasteless. The gyros is standard American fare: relatively thin slices of salty fat meat (provided by Kronos) on a fat thick Greek pita with tomato, (too much) onion, and well-spiced tzatziki.


VERDICT: 72/100
Many people say this is the best gyros in town, and sadly they might even be right. While they provide much food for little money, it is standard and fat fare.

Bosna-Mak (Louisville, KY)

3825 Bardstown Rd, Ste 108, Louisville, KY 40218, T: 502-456-1919

Bosna-Mak is a Bosnian "deli and international food store" on the outskirts of Louisville. The store is almost stereotypical East European, i.e. full of empty shelves. The only things they seem to sell is some powder soups and various types of pickled vegetables from the old country.

The restaurant is in the store and lacks any hint of atmosphere. The menu features some classics from the Austria-Hungarian empire, rather than classic Balkan food; for example, it has neither cevapcici nor pleskavica. :-( We start with the goulash soup ($3.50), which is a bit watery and tastes more like a (decent) beef soup. I order a large classic gyro sandwich, which is a bit like a Turkish doner kebab-it comes on nice bread, not too dense and not too airy (baked in the bakery next door), strong seasoned meat and good garlic sauce. M. has a small chicken gyro sandwich ($3.99), which has the same bread and sauce and juicy chunks of chicken.

VERDICT: 80/100

This would be fairly mediocre food in Bosnia, but it is quite good doner kebab in the US. The prices are very reasonable, but it comes at the price of decorum.

Zaytun Mediterranean Grill (Louisville, KY)

2286 Bardstown Rd, Louisville, KY 40205, T: 503-365-1788

Zaytun is a small restaurant in the fun Highland area of Louisville, known for its many bars and restaurants. It serves Middle Eastern dishes, most notably several varieties of humus and gyros. The selling point is the build-your-own gyros, which features a long list of toppings.

We start with the Egyptian humus ($5), which is low fat, but has great consistency and is very tasty-like all humus, it comes with thin tasty and toasty "pita crunchers." I then have the Classic Gyros ($7.50), which looks amazing, but tastes quite bland. The lamb/beef is shaved so thin that it can hardly compete with the heavy, seemingly mayo-based, tzatziki. M. chooses Zaytun's Dream Dish ($9.50), which is a sampler of baba ganoush, Phoenecian or Egyptian humus (we choose the first), falafel, and tzatziki-she adds the grilled chicken for an additional $2. The bab ganoush is smokey, the humus nice and spicy, and the three big and round falafels dense but not dry with a good taste. The grilled chicken is dry and has an odd taste.

VERDICT: 80/100

Zaytun has decent Mediterranean food, but it is a bit hit and miss. The humus and falafel are the best, but the staple gyros is disappointing.

Handel's Homemade Ice Cream & Yogurt (Fishers, IN)

8760 East 116th St, Fishers, IN, T: 317-525-8065

Handel's is a (North) Indianapolis institution with locations in the wealthy northern suburbs of Carmel and Fishers. It has an incredible selection of flavors of ice cream, including both classics (like chocolate and vanilla) and unexplained originals (like Buckeye, Graham Central Station, Elvis and Spouse Like A House). In addition, they have fat-free ice cream, seasonal specials, lowfat yogurts, pops, sherbets, smoothies, and sorbets. I was a bit intimidated by the choice, and confused by the pricing.

I tried to order three tastes, but was told that they could only fit two on a cone, so I decided to skip the dolce de leche and instead go for my favorite, banana, and one unique taste, that an old rocker like me couldn't refuse: Tin Lizzy. The banana was kind of bland, but the Tin Lizzy was simply decadent: vanilla ice cream with huge chunks of butterscotch and gooey caramel sauce. The cone with two flavors came to a whopping $5.35! And while it featured more like two scoops per flavor, I would have preferred just one scoop at half the price.

VERDICT: 82/100

Don't get me wrong, Handel's features some excellent and original homemade ice cream, and has enough different flavors to have you coming back for years, but some basic flavors are bland and both the portions and the prices are too much.

The Ram Restaurant & Brewery (Fishers, IN)

12750 Parkside Drive, Fishers, IN 46038, T: 317-596-0079

The Ram is a restaurant and brewery chain with locations in Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Washington. I had previously eaten at the restaurant in downtown Indianapolis, but didn't realize that it was a chain. I probably wouldn't have returned, as the first time the food was underwhelming (despite many recommendations by colleagues).

This time I came at exactly the right time; not only was it gorgeous weather, so I could sit outside on the terrace, but it was also the 4th annual Burger-Rama, which features eight original new burgers for a limited time. I had a really hard time choosing between the Sante Fe Rodeo, Burger Dog, and Hog Heaven, but decided on the last one. The Hog Heaven ($9.99) is a burger with a thick grilled pork patty, which was tasty but a bit dry, fresh watercress and strips of carrot and slaw, some spicy powder ad sauce. The side of fries was very crispy and fresh.

VERDICT: 83/100

Given my two experiences, The Ram has not yet convinced me. To be fair, the Hog Heaven was probably not the best choice, and I do hope to return to sample the Burger Dog to provide a more accurate assessment.