City Cafe

I had one goal for lunch yesterday… find some willing co-workers and a new place to eat in downtown Indy. It’s not surprising how willing they are to go out. We’ve been going out like this for years and now we even have an excuse. “Austin’s going to put it on his blog. They say that it causes pain and suffering at times, but I don’t feel a bit sorry for them.

We’ve been hitting quite a few places around the office, so City Café seemed to fit the bill since it’s only five blocks away. We could even get some exercise… that’s the pain and suffering part.

The weather was nice and sunny, but not too hot, and after a few minutes, my associates and I reached our destination at the City Café. I’d been curious to try this place and had read some really great reviews about it.

As we entered, one of the servers welcomed us in and we were seated in a booth near the front door. The a/c was cold and the booth managed to fit the three of us snuggly yet comfortably.

The City Café has a small, narrow dining area in an office building on Pennsylvania Avenue. Mirrors on the wall really help open up the feel of the place and it was nice to see some artwork on the walls from children who must have come there for a field trip. It’s great to see establishments like this support the community like that. If you’re interested, the bathroom is all the way in the back, past the kitchen and in a shared part of the office building. Don’t forget the key, or you’ll be disappointed.

Enough about that… let’s get to the food.

Right away, one of my co-workers commented on how small the menu was. He’s into chain restaurant kinds of places where the server needs a forklift to bring your menu because it’s so heavy. I felt that the amount of choices went along with the size of the place and I had no problem picking three or four things I wanted to try. Here’s a link to their menu.

Both of my co-workers decided on the Chicken Club. It had grilled chicken breast, bacon, avocado and lemon aoli on grilled sourdough bread. This was my first choice as well, but if well al had the same thing, that would make for a pretty lame review.

I went for the Big Cheese. A grilled cheese with extra flair. (I can’t wait to make this one at home.) It has a mix of cheeses… sharp cheddar, provolone and jack cheeses with Southwestern flavors and cilantro on grilled sourdough bread. The Southwestern flavor appeared and tasted to be chipotle mayo with mild green chiles and cilantro. Pretty tasty and even better with three kinds of melty, gooey cheese.

All of the sandwiches come with chips and a pickle spear by default. And appropriately so. The sandwiches are the star here and are pretty hefty and filling as well.

The service was good and our server wasn’t intrusive, so we were able to converse without distraction while waiting for our victuals.

Overall: I really enjoyed the City Café and look forward to my next visit. I hope you give it a shot too.

Special Note: City Café offers breakfast and the rumor is that it’s one of the better options for morning grub in the downtown area.

Historic Steer-In

So I wasn't even planning on going out to eat today when one of my friends calls and says he wants to go out and get a burger because it's his birthday. Well how can you say, no, to that. It was the perfect opportunity to check out the Steer-In. I'm glad I did. The atmosphere was calm and I could tell there were a lot of regulars there as well as people who were trying it for the first time. That’s a good sign.

It was petty quiet for during the lunch rush. People were coming in to grab some predictable lunch and get back to work. That’s exactly what they got. No frills for a great price. The place had the feel of an old-school diner. (I bet it would be good to come here for breakfast.) There were jerseys on the wall from some of the local schools in the area and the place had an interesting seating arrangement. There was a counter in the shape of an oval so the servers could go in the middle to serve food and refill drinks. It was similar to the seating at Charlie Brown's in Speedway. All of the servers seemed pretty experienced and offered reasonable and friendly service.

The Steer-In has a wine and beer selection, with quite a few different bottle choices. No draft beer. All the bottles were displayed on a shelf on the wall for people to pick the beer of their choice.
 

Our waitress quickly took our order and the wait was on… about 20 minutes. I assume that there was only one cook on the line in the back, because everyone had to wait for a while. My friend and I were in no hurry, so we just conversed and sipped on our drinks.
Although it took a while to get our food, when it came, it looked good. I ordered a traditional club with chips and my friend, the birthday boy, ordered a mushroom and Swiss burger with fries.

My sandwich was pretty simple with nothing out of the ordinary on it, but that’s kind of what I was looking for. Just a classic club with chips and a pickle spear. Take a look. It went down easily.

My friend said his burger was good, and he had no problem finishing it either.

This place has been around for years and I figure they put out a consistent product most of the time. That means return services and more years to dish it out.

Here’s a link to their menu: It’s pretty extensive and they even offer pizza with dough made in-house.

Some interesting facts: Homemade pizza dough and great meatloaf... they use the owner's secret recipe and put a little brown gravy on top. It's historic because it was owned by the Polar Ice Company, now named Home City Ice.

Overall: This place was pretty good and I’ll definitely come back for more and I would recommend that you do as well. Give it a try, it might become one of your favorite spots in town.