Groovy Guys Gourment Fries-Food Truck

Food Trucks. I'm still slightly skeptical in general but I don't have the distaste that I once did.

I go to school for those of you who were not aware. As such, I look for cheap eating around campus which is near impossible until the local food truck industry realized that parking around campus to sell their wares would be a good marketing move.

I finally broke down the other day and tried a truck called: Groovy Guys Gourmet Fries.

I love french fries. To me, their they best part of a hamburger.

There's really not much to say. You go up, order your fries (of which they have many kinds) and wait while they make it fresh to order. You then pay (they do accept credit cards) and then eat your food.

I ordered the steak and cheese fries, which were pretty good!

Some type of sweet BBQ sauce, steak and cheese on top of crisp, hot fries! I ate them on my way to class.

While I'm still not to the point of feeling comfortable eating tuna tartar out of a truck, deep fried foods flashes me back to good memories at the fair and so I felt pretty comfortable with it.

I'm totally going back! $5 for a pile of french fries the size of a hamburger? I'm cool with that. It's cheaper then the cafeteria food that's for sure.

Follow them of Facebook (I know I am!): just search Groovy Guys
Their facebook page tells where they're going to be and shows so good images of their dishes!

Carino’s Italian Grill

Tuesday the 4^th found me shopping for a formal dress, accompanied by my mother and grandparents (on my mother’s side) for support, advice and ideas. After the many long hours of me putting on, taking off and modeling these items of torture we all decided we were hungry. The whole family is full of picky eaters and so it took us a moment to decide. 

First we were going to do Ryan’s (a buffet done in the same style as Old Country Buffet) but they didn’t have anything out that my grandparents liked. Then we were going to do Joe’s crab shack but on the way there we decided to stop and eat at Carino’s. 

I’ve never had Carino’s before, but my grandparents assured me that they were good. The inside interior reminds me of a Bravo’s or even Bucca, but it’s a little less crowded looking and the interior focuses more on a warm homey feeling with simple black and white photos and warm wood accents.

And no Italian restaurant would be complete without the traditional hanging plates.

Like other more high-end Italian restaurants, bread with oil is on the house. Their bread is amazing! It has some kind of light salt on the top and I’m pretty sure they baked fresh sage into the bread. The bread is crunchy and crumbles on the outside while the inside is soft and melts in your mouth. 

The oil also is seasoned, with roasted nuts mixed in. We helped ourselves to the oil bottle and by the time I thought to take a picture we’d reached the end of the bottle, which is why it looks like the seasoning is saturated in the olive oil. None the less, the dips was good even with all the seasoning!

We ordered an appetizer of ‘Italian Nachos’. Now, usually if the dish doesn’t fall within the ‘traditional’ dishes of a nationality, I don’t order it. I won’t order a hamburger at a Mexican restaurant and I wouldn’t order nachos at an Italian restaurant. That being said, I’m glad we did! 

The chips are very crunchy, light and have a nice ‘crisp’ sound when eating. The cheese was a smooth fettuccine-like sauce with chicken, tomatoes, olives, hot peppers, seasoning and a side of crumbled sausage.

It was gone in 10 minutes as we consumed them. 

After the appetizer was ravaged it was time to order. Mom and grandma went with the lasagna (made fresh daily), papaw went with their skillet dish and I went with shrimp scampi. 

At this point I’d like to make my only would-be complaint of the place. This is what I like to call a ‘quality over quantity’ restaurant. What does that mean? It means that instead of the chief knowing a lot of recipes pretty well, he only knows a few recipes VERY well. As a result, menu selection is very small with a few very good dishes. I recommend that before you go you look at their online menu and if nothing sounds good you skip out on it. There’s isn’t a lot to browse.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the food!

First the lasagna:

I didn’t try it obviously, as it contained sausage but both my mom and mamaw seemed of have liked it well enough. They cheese just seemed to melt off it with plenty of sauce. Mom flat out told me I wouldn’t have been able to stomach it, as it was on the spicy/greasy side of the scale. She also later regretted eating it all in one sitting versus getting it to go-the pictures don't really convey how big the portions were.

Next was the Skillet dish papaw got:

Our waiter joked that it looked like fajitas, and it does! It’s a bunch of peppers, onions and cheese on top of spaghetti which you scoop out onto your plate with tongues and eat. Again, I didn’t eat as it was sausage (it also comes in chicken and shrimp as a meat choice) but papaw ate half of it before he took the rest to go. It looked and smelled wonderful and the concept was very interesting.

Next, my dish! The shrimp scampi:

This shrimp scampi came in a white wine sauce with shrimp (duh), tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach with angel hair pasta and parmesan cheese. 

It was great! I was afraid it would be greasy (as I find with most scampi’s), but not at all! It had a slightly sweet taste and was very smooth. The tomatoes and mushrooms gave it a nice texture and the shrimp was shelled (joy!) and nicely sized. Dipping the bread into that sauce was sheer genius on my part and I ended up taking part of it to go!

At this point I’d like to give a thumbs-up to our waiter Clay, who we ran ragged. We had him going to sides, extra this and that, refills and so much bread! The poor guy couldn’t walk past our table without being stopped for something and he always got it promptly and with a smile. Clay if you’re reading this, tell your manager I said to give you a raise!

We split the check (desert wasn’t even an option) so for my mom’s lasagna, 2 drinks and my scampi the bill (without tip) came up to around $33, which is average for these kinds of places. 

The place is good for family, friends and dates. Again, I recommend looking at the menu before you go, especially if someone isn’t a big Italian Food Fan-they’re not going to have a lot to choice from that isn’t traditional Italian food. They also have a fully stocked bar with TV’s, so a good place to go for late night football too.

Overall, a pretty good place! Maybe next time I go, I’ll try for a desert! 

Carino's Italian Grill

Greenwood, IN 46142

317-885-5735

http://www.carinos.com/page/home

El Meson Mexican

Recently I had a craving for Mexican and being the awesome daughter I am, I treated my mom to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Plainfield. My mom had been there several times already with my step-father and apparently they were rather fond of the place. I have less than stellar review.

First of all, the place was busy and I’ll give them that much. I also liked how they decorated- it was all very bright and positive collars and the place is very family friendly.

My problem starts where they sat us-right by the entrance of the kitchen. Since they were busy, the entrance was busy-people were constantly going in and out, my mom felt the need to lean forwards several times and since we didn’t have one person bring us everything, it caused confusion on who our waiter/waitress actually was. You really shouldn’t have a table next to the kitchen’s entrance if you can’t treat it like any other table.

My second issue is that several times my drink ran out, and at one point when I got a refill, the waitress accidently spilled some of the drink on the table-this generally is no big deal. I have no fuss with accidents. My issue was that she didn’t even attempt to clean it up; she apologized and then bustled away. Um, isn’t it kind of your job to clean up messes, especially ones you create? Could you have at least given me a few extra napkins to clean it up with?? I ended up wiping the puddle off the table with my hands. Nice.

My third issue was the food. It’s almost traditional with my family to order the queso. First of all, the guy that gave us our chips was not our waiter and didn’t speak English so when my mom tried to order it from the guy, he just looked confused and left. If you’re going to have someone even make minimal contact with a customer, they need to be able to somehow communicate with them.

When we did get the queso, it was pretty small:

About the size of a tea-cup plate

 

When ended up getting two.

The salsa wasn’t bad, but it was pretty run of the mill.

The menu needs some spacing-everything is single spaced, cramped and in dark font so it was hard to browse through. I decided on getting the Cancun something or another (shrimp, tomatoes, cheese sauce. I'm sure it was suppose to have something else to it, but that's all I tasted/could see) with a side taco, while my mom got the shrimp fajitas. 

The rice is very dry and the refined beans were pretty salty. If you mix the two, it’s better tasting. 

Mom's rice, beans and fajita toppings

My own dish I did not like. I found everything to be soggy and mushy and under flavored. My mom’s dish was actually pretty awesome, so I might have just ordered the wrong thing.

Fajitas

Cancun something or another

 

My taco was cold, soggy and the only thing that really stood out about it was how bad it was. It might have been good warm, but cold it was pretty nasty.

 

We also didn’t get our meals at once. My mom got her fajita plate first, followed by her and my plate of rice/beans/fajita toppings, followed by my order and then my taco. It wasn't like they followed each other shortly after, it was a good 10-15min wait before another plate would come out. This is a sign that the kitchen has bad timing. It also means that my taco should have been very hot as it had come out last, which meant it was ‘fresh’.

While the staff did apologize, no explanation or compensation was offered. I'm also not very sympathetic because you work/own/run a restaurant, and you business isn't NEW, you should know how to handle this.

All in all, for the $40 (including the $3 tip) I paid, I was not impressed at all. I don’t even know what cost what, as the receipt isn’t itemized, it's just one of those generic 'company info, SALE, date, cost, tip line' receipts. 

Chances are I won’t be going back on my own. If I’m offered to go back, I might but it isn’t some place that I’m jumping to go back to.

El Meson Mexican Restaurant

1724 E Main St

Plainfield, IN

3147-839-8717

Sapporo Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar

Recently I had an unbearable craving for sushi. I would like to take this moment to thank Google Places finding this place, which is pretty close to work. 

Calling up I asked first if I could order out and then if I could order out for sushi-which you can! Woo!

So I ordered Chirashi (19.99) which comes with an order of miso soup. I carried out my order before taking the picture, so the food being jostled around is my fault as I wasn’t very careful with it.

Several pieces of raw fishes are served over a bed of sushi rice with pickled radishes, fish eggs, scallions, sesame seeds, ginger and wasabi.

The soup was good; I would have liked a bit more seaweed in it. 

The sushi itself was thick, raw and fresh. I plan on returning to try their other fare, but I’m still a bit iffy on the price. $20 and I didn’t really felt like I got a lot. Yes, I walked away full but not overly stuffed and for the amount I paid and for the amount of fish I got, I could of gotten 2-3 rolls from their menu which might be a better deal.

I’ll have to see.

The environment was friend from what I saw. They have a few koi ponds and one has a bridge so you can watch the very fat fishes. It’s not just a sushi bar (but they do have a sit down sushi bar) they also do hibachi (where they cook your food in front of you), ramen, udon, bentos and much more.

I recommend checking out the menu if nothing else!

Website: http://steakhouseindy.com/

Buca di Beppo

Buca is a widely known restaurant in Indiana; known for its large portion and friendly staff, it has earned its wonderful reputation.

Recently I visited the downtown location to meet up with friends. I showed up early and told the seating staff my name and the number I was waiting for. For once I wasn’t seated in the back but instead in the bar area and the change in décor was refreshing.

Almost immediately after being seated my waitress came over, introduced herself and took my drink order. While waiting for my drink, I browsed the menu, surfed the web (they have wifi!). Seeing as I had a lecture to attend later on that day, my Sangria was promptly brought to me on my but it made lecture that much better! The strawberry tea was for sips in between.

While waiting for the rest of my party to arrive I decided to go ahead and order a side of Italian Wedding Soup (bell pepper, meatballs, parmesan, and peas) so that I wouldn’t be drinking alcohol on a completely empty stomach.

I love the staff. Seeing as I was sitting by myself and the staff knew I was waiting for others to arrive, I expected that I would be asked if I needed anything maybe once or twice and forgotten until the rest of my party arrived-after all, I’m not going to order until they show up and if they don’t I’m very unlikely to tip. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised that my waitress did not forget about me, but would ask how everything was or if I needed anything almost every time she passed me.

She was a very friendly and nice person and I desperately wish I remembered her name as she was an excellent waitress, alas, I don’t remember what I wore yesterday let alone her name!

But back to the food!

They of course serve you fresh bread with olive oil and vinegar dipping dish. The two flavors of bitter and smooth mix surprisingly well, giving it an extra zing.

My company finally arrived and I ordered my favorite dish there-Linguine Frutti di Mare. I love seafood and this particular dish is loaded with the sea! Shrimp, baby clams, mussels and calamari in a spicy red clam sauce over linguine.

 

I would lick the plate if I could! One time I should actually reserve enough room in my stomach to try desert. As it was, I manage to devour my meal and my companions took home leftovers. 

For those of you who don’t know Buca has two sizes-catering large and large. It’s done in ‘family’ sizes, where the regular is the size of a small sauce pan and the large is literally catering size. This makes it great for families and dates-you can share each others, or only order one and split it or order something you’ll want for a few days and live off of leftovers. 

It’s a very friendly atmosphere and good for any crowd, but if you plan on going on later in the evening, you’re going to want to make reservations as they fill up quickly even on weeknights. 

Pricing: Tip + meal + soup + alcoholic drink+ regular drink = ~$25

Website: http://bucadibeppo.com/locations/

Bazbeaux Pizza

I'm not a large pizza fanatic. Anymore, pizza is overpowered by either sauce or cheese and you can't taste anything else. Now this isn't to say that I don't enjoy the occasional pie, it's just that I'm -very- picky about my pizza and whatever goes on it.

I tell you this so that when I say I could eat Bazbeaux on a weekly occasion and never get bored, you understand the full meaning of my words.

Bazbeaux has been declared Indy's best pizza since 1986, a tag line they proudly display and a badge they wear with the honor it deserves.

For this particular review, I went to the one in Broad Ripple, but they have several locations and I hope they continue to expand.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of my awesome pizza. When I went, I went with a friend and my mom and we sat outside. It was around 9pm and therefore too dark for any pictures to really catch.

I've ordered several different pizzas when going to Bazbeaux and tonight's choice was the Genova.

Now, I hate meat on my pizza. I don't know why but I just do and Bazbeaux caters to this dislike. You don't like something on their pizza? Substitute! In this case, there's no need. The Genova comes with cheese, light sauce, crunchy crust, eggplant, basil, mushroom, tomato and they recommend you add goat cheese-I second this recommendation.

All ingredients are fresh and you can tell. Nothing is mushy or has that 'thawed' texture (you know what I'm talking about, where the skin of the veggy is all wrinkled and stringy and...yuck!). The tomatoes are thick and firm, the mushrooms mix well with the modest sauce, the cheese strings when you pull it and the eggplant is melts in your mouth. Now with every Bazbeauz pizza, everything blends together well-you can pick out individual flavors but only if you try otherwise they blend together into one unique taste BUT one ingredient usually is the -seventh note-. That is, it stands out not matter what and is kinda like a kiss to the tongue.

For the Genova, this would be that basil. I can always taste it over the other flavors, not overpowering but more of a gentle 'hey there'. At least, the basil -would- be the sixth note if the pizza is ordered in it's default but I love goat cheese and goat cheese is a very strong cheese. Being a very strong cheese and that they just load it on the pizza, the goat cheese becomes the sixth note in this case.

I love goat cheese, I love the texture and the flavor(kinda of like a really strong ricotta) and I love it on my pizza. Bazbeaux is not stingy with their ingredients and more often then not it's falling off the crust since it's so heavy. Oh the crust! Bazbeaux has ruined me for anything then flat, crunchy crust! The crust is just a tool to get the actual pizza to your mouth for a Bandeau pizza-it's thin, crunchy and a light bread flavor that doesn't interfere with anything. The crust is not a filler like some delivery joints will do-you get three inches of crust and one inch of toppings. No, the filler here is the toppings.

Now the atmosphere. Like I said, we sat outside but I've been inside before. The decor is warm and colorful, a nice mix between positive and festive. That don't have much in the way of alcohol-it's either bottled beer or wine. The service is always superb. Everyone is very laid back but not to the point of where they're slow. They're casual and joking with their customers and will stop to chat readily.

Our own server with very attentive and friendly. I was surprised actually, seeing as we came so close to closing time that she still had energy after a full day's work, but she was sweet and attentive. I've never had a complaint about their staffing, and most likely never will.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some leftovers to warm up!

-Slash

Website: http://www.bazbeaux.com/index.html

The Journey, Revisit

This is going to be short and sweet seeing as I've already written about the many many virtues of Journey and will be returning over and over again.

I just wanted to shout out to the great service there! A friend of mine and myself literally sat at our table for over 3 hrs,talking with occasional trips up to the buffet and at no point where we rushed, felt rushed or anything of the sort. I've experienced at just about every restaurant that after a while they'll bring the check, stop refilling your glasses or just ignore you all together if you start taking 'too long'. Or my personal favorite; the manager will come by and make you feel awkward or the waiter/waitress will begin to talk with you, even with you in the middle of the conversation.

So thank you staff at the Journey, for not rushing us and for being excellent at your jobs!

Barlo’s Pizza

Barlo’s Pizza has been a curiosity of mine for at least a year. They’re close to where my parents live and since they’ve moved in, I’ve always wanted to give them a try.  A mom & pop business, I ran by to grab a menu on my way over to my folks. I’m not a large fan of meat on my pizza and dislike pork in general (sans bacon) so I went with their version of the vegetable pizza, but added feta cheese and took off the olives (I like them raw, but never cooked!). My parents got the supreme pizza, as is. We had it delivered (45min-1hr wait) but it was there in 30min! Good start guys!

The delivery driver was very nice, our overly friendly Boxer wanted to greet her, and she was very patient as she had once had once (poor thing ran away). Well, I grabbed the pizzas (12 inch I think?) and man, did they smell good!

It looked more like a pie then pizza with the bread on the top of the pizza. Filled to the max and sinfully cheesy, it’s a great and not very greasy! It doesn’t have the traditional tomato sauce on this particular pizza, but a special vegetable sauce. It’s red and tasted like tomatoes and cheese which blends in with the rest of the pizza, but has enough of a sweet taste to stand out on its own as well.

I didn’t taste the supreme, but from the mumbled ‘good’ coming from the jowls of my parents, I’m going to guess it was pretty awesome too.

Two pizzas + delivery + tip came out to around $40, not bad all things considered and what’s on the pizzas.

They also offer a deep dish that looks more like a Sheppard’s Pie then a pizza-can’t wait!

Barlo’s Pizza

www.barlospizza.com

Southport: 317-883-2222

Kentucky Ave: 317-821-2220

Cancun Indy, Mexican Restaurant

My work is in throwing distance of all kinds of food, and so when I get bored of the usual take out or delivery stuff, I venture out and collect a menu for something different. Today’s choice was Mexican, a place call Cancun right down the street. 

To be honest, this isn’t going to be the best review for the place. When I first called, I asked if they had paper menus I could take with me. The woman seemed confused and began speaking rapid Spanish to someone else on the other end and when she came back told me no. She was going to suggest their website, only to be told (I presume) that they didn’t have one (something I knew before hand, as I had searched). Then I ask if she could fax me a menu, she said and I gave her our number…10 minutes later, no fax.

The manager was kind enough to let me leave to go take pictures of the menu…only for me to realize that it was a waste of time as when I went to go hand the menu back, I noticed paper menus right to the right of the cashier. Really? They’re right there!

None the less, I grabbed a menu and went back to work. We hummed and hahhed over what to get and I decided for the Burrito mexicano, with the Diego’s dip and my other co-worker went with a side of Mexican rice and a large queso.

Burritto

 

It was good; your order comes with free chips in salsa. I wish my food had been a lot warmer, and not in metal containers-makes reheating a pain. My order came up to $16, co-workers came up to $13, so a little on the pricier side.

The burrito was nicely seasoned, filled with seasoned ground beef, piled on top was cheese, sour cream, tomato and lettuce. I ended up cutting it all up and eating like a salad. The Diego dip was awesome. It’s basically queso with seasoned ground beef  and pico del gallo. It is so much better than it sounds.

Deigo's Dip

Salsa

 

Since it was carry out, I didn’t see what the atmosphere was like, but I assume that like all Mexican restaurants, it’s a family place. It is ‘American-Mexican’ and not authentic, cornhusk wrapped Mexican.

I’ll most likely order out here again, but just with dip and no main course. And I’m keeping the menu.

Cancun Indy Mexican Restaurant

Contact info on front of menu.