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.

Five Guys

I am very picky about my hamburgers. I don’t like the taste of ground beef and therefore, usually don’t like hamburgers that restaurants serve. There are few exceptions to this rule, Five guys is one of them. They’re relatively close to my work, and I take every opportunity to convert my coworkers to the Five Guy following, an easy task.

For those who have never had or *gasp* even heard of Five Guys, let me explain how it works. You pay for your hamburger, cheeseburger (seen bellow), bacon cheese/hamburger, hotdog or grilled cheese. A regular sandwich is huge, while a single stacker is the size of a whopper. Once you pay just for the meat and bun, you’re free to add whatever you want at no extra cost: mushrooms, onions (grilled or raw), sauces and confection galore. If you can add it to your sandwich at a fast-food joint, they offer it to put on purchase.  Mine? Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, pickle, ketchup, grilled onions and grilled mushrooms. You can also pick how much you want on the burger-easy/light, regular or heavy.

Then we have the fries. These fries are not for the faint of heart. They’re made fresh (as your sandwich) but are bought from small, US potato farms (usually which farm is displayed in the store daily). They have two fry sizes-regular and large, and two flavors-regular or Cajun. The regular is a large at Burger King, while the large is a small popcorn from the movies. I’ll never forget the first time I watched them do the fries; the cook carefully fills the fry container…and then proceeds to fill your bag with the remaining fries from the batch he cooked for you. 

I’m not going to lie. Usually I eat the fries and finish off the burger at another time. I can never finish both, it’s just too much! The fries always have the right amount of seasoning, and that wonderful potato taste that fries should have! I love the hamburgers there too-wonderfully seasoned to blend in with all the other confections you can add to your burger. The beef taste (not ground beef, but just beef) melds in wonderfully with the other flavors. You know it’s a good burger when you bite into it and juice just drips out.

If you dine in, they also serve bulk peanuts that you can munch on (for free) while you wait for your order to cook up. Since I’m usually picking up food to go, I usually just grab a handful and put it in someone’s back for later munchies.

Five Guys has been in numerous magazines for their pricing. Considering how much you get, it’s dirt cheap. A bag of Cajun fries and a cheeseburger the size of my face comes out to around $10-12 (no drink). Not bad at all

Definitely a place for people of all ages and sizes! Give your local Five Guys a try, I guarantee you’ll fall in love.

Five Guys Burger and Fries

Fiveguys.com

Hungry Howie's Pizza

At work on June 3rd, myself and co-workers decided we were hungry but unwilling to leave. I was so happy to find that there was a Hungry Howie's in the area. Pizza is very much the American dish, and there are a few place in Indiana that stand out as awesome pizzerias (and I hope to find even more!)

This is going to be a rather short post, as I ordered and ate at work so there's not much to say about location, atmosphere or a waiter. I would like to note, that it's no secret how awesome Hungry Howies is, so if you decide to order, you best bank on a 45min delivery time.

Now one thing HH is known for is their crust. You order a pizza or break, and you get to pick a flavoring (all listed on website). They're all pretty awesome, but my two favorites are the garlic and cajun. Being as I have to talk to customers, we decided to forgo the garlic.

We ordered the boneless wings, medium philly steak and an order of howie bread. Splitting the bill between the two of us, a cheap $14 (for $28 for all of it). Now, I've never done one of their specialty pizzas before. Usually I just add toppings.......and man, do I regret waiting so long now.

mmmmmmmmmm

 Philly, green peppers, onions, provolone yummy crust and even more cheese.

Close up

Hungry Howies Bread...a must!

Wings

The pizza and bread was demolished, and I still had leftovers. It is a very heavy and greasy pizza, so not for those weak of stomach.Otherwise, it's pizza, and everyone likes pizza.

Hungry Howies Pizza and Subs
9546 Allisonville Rd, Ste 106
Indianapolis (Castleton area)
317-585-5800
www.hungryhowies.com

Joe's Crab Shack

On June 2nd, I met up with an old high school friend and her boyfriend to catch up on life. We had decided to meet at Joe's Crab Shack, a place I had often passed by but never stopped to eat at. I had of course, seen the commercials of the place, but I put little value into those-commercials always over exaggerate not only the quality, but the quantity of whatever they're advertising anyways.

None the less, I'm a huge seafood fan and wanted to try the place, and my friends were kind enough to indulge.

The outside of the place is fun, looking very much like some falling apart shack on the beach side, complete with aluminum bits and cheap neon signs. The inside is much the same, looking more like someone bought a fisherman's shack and added a bar and kitchen. It was very atmospheric.As soon as you walk in, you notice a huge shark in the middle of the open restaurant, with a shirt hanging from its mouth. Directly to the right is a small shop, which sells funny t-shirts (one says something along the line of going to Joe's and getting crabs).

The giant shark, and our waiter Mike.

We are promptly seated at a booth, the place is practically empty which doesn't surprise me-it is a week day and after the lunch rush. The table is decorated by little fun knickknacks laid underneath the table.

Who are these people? I have no clue, but they are forever immortalized under a restaurant table.

There are also directions on the walls, from photos to license plates to signs, it just a random collage of stuff.

Our waiter (Mike) finally comes over. As every-other waiter on the planet, we're asked if this is our first time here, and for once my answer is yes. He explained to menu, the bucket on our table (bellow) gave us some bibs (also bellow) and silverware (yep, that's bellow too). He then wrote is name down on a napkin (which is really just a roll of paper towels they give you, smart!) took our drink orders and left us to 'hmm' and 'hah' over the menu.

Bucket for shells and paper towel napkins

Silverware, moist towelettes, crackers and shell rippers (yellow things)

You know it's gonna be good if the give you a bib.

Conversation was had and when our waiter came back, we ordered. Now my dish by default came with sausage, which I hate. When I asked our waiter if I could substitute, I was given options and so substituted my pig intestines with shrimp instead. I ordered the New Orleans and my friends decided to split a crab boil, with garlic herb seasoning.

My New Orleans

 Your dish comes out in a pot, complete with lid to keep the steam in. There's a plate inside, if you want to pull your dish out, otherwise you can just eat out of the pot-which is what I did.
The crawfish was awesome! Wonderfully seasoned, tender, large and all the tails curled (which means they were 'fresh' upon cooking, aka-alive) and there was a lot of them! The shrimp was just a good and still in the shell and HUGE. You can't really see them in the picture above, but they were almost the same size of the crawfish.

Everyone's dish also comes  with a cob of corn, seasoned the same as the rest of the dish, and small, whole, red potatoes that lay in the bottom of your boil. I ate these last, as they soaked up all the flavored juices at the bottom of the pot and melted in your mouth.

My friend's dish, after they grabbed a section each

The crab isn't separated legs/claws that I've seen else where. Instead, you get the whole 'walking' section of the crab.

Needless to say, my friends and myself demolished it, without the bibs. Halfway through our meal, something amazing happened...

Music blares on, and every waiter/waitress breaks out into dance. 

Yeah, pretty awesome in my opinion.

The meal was very tasty, but I didn't walk away stuffed. It was also on the pretty expensive side. My dish and tea came to $23. While the food was awesome, I can also get a 20oz steak, 2 sides, a salad, and a drink for the same cost and come away with leftovers. Admittedly, I can see why my dish cost so much (crawfish isn't exactly native to Indy) but for that price, I was expecting more then what I got. They come out with a huge pot, and if you take your dish out of that pot, it's not as much as you'd think. None the less, the service was great, the food was awesome, and we sat for several hours after our meal talking at our table.

The place for once, is a great place for anyone-families, kids, couples, friends, whatever and whoever. The only person I wouldn't bring would be someone who doesn't like seafood. While there are hamburgers on the menu, it isn't what the place is known for.

Joe's Crab Shack
2307 Post Dr
Indianapolis, IN
317-895-0433
www.joescrabshack.com