"Taste and Tell" Tours

According to the web stats on this blog, I get a couple thousand visitors each week and almost all of you are from Indiana. No surprise there. I frequently get email asking me why I don't have more content about certain communities. The deal with this Hungry Hoosier thing is that I usually only get to destinations that are on my agenda for some other reason - like my day job. I rarely set out to explore someplace for purely culinary reasons. That is about to change.

I would like to spend a few Saturdays this summer and into the fall doing some Hungry Hoosier Taste and Tell Tours, but I need your help, dear readers. I would like you to help me decide where I should go. Here is what I need you to do. Use the comment feature below or send me an email to suggest the ultimate food itinerary in your neck of the woods. Leave me your contact information and I'll follow up with as many as I can and get some Saturday trips scheduled.

Here are the things I would like to know about: (1) What are the great restaurants in town. They don't have to be fancy, but they do need to be distinctive. These should be locally owned and operated. The places where the locals eat, the places that have something unique about them. Any restaurants serving local products? (2) Who are the great farmers and other producers in and around your community. Anyone doing farmstead cheese, quality meats, great produce, etc? (3) Are there any specialty food shops - handmade candies, bakeries, hot sauce, whatever? (4) What about grocery stores that carry some unusual items on their shelves? I especially love grocers who have local products. (5) What about food history? Any hometown stories to tell?

Tell me what I should come experience. If I come, I'll be sure to report on this blog and the other media outlets carrying the Hungry Hoosier about my experiences. So, let's see what you've got to brag about! 

Comments

[Jami]

I don't live in Indiana, but I was born in Lebanon. Try Stoll's Amish Restaurant in Linton, Greene Co. It's about 100 miles from Lebanon, so would make a great Saturday trip. Delicious fried chicken on their buffet. Also a great tenderloin sandwich.

[Mimi]

Have you tried the Baja Peninsula on 231 North in WL? Great food, nice atmosphere popular with locals ...

[Cheryl Runkle]

How about coming to Hamlet,IN? Home of the Hamlet Cafe. We are a small cafe, popular with locals and nonlocals. We have the best biscuits and gravy ever. The Hamlet Cafe was voted Starke County's best coffe and service two years in a row. Voted best breakfast last year and best lunch this year. Open from 6am-2pm, breakfast is served anytime and lunch is too (pretty much). There is almost always alot of fun to be had at the Hamlet Cafe. 406 Railroad Street, Hamlet IN 574-867-1855. Closed on Mondays.

[Cheryl Runkle]

Sorry, the address for The Hamlet Cafe is 403 Railroad Street.

[javajeanelaine]

If you get to the South Bend/Mishawaka/Elkhart area again, here are a few places you should try:

Mandarin House, on Edison Road near Notre Dame. You will not be disappointed.

Mi Cocinita on Western Avenue in South Bend - authentic Mexican and served with a smile.

The Daily Grind in Elkhart on Lexington Avenue. Freshly made soups (try the creamy tomato soup-awesome!), sandwiches and wraps. The specials are always excellent. Good coffee too!

[Cathy Beetz]

There is a relatively new winery on the outskirts of Batesville called Ertel Cellars. The wine is just OK (in my opinion), but the food is out of this world! The chef really knows how to do fish. The mahi mahi and sea bass are melt-in-your mouth good! Here's a link to their website: http://www.ertelcellars.com/restaurant.html

[Teresa]

Harmony, IN located right on US 40 just before entering Brazil,IN is home to Chaney's Diner & Deli where you truly can "Dine in Harmony". Features fresh made salad, sandwiches, soups and daily lunch specials. NO FRYER or fried foods. Old time gas station converted to diner, decorated with vintage mainly local area advertising signs. Also, the home of Creative Catering.

[Teresa]

Address for Chaney's Diner is 1945 East US Hwy 40, phone 812-442-0101

[Nancy Hanner]

In Rockville newspaper there was a write up that White Horse Cafe has changed hands. Bob Jones is the new owner. Article states "Jones says he'll change it back to the way it used to be.
Jones has been purchasing horse memorabilia for the restaurant's walls." Dewey White (one of the previous owners when it had cowboy theme) and his band will play on Saturday nights starting in January. You had the White Horse Cafe as one of your mystery pictures and I won a Hungry Hoosier hat. Thought you would find this interesting. Nancy

[Kathy Rose`]

I live in Richmond, in East Central Indiana. A couple of places you have to try in Richmond are: Joy Ann's Cake Shop, located in the 600 block of East Main Street (their thumbprint cookies are the best), Little Sheba's Sandwich Shop at 175 Fort Wayne Ave.,(all their burgers are 1/2 pound monsters loaded with toppings), and The Olde Richmond Inn, (chef Galo also owns Ainsley's Cafe at Brookville Lake in Franklin County, and his newest venture, Galo's Italian Grill in Richmond should open soon). For breakfast try an egg sandwich on an everything bagel at Fifth Street Coffee and Bagels, located on South Fifth Street, across from the Olde Richmond Inn, do lunch at Little Sheba's, dinner at Olde Richmond Inn (I recommend the Prime Rib, but several Italian specialties are also wonderful).
Elsewhere in Wayne County, try Welliver's Smorgasbord in Hagerstown.

Just to get Union County on the map, the little community of Liberty (about 15 miles south of Richmond) is home to Jay's Restaurant, just head south on U.S. 27 and turn right at the first stoplight, cross the tracks and look to the right. Jay's is famous for those monster Indiana breaded tenderloin sandwiches.Richmond has Jay's II, but is that really fair to leave Liberty out?

In nearby Fayette County, Connersville's own Mousie's Pub is a must-try for their "Black Diamond" steak. Kunkel's Drive-In closes in the winter, but their large tenderloins, hand-breaded onion rings and creamy homemade cole slaw have us anxiously awaiting spring. I hear they have great homemade pies, too.

By the way, I hear there are a couple of great places for fried chicken down in Oldenburg, IN, just a bit of a drive south of Connersville.

I also lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana for eleven years, and you have to try the Casaburro Salad at one of the Casa D'Angelo's locations, and have an original Coney Island hot dog downtown at the Coney Island Weiner Stand. The Redwood Inn is famous for it's sausage roll, and if it's still in business, Mama Mia's Pizza on the north side had a great "Road Kill" grinder, loaded with meat and toppings. Fort Wayne has a number of great eating establishments, but having been gone for the last ten years, I'm really not "on top of their scene" anymore. I did have a "Coney Island" last weekend and they're just as good as I always remembered them to be. It would be great if you could review some places in Fort Wayne, so that transplants, like me, will know where to go when we're back in town.

Bearcreek Farms in Berne, Indiana is a worthwhile trip, as is the Back 40 Junction smorgasbord in Decatur. Ooh, I almost forgot the Chicken Shack on the south edge of Winchester, right on U.S. 27!! Wick's Pies also has a restaurant and market in Winchester, you really should check it out!

[Karla Lawless]

Try visiting the Almost Home Tea Room in Greencastle. All homemade, this restaurant will make you feel like you're "Almost Home". From the one of a kind broccoli-cheese soup (ask for the recipe) to the homemade gourmet desserts (try the award-winning strawberry pizza). Staff here are fantastic, friendly and the representation of "Hoosier Hospitality".

[Dena]

Just an update on a previous comment regarding Kunkel's Drive In located in Connersvile, IN(Fayette Co.). Kunkel's is not closed for the winter, only for two weeks after Christmas. So you do not have to wait until spring to enjoy your favorite foods from Kunkel's. Some customer favorites are: Kunkelburgers, hand breaded onion rings and tenderloins, homemade slaw, potato salad, chili, vegtable soup, and pies, flavored soft drinks, and the very popular strawberry pie(in season).