Where You Wanna Eat At?

(My title is pure Hoosier. We always end sentences with prepositions.)

This is a room in the Joseph Decuis restaurant.


Amy Wallace over at her Peek-a-BooICU blog had this meme about favorite local restaurants. It seemed so appropriate, that I stole it!


My favorite places to eat here in Indiana means I usually have to travel anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour and a half. It's tough to eat out, since I live in the middle of woods,over the river, by a cornfield, by a bridge, by a creek, next to a pond (yeah,ok, so it's the mosquitos who feast around here.)Thus, I'm not close to any fabulous restaurants. But I love to eat out, when we can. Right now the Indiana sweet corn is in and we are shuckin' and a'boilin' corn on the cob almost every night. I also love homegrown tomatoes and will eat them by themselves until my mouth is sore!


Here are the meme rules:


*Link to the name of the person that tagged you
*Include state and country you live in
*List top 5 favorite local restaurants
*Tag 5 other people and let them know they've been tagged


1. My top restaurant choice is Pete's Duck Inn. They have THE best filet steaks in the world, not far from where I live--and I've eaten in some of the top 10 steakhouses around the country at one time or another. I love a good, grilled steak, though Pete doesn't spend much on his decor.You go there for the steak or frog legs. (Yes, real frog legs.Tastes like chicken--but the delicate tender-crisp breading is exquisite.) Our cousin, LB, raises beef cattle and I have a freezer full of beef, so I really don't have to leave home for it. But Pete sure can fix a steak. (And for the cheapest price, too!)It's a local secret and adults only, alas. But he does do catering.

2. Next would be Ivanhoe's. Ivanhoe's is in Upland, near Taylor University. Boy, do they have some favorite items! I love their strawberry shortcake with soft-serve ice cream in the spring/summer. In the fall they have a pumpkin pie milkshake that is delish! And I love their fruit plate/chicken salad, tenderloin, and hamburgers. You really can't go wrong with anything on their menu. Taylor students have been known to return to TU and make a trip to Ivanhoe's because it's so good. And there is a milkshake and sundae list that numbers in the hundreds. They even have a club where you can check off each one as you try it. A few bottomless pit stomaches--er, I mean, students, have won the honors of making it through the entire list.

3. Ruth Chris Steakhouse hit Indianapolis from New Orleans, and just has great eats, though pricey and elegant. We get there once or twice a year. I love their steaks!(But yes, I have tried other dishes,except when they have have Kobe beef.) But I always save room for dessert at this place--my very favorite dessert in all the world is creme' brulee'.

4. Not very often, but a couple times a year (especially when my husband's staff gets us a gift card for Christmas) we head to Indianapolis to an authentic German restaurant called, The Rathskeller. I love the potato pancake, the red cabbage, and several of the main entrees, like stuffed filet (oh, yummmmm,) steak diane and any of the traditional choices,like schnitzel. I always have a tough time choosing the main entree, but I always get the red cabbage and potato pancake so that's a no-brainer.

This is Leon Decuis and Celeste from the restaurant Joseph Decuis. Quoted from their site: "The Joseph Decuis art program began in 1996 with three objectives: to contribute to the visually stimulating atmosphere of the restaurant for the enjoyment of guests, share contemporary fine art with an appreciative audience, and support the artistic community.

Our restaurant features the largest permanent collection of oil paintings and sculpture by artist Tim Johnson. Many of the works have been commissioned by the restaurant. Tim is a frequent guest at the restaurant on his many trips to the United States from his home in Cannes, France."

See why this is such a lovely choice?

5. Joseph Decuis is not only a great place to eat, but is just plain beautiful with the arts and music contributing to the ambiance. It's in an historic bank in Roanoke, Indiana. Once when we went there for our anniversary, they printed up our menu with our names at the top! The menu changes often, and the chef is world class. I may have listed it last, but if we get to choose a restaurant and have the time to travel, Joseph Decuis is my top choice. It also has an Inn to stay in overnight,and we plan on doing this.

I am tagging some of my fellow Hoosiers--Cara and Sabrina, because I would like to know where they love to eat (and I can go there!) Then, I'm tagging Camy because she talks about food and drinks a lot and I'd love to hear what she has to say. I am tagging Nancy, because she lives in Chicago and I want you to hear what she has to say about pizza! And finally, the fifth person is Delia because she's just plain fun and no matter what she tells us about her favorite places, it will be an adventure.

Now, one more thing. Are you a book lover? If so, I invite you to join Shelfari, a place where you can talk books, ANY books, and connect with like-minded souls. If you scroll to the very bottom of this blog, you'll see my Shelfari shelf of books. I'd love to connect to you, too, as a "friend" in Shelfari, so be sure to look me up if you join.