His Place Eatery, Indianapolis, Indiana (Revisited)

Anita and I returned to His Place Eatery today for lunch. His Place is our favorite place to eat. The food is outstanding. Funny how we first went there with a Groupon. Those usually don't pan out. It certainly did for us.

His Place has some great lunch specials, but we had to go with the full-sized entrees. I chose one of my favorites, the smoked meatloaf (with a tangy BBQ sauce) , the green beans (you have to get green beans at His Place. They are beyond good.), and the coleslaw (a sweet slaw). Everything was soooo good.

Anita also had the meatloaf and green beans, with some dirty mashed potatoes (she passed on the good gravy). The potatoes are so yummy. You could just sit down with a bowl of them and a spoon and be very, very happy.

It's been a while since our first blog post on His Place Eatery. We can't wait to return again. I'm already thinking about getting the fried chicken again. That stuff is crazy good.

Garrett's Smokehouse BBQ, Indianapolis, Indiana

I'll eat anything that's been cooked low and slow. As a big fan of BBQ done right, I was happy to finally make it down to Garrett's Smokehouse BBQ, which is not too far from our house.

Garrett's is located in a little strip mall. We showed up on the hottest day of the year (and almost the hottest day ever in Indiana). They have a full BBQ menu - pork, chicken, brisket and even turkey. We decided to get our meal to go.

Anita ordered the pulled pork sandwich with a side of mac-and-cheese. For her sauce, she went with the mild. I had the brisket sandwich with a side of spicy slaw and sweet BBQ sauce. I was already happy since the meats weren't pre-sauced. You just never know when someone might be trying to hide poorer quality smoked meat under a sauce. Not the case at Garrett's, that's for sure.

The meats were smoked perfectly. You know how sometimes you get BBQ and only the first 1/2" or so has a smoke flavor? Garrett's BBQ had a nice (but not overwhelming) smoke flavor throughout. Both sauces were great. Really great, actually. I'm going to pick up some extra sauce next time for my own smoked ribs.

Besides the meats, the sides were also excellent. They were both made from scratch. Anita's mac-and-cheese was smooth and cheesy. My spicy slaw was definitely spicy. I love homemade slaw - there's such a difference between it and store-bought. I'm looking forward to trying their other sides.

We had a good meal from Garrett's. We'll be returning soon! It's great to see local restaurants turn out great food like Garrett's. Support your local chefs and cooks.

Boogie Burger, Indianapolis, Indiana

Boogie Burger has been on my to-eat list for a long time. We had this week off, so we decided to give it a try. Many of my friends have raved about it.

We both ordered the Boogie Burger with cheese.

Easily the best burger I've had. The seasoning was spot-on perfect. I really should've ordered a double. Or maybe a triple. It was just that good and it was embarrassing how quickly I ate it. I admit it. I woofed it down and moaned in happiness the entire time.

We also shared an order of garlic French fries. The fries are very addicting. They are tossed with garlic and parsley. Yes, you'll have garlic breath (and lips) when you are done, but it is sooooo worth it.

It's going to be difficult for me to return to Boogie Burger and order something different that we did this time. The burger and fries were just so good. This place is definitely going onto our normal eating rotation (and at the top at that).

Yat's Cajun Creole Restaurant, Indianapolis, Indiana

We love Yat's. It's right by our house, has great food and staff, and a constantly rotating menu. Not long ago we grabbed an order to go to the park. This last week, we stopped by and ate in the restaurant. We got there early (rumors are that you might want to get there early to get their famous spinach and mushroom étouffée).

Anita ordered two half platters. One half of spinach and mushroom étouffée, and one half of red beans and rice. Each platter comes with a piece of bread, which makes for excellent soppin'. The soppin' is one of the best parts since all of the sauces at Yat's are absolutely delicious. Anita loved her lunch.

I also had the spinach and mushroom étouffée, along with a half order of chili cheese étouffée and crawfish. The crawfish étouffée is insanely good. In fact, I'm swinging by Yat's next week to get some more. I think I might try it over French bread... sort of a crawfish po'boy. Oh, and that chili cheese sauce? Yep you guessed it. It's excellent for soppin' up with bread. And there's no shortage of crawfish in this dish. Mmmm. Tasty. My mouth is watering recalling just how good it was.

It's great to see local joints do well and turn out great food. Yat's is definitely doing both.

Andre's BBQ, Indianapolis

Anita and I were driving down Pendleton Pike here in Indy the other day when we came across this trailer off the side of the road, with Andre's BBQ and Seafood written on the side. There were several smokers going out front, and you could smell that lovely smell of hickory burning. We were on our way to somewhere else and we didn't have time to stop, but I vowed to return.


So earlier this week I drove on down to Andre's BBQ trailer and ordered the pulled pork sandwich and the red beans and rice. I brought it on home and chowed down on some of the best food around. The pulled pork was tender and smoked just like I like it. Instead of your traditional ketchup- or mustard-based sauce, I think the sauce is more brothy, with some good Creole heat (and not too much of it). The red beans and rice were to die for. There's a bit of smoked sausage in the rice that really puts it over the top.

I chatted for a bit with Andre. He's a great guy (from Haiti via Miami) who is really passionate about his food, and it shows. I really like the creole flavors he brings to his food. It's a nice change from what I would call traditional southern BBQ and sides. He let me sample some Cajun corn while I was waiting, and I tell you, that corn is insanely good. I can't wait to return and try the chicken, or turkey... or ribs.


Today, I took Anita with me to meet Andre and pick up some more pulled pork sandwiches. This time I got red beans and rice and Cajun corn as my sides. Anita got the Caribbean rice and the mac-and-cheese. Again, the sandwiches were great, and the sides were just to die for. This time we got a sample of greens while we were waiting. No question about it, I'm getting greens as my side next time!


Andre's is on Pendleton Pike, just northeast of Post Road. It's on the south side of the road, just passed the Value Place hotel, beneath a large billboard. You'll see the smokers, catering truck and the trailer, where you place your order. And tell Andre Hi!

His Place Eatery, Indianapolis, Indiana

Mike and I recently went to His Place Eatery. When we arrived, we were greeted enthusiastically by our waiter. The waiter knew the menu and was excited about the food.

Mike got the fried chicken (fresh dropped), mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and cornbread. He said the chicken was insanely good and he loved the green beans. I got the smoked meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing and cornbread. The meatloaf was really well seasoned and you could taste the smoke flavor. It was cooked over hickory wood and topped with pepper bacon. The homemade sweet and spicy sauce was delicious. The mashed potatoes were real mashed potatoes just like Mom would make.

Chef James Jones stopped by our table and chatted with us for a moment. The chef and his wife are very pleasant. Their passion really comes through in their food. We will definitely go back. Everything was delicious! This was home cooking at its finest.

Squealer's BBQ in Indianapolis

Oh, how I love Squealer's BBQ. I do believe they are the best in the area. That's despite the fact that the doors were still locked at 15 minutes after opening time. I ended up having to call them to come unlock them. Our waitress made up for the supervisor not opening up by providing us great service.

Anita and I were on the northwest side of town Saturday so we decided to drop in for lunch. Anita has not ever been there. I used to work nearby and I ate there quite often.

Anita had the pulled pork sandwich with slaw and potato salad. She said the pork was perfectly flavored and tender and moist. She also enjoyed the sides. She had her sandwich dry with a mixed sauce (half hot and half sweet).

I ordered the beef brisket dinner, which came with two sides and two deep fried biscuits. I have to confess, I've never had their brisket until now and boy, I sure regret not having tried it sooner. It was definitely the best brisket I've ever had. Perfectly moist and tender and just the right amount of rub. They gave me an absolutely huge serving of brisket, which I had dry with hot BBQ sauce on the side.


The sides were great, and you can never go wrong with deep-fried biscuits. I posted a recipe for them here not too long ago.

Any time we're on the NW side of town, we'll swing by. They also have a restaurant south of Indy in Mooresville, but we've never been to that one.

Highly recommended if you are in the area!