Pasquales - Kentucky Ave.

My lunch group (Young Peoples Lunch or Awesome People Lunch depending on who you talk to) is getting in the habit of having lunch together once a week. Not everyone works at Lilly Technology Center - North. We all have been working on a rotation of places we like, or are interested in trying. All of the places are in various areas of downtown Indy or just outside. Today's selection was Pasquales off of Kentucky Ave, practically to 465 (west side of downtown).

If you like hole in the wall places, this is about as hole in the wall as you get. I remember the first time I went there with a co-worker, and we weren't exactly sure where it was and almost gave up until we found it. Depending on which way you go, it's in a shopping center next to a Rent-A-Center in a shopping plaza that has a Kroger and a Speedway on the other side.

If you are looking for a GREAT pizza buffet, try this place. For the price, you cannot beat it. While the salad bar leaves much to the imagination (iceberg lettuce and salad dressing), other things make up for it. They have spaghetti, garlic cheese bread and pizza also on the buffet line.

The two things that will keep me going back to Pasquales are the garlic cheese bread and the BBQ pizza. My aforementioned co-worker and I have been dreaming about the garlic cheese bread with some of the pasta sauce for dip. I am completely full, and my mouth is watering thinking about it. Also, the BBQ pizza is a must. This delightful pizza is not a regular on the buffet, but they will make it upon request. This pizza uses BBQ sauce for the sauce, ground beef and pepperoni. In case you are thinking that it sounds "eh", chew on this. When the ladies making the pizza come out and say "BBQ" the line is instantly packed and it doesn't last long. It is my favorite.

Like I mentioned before, it is off the beaten path. However, when we arrived around 11:30 am, there were hardly any seats left. Great place and I will be back.

Ale Emporium

http://www.ale-emporium.com/



Last evening after we finished looking at houses, our realtor suggested that we go to dinner at Ale Emporium. We had been to the Ale Emporium before, but mainly for drinks. There was one caveat, we found they have a $7 bacon wrapped filet on Tuesday evenings. I remember thinking, "$7 filet dinner, hmm". We were pleasantly surprised in that it was better than I thought. Granted, it wasn't a filet from St. Elmo's. Seriously, who would I be kidding? However, one of our friends that we went with, opted for the pizza that evening and was very enthused.



Unfortunately, we hadn't been back since. Not for any particular reason, just a lot of different options. That all changed with one suggestion from our wonderful realtor.



We arrived and decided to sit outdoors. We perused the EXTENSIVE beer selection. Most of the beer is import or Micro, with your traditional "big three" domestics. They have some micro on tap. What jumps to mind are select Bell's, Samuel Adams, Three Floyd's, and more. Check out the website as they list them all.



Our pizza arrived and were we in for a treat. I love homemade pizza. I remember having pizza night with family friends growing up. The flavor pops out and is just always wonderful. The pizza at the Ale Emporium was as close to homemade as I have experienced in a very long time. The three of us polished off a 16" pizza without any complaints.



Additionally, we really enjoyed our waiter, Fisher. We were sure to tip well as he did a good job and was very sociable.



If you are in the Castleton area, I highly recommend the Ale Emporium. It has a great beer selection and good food. The atmosphere is top notch as well!

Happy Garden

Have you ever moved to a new town, and have to find your spot for (insert a type of food you enjoy here)? I've lived in the Indy area now for around 3 years and haven't found a place for, as I like to call it, Strip Mall Chinese Food (SMCF). Yes, these places are everywhere and typically all have the same menu, and we all love it.

For Mel and myself, we are a bit picky about trying a new SMCF place. We tried a place around the corner, and really weren't happy. This was probably the last time we've had SMCF in Indy, and were CRAVING it. Let's be honest. We all have had some SMCF that we didn't enjoy and/or made us feel ill afterwards. Thus, we have a recommendation requirement.

Today we had the pleasure of visiting Happy Garden in the Windridge Shopping Center. For those of you who are from Indy and, like me, don't always know the names of shopping centers, it's at 56th St. and Emerson. Still need help? Really close to Cathedral High School and there use to be an O'Malia's grocery store right there (recently closed).

Our church has a super secret rotation of establishments where a group of members and attendees visit after church every Sunday, called Lunch Bunch. While Happy Garden has appeared as an option, we haven't taken the group up on Happy Garden. Today, Happy Garden wasn't the Lunch Bunch option. However, my sister (a former church member and "Lunch Bunch" attendee) suggested we go to Happy Garden, so there was the recommendation we needed.

We fully enjoyed our time at Happy Garden; gorging ourselves on the $5.50 every day lunch buffet. The food is what you expect, and we were in heaven. It had been a while since we'd had Sweet and Sour Chicken with red sauce, Chicken and Mushrooms, General Tso's, etc. (I wish I could add that it had been a while since we had Crab Rangoon, but it hadn't. That my friends is a story for another time). To top it all off, they have Pepsi products meaning Mt. Dew!

If you are like Mel and me and need a recommendation before you try any Strip Mall Chinese Food place, consider this yours.

Getting Started

I am going to admit, I kind of stole this idea from someone on Twitter. A friend in a different city mentioned starting a blog doing food reviews. I like food. I like to eat out. Maybe, someone will read this and something fun will come of it. If not, I have an excuse to eat different places and write how I feel about it. Granted, I have not ever been formally trained in cooking or what not. I just love food. So, if you bear with me as I give this a whirl, I'll let you know where I've eaten recently and my take on the food and ambiance, etc.