Road Trip - Roscoe's--Richmond, IN

The family and I were headed to Columbus, Ohio to visit my in-laws for the 4^th and because I am always looking for an excuse to venture somewhere new to eat, we decided to time the trip around lunch in Richmond, Indiana. I headed to twitter and asked around. A bunch of you offered great suggestions and it was my intention to try Ghyslain bistro, well, because once my kids heard there was chocolate involved, they were sold.

Sadly, once we got there (and it looked very cute), we learned they were closed on Mondays, so we had to opt for Plan B. Luckily twitter had given me lots of options and we tucked into Roscoe’s (thanks @TinaDNoel), which is a little Coffee Bar and Tap Room.  They have lots of coffee drinks and a fair amount of local beer and a few wine choices.  The food menu focuses pretty exclusively on Paninis. Pretty sure this is meant to be a college hangout—they offered discounts for college students and had a live music area in the back.

The kids liked it because there were couches and upholstered chairs they could sit on if they wanted (they did).  I am a fan of Paninis in general, and I realize it is an easy way for a small place like this to offer a large selection of flavors even with a limited kitchen.

I had the Roscoe melt ($8.25) with chicken breast, bacon, avocado, colby jack cheese and ranch on sourdough.  You got to choose a side and I went with the homemade hummus and tortilla chips.  The sandwich was good—it hit the spot for a road lunch.  The ingredients were all fresh (and the avocado was ripe). I wished for a bit more ranch to moisten it up and got a little extra on the side. I am pretty sure it was just ranch dressing from a bottle which was a little disappointing. It could be great with some homemade herby ranch. I loved the homemade hummus. It had a great seasoned flavor. I love hummus but often find it bland and this one was not at all. Hubby was sad he had just gotten the standard chips and pickle side.

Hubby’s sandwich was the buffalo chicken Panini ($6.75). It was grilled chicken, buffalo sauce, ranch and Colby jack on sourdough.  I liked that in both sandwiches, the chicken pieces were sort of pulled and in bite-sized pieces and not a huge hunk of dried out chicken breast.  If you like buffalo chicken wings, you would probably really like this. It was pretty spicy too. You know what would make it awesome? Some big hunks of blue cheese.  But then again, I naturally crave blue cheese when I eat anything buffalo flavored.

My son had a basic grilled cheese with cheddar that was very cheesy and my daughter got the ham and cheese on pretzel bread ($6.25).  She doesn’t like mayo, so I thought it was a little dry but that roll was outstanding. I have kind of gotten jaded on pretzel bread because it’s usually too bready for a sandwich, but this was great. It was smashed down in the Panini press and had a great soft pretzel flavor without overwhelming the sandwich fillings with bread.

Loved that they made a kick ass double macchiato to end the meal with and I loved how friendly and welcoming they were. They asked how we had heard of it and he seemed a little surprised when I said twitter (they haven’t been open too long). If it were my town, I would add it to my list of a good sandwich shop.  I am still intrigued by Ghyslain and several other places you guys recommended (and that were pretty much all right there by Roscoe’s).  It is a cute little street with a bunch of fun looking local places. Feel free to tell me which ones are your favorites if you know Richmond, as we make the trek to Columbus fairly regularly, and I love any opportunity to skip the roadside fast food.

Roscoe’s

185 Fort Wayne Avenue

Richmond, IN 47374

765/962-3019

www.roscoescoffe.com