Ralph's Great Divide

Ralph’s Great Divide has been on the list for-EVER, so the other day I was downtown and met my friend @wibia for lunch over there. Neither of us had been before. It’s certainly the feel of a bar inside, although with a fresh coat of paint outside anyhow. Our server was friendly and attentive, although it took awhile to get our food once we ordered.

Everyone said I needed to try the hot pot aug for sure, so I went with a combo of that with a half a chicken salad sandwich ($6.74)(for those of you who followed the great chicken salad debate on twitter the other day, this one is fruit-free --when I asked what was in it, she said, “there’s none of that fruit or nut stuff in there.” 

Anyhow, the “hot pot aug” is a potato soup that is topped with croutons and cheese and broiled.  There are some pieces of potato in the soup, and the whole experience is a chunky one overall, but the soup was pretty tasty. I really liked the bites with croutons in it. In the cup that I had, the cheese to soup portion was probably about even so it’s almost like eating cheese dip that’s got some potato flavor. I think I would be tempted by the “hot pot pig” next time just because it has bacon in it as well as pepper jack cheese just to jack up the flavor a little. I think the saltiness from the meat would be beneficial (plus who doesn’t like bacon?)

The chicken salad was just ok—a little dull, the chicken was all white meat and some of it was a little dry. The dressing had a nice tanginess to it (sour cream perhaps) but overall, it just didn’t wow me. Mainly, it was just the chicken with maybe some teeny bits of celery mixed in (and some lettuce and tomato on top). The bite I had of @wibia’s Bourbon ham and cheese was better.  His combo came with another side as well and he got the potato salad (the cold one, not the hot German potato salad), which was very good with a nice mustard kick.

Because everything I read online said desserts were mandatory, we split one—the chocolate malt pie. I am a sucker for chocolate malt flavor, so the choice was easy (although there were several good sounding possibilities). It wasn’t bad—it had a graham cracker type crust that was a little soft, and a pudding like filling that could have used more malt flavor, but we enjoyed it anyway.

So overall, the thing I like about this place is that nearly everything is being made in house which is cool in a somewhat divey bar-type place like this. Our server was happy to give us information about the food, and certainly knew what she was talking about. Nothing blew my mind (the soup and the potato salad were probably my favorite things), but if you are looking for a reasonably priced, solid, homemade comfort food meal, this is a good choice. (Side note: the menu online doesn’t exactly match up with the one in the restaurant for some reason, and prices may be slightly different).

Ralph’s Great Divide

743 East New York Street

Indy, 46202

317/637-2192

http://www.ralphsgreatdivide.com/