Road Trip- Fireside Inn, Enochsburg

Hubby has a very good friend who lives in Cincinnati, but we never seem to be able to make our schedules work to hang out very often because we are all so busy. We decided we would just pick a random place in the middle and go on a weeknight instead. Exactly (literally, the restaurant was exactly 1 hour and 7 minutes away from each of us) in the middle was the Fireside Inn. They specialize in fried chicken. So yeah, no brainer.

It is really a teeny tiny town (Enochsburg) with pretty much just this restaurant. And it’s really a little bar with a family side, which looks like it was built in the 1960s and hasn’t changed much since. Completely casual. You have to laugh when you look at the menu—pretty much every single thing is fried.

We started with an order of the fried pickles (I didn’t take note of the price, but I think they were under $2). They were probably the best fried pickles I have ever had and were probably the highlight of the meal for me. They were super-pickley. Not thick, cucumber-type fresh pickles, but the thin, really salty types you find on burgers. They were battered in a super crisp batter and were just delicious. They were served with a creamy horseradish sauce. I couldn’t stop eating them.

We also had an order of chicken livers ($3.25) because I love them and they are only available on Thursdays, which was the day we were there. Unfortunately, these weren’t very good because they were really over-fried and burnt. That slightly gamey, soft chicken liver flavor was completely cooked away. I am not sure if they were just badly done on this particular day, or this is the way they do them, but I would take a pass. And get some more pickles.

Fried Chicken w/ Chicken livers behind

Hubby and I split a whole fried chicken because our server told us it was the most economical way to do it (it was $12.95 for an entire chicken). You could really tell they were taking a whole chicken and cutting it up—it was hard to decipher some of the pieces right away because they cut them different from typical pieces of fried chicken. They cut the breast pieces into smaller bits—maybe to be able to cook them uniformly. The chicken was good. It was the kind that was probably just lightly seasoned and then fried without little if any batter or breading. Just the chicken skin. A little salt and pepper and it was a tasty meal. Not the best fried chicken I have ever had, but certainly not the worst. And hubby and I managed to eat that whole chicken. Sides are separate –and they only have mashed potatoes on certain nights and only until they run out. (I really would like to try them because it sounds like they are very popular and run out quickly). I had a baked potato just because I couldn’t imagine getting another fried thing.

If you ever find yourself in that area and want a cheap, independent place to grab dinner (a fried dinner that is), this is a good place to stop. Just pay attention to the directions—one route we took had us going down a gravel road for a mile or so before we found the place. The restaurant is run by a family, and the people working there clearly care about the place. I would say it could use some updating in the décor, but if they did, it would take away part of the divey charm.  I hope they don’t change a thing (well, except maybe the chicken livers).

Side note, anyone got any good places to recommend in the Batesville area for our next rendezvous?

Fireside Inn

2174 County Line Road

Greensburg, IN 47240

812/934-4174

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fireside-Inn-Enochsburg/237529667427