Hopcat

Yet another in the line of restaurants with a zillion kinds of beers, this one a small chain out of Michigan. I am not a big beer drinker, but had heard some good things about the food, so we grabbed our favorite beer-loving friends and headed out. First of all, it was PACKED. Every inch of the place. And it was loud—it’s a big place and with all those people, there’s quite a din.

We did manage to get a table without waiting (beware, some of the tables are picnic type seating if you aren’t into that) and our server approached us quickly. I was surprised she thought we would know what we would want to drink that quickly considering there are over 130 beers in the place. We finally figured it out and also placed an order for loaded crack fries ($7.50). A few minutes later we also added some buffalo rolls ($9). The crack fries are so named because they are supposed to be addictive. They were good—but honestly if you’ve ever had seasoned, battered fries (these are beer battered), you can imagine them. I did like the loaded aspect—there was warm beer cheese, jalapenos, onions, and bacon. The fries held up pretty well to the toppings. We actually didn’t get our buffalo rolls until after being served our entrées, but I appreciated that due to the screw up, they just took both appetizers off the bill (I like that kind of proactive service even in the early days of a new place). I would take a pass on the buffalo rolls in the future. They were basically large egg rolls filled with chicken. There is some buffalo sauce drizzled on top and a side of blue cheese dressing for dipping. The rolls were a little dry and didn’t have a lot of flavor without getting a good dunk in the blue cheese. The blue cheese sauce was tasty though—lots of big hunks of cheese in there.

For main dishes, hubby and I shared a couple things recommended by our server. The enormous fried tenderloin sandwich and the chicken tacos ($10). I think the tenderloin might be an Indiana-location only thing, but I’m not sure. Ok, it was huge for sure, but honestly other than that, I wasn’t that impressed. The pork was pounded pretty thin and is coated with pretzel crumbs making what was a dry tenderloin just a touch dryer. And I totally don’t get the English muffin as the bread. I know a bun is often small in relation to tenderloin, but not sure I see the logic in picking something extra small. The fried onions and spicy slaw on top were the best part I think, to help with the dryness. There was also a slice of cheese. We shared it and didn’t even finish half of it. I wouldn’t order this one again.

As for the chicken tacos, I guess I wasn’t paying attention but was surprised by crispy (and brightly colored) taco shells. Been awhile since I saw those. Fairly tender chicken inside, lots of cheese sauce, cilantro lime ranch, and pico de gallo. And more crack fries with beer cheese dipping sauce. Oh and sides of sour cream and salsa. This one certainly had its share of gooeyness. I liked the tacos better than the tenderloin--they were certainly easier to eat. But did they wow me? Not really. And again, battered fries. Not really much different than others. A bite of my friends burger was also not bad, although also really gooey and with a pretty soggy bun.

The interior to me feels like a college bar and like they are trying to jam as many people in as possible rather than make for any type of interesting atmosphere (or conversation for that matter). There are some velvet pictures of various rock stars on the walls. The food is slightly more interesting sounding bar food that I thought was underwhelming as executed. It’s insanely loud and service was choppy (although our server was pleasant). Even though it was early days after opening so maybe the service will balance out a bit. Feels like another typical Broad Ripple restaurant, and probably not one you will find me frequenting often—not that they need me based on the crowd I saw.

Hopcat

6820 North College Ave

Indy  46220

317/565-4326

www.hopcat.com