Public Greens - Fashion Mall

The other day my daughter and I decided we needed to do a little shopping and ended up in the Fashion Mall food court at around 11:30. Since we were there, we decided to grab a bite to eat and headed into Public Greens. Although I’ve been to the one in Broad Ripple before I decided trying a new location could offer a different experience.

After looking at the menu for a bit… and learning that they had just gotten local, amazing, strawberries in from a friendly waitress we went up to order. I ordered the Fried Chicken, Basil Pesto Fritters, and Strawberry Shortcake ($16). The way pricing works there is you either pick one ($6), two ($10), or three ($14) items from the salads, snacks, or proteins sections and add an extra $2 for each protein. My daughter decided to go with the Santa Fe Pork Bowl ($16), which is another option if you want more of a put together meal. She also grabbed one of their specialty juices, with a combination of grapefruit, apple, and lemon juice.

We sat down at a table and only had to wait maybe 10 minutes before our food came out. First, we tasted the basil pesto fritters, which from what I understand have pesto blended into the dough and are topped with a balsamic glaze. The idea was intriguing as they were presented almost as if they were a dessert but were clearly savory. The glaze had a nice flavor as did the fritters, although the texture of the fritters was interestingly denser than you might think, with and the flavors hinted at maybe a partially chickpea-based flour? They were decent but needed some extra oomph. A little more texture would have been nice.

I have had the fried chicken at the other Public Greens and thought it was good. This similar version was good as well, but not as good as in the past. They weren’t that hot and a little dry. Almost like they are reheating them. They were still fairly crisp, but I did feel like they could have used a sauce, maybe something spicy or fresh. My daughter enjoyed sneaking bites of my chicken which is rare for her, not being so much of a fried chicken addict herself. Her pork dish was decent if a little bland. It consisted of a quinoa, pinto beans, and Santa Fe style pork base, and supposedly was topped with cilantro, scallions, feta, and ranch. The only true topping I noticed in any quantity was the ranch sauce on top, which did help to moisten the quinoa (which unfortunately, like most quinoa, was rather dry) but didn’t add a ton of flavor. The pork and beans were well cooked, although the pork could have used a little more spice. Overall, the dish was ok and she seemed satisfied although I felt it could have used more of a flavorful topping. 

To conclude our meal we tried the Strawberry Shortcake, treating it as our dessert, even though it's listed as a snack, based on the server’s recommendation. This was honestly the biggest disappointment of the meal after all the hype we had heard about the strawberries. It’s not that the strawberries tasted bad (they were quite sweet and delicious), it was that we were only given 2.5 strawberries for an entire slab of pound cake. We only ended up eating about a quarter of the cake simply because we ran out of strawberries to eat it with. Despite this, the bites we did have were excellent and the cake itself was lovely and moist. 

Ultimately, I feel Public Greens is a wonderful idea (with all their proceeds going to charity) with a somewhat iffy execution. Their food needs more flavor and really needs a bit more of an interesting spin to really impress me. You feel like you are eating a healthier option, but not necessarily a particularly flavorful one.  Does anyone have any recommendations as to what to order there that has a bit more flavor?

Public Greens

8702 Keystone Crossing

Indianapolis, IN 46240

317/818-0765

http://publicgreensurbankitchen.com 

Noise Rating: 2 bells (out of five)

Luciana's- Revisit

For years my family has gone to La Hacienda—since my kids were in  high chairs and threw half their food on the floor (we are very good tippers). It was fast, cheap and has great margaritas. It is always busy though, so we were excited when a second Luciana’s opened on 82^nd Street near our house---it’s really big and much faster to get into during prime dinner hours. I believe it’s owned by someone who used to work at La Ha, and the menu is very similar, as are the ingredients.

So, like I said, they are very similar, but there are certain things that are better at each place. After going several times, I have decided I like the Texas margaritas at La Hacienda better, but Luciana’s version is pretty good. The guacamole is far superior at Luciana’s to the green puree they have at La Ha. The chips are also slightly better at La Ha. Otherwise, food-wise, they are similar though. I have had the chicken soup ($7.99 full, $5.25 for small) both places and they are pretty similar—and one of my favorite items. It is a very homey mix with rice, shredded chicken, tortilla chips, avocado and pico di gallo. I do like that Luciana’s serves a small order because I never eat it all. We always get a side of queso dip and they are pretty similar to each other. Your standard white melted processed cheese.

My son likes the quesadillas—on one visit he had a chicken version, which came covered in queso ($8.25) and rice and beans.  Hubby tried the chicken chimichangas on one visit and wasn’t a huge fan, but liked the carne asada tacos on another visit a lot. These were part of a taco sampler ($10.25) that included the carne asada, chorizo and pork. The chorizo was actually really bland and the pork he thought was fine but nothing special. 

Basically, Luciana’s is a good option for this kind of Mexican food if you want to be pretty sure you don’t have to wait for a table. It is fairly equivalent to La Ha, with some things better at each place. For me though, the biggest draw is probably the margaritas, so I would probably lean toward La Ha. If guacamole was your main draw, try Luciana’s.

Anyhow, it’s an easy, fast place to grab a fast and family friendly dinner and it’s nice to see an additional locally owned place in the area.

Luciana’s

3716 E. 82^nd Street (there's one in Broad Ripple too)

Indy  46240

317/288-8864

www.lucianasmexicanrestaurant.com 

The District Tap - Revisit

It has been awhile since we’ve been to The District Tap, and it’s right near my house so I am not sure why. But hubby and I came home from a trip the other day and just wanted a burger or something simple, and headed over there. And then I took my daughter and friend there one night for dinner as well. So this is a combo of a couple of visits.

I have mentioned it before, but my kids love pretzels, and we got their pretzel flight ($13) on the visit with the kids. I really love the fact that they serve their large braided pretzels with three kinds of beer cheese—there’s a stout, and IPA and a Scotch ale version. It’s fun to try all the different ones, and I greatly appreciate the fact that it’s not neon nacho cheese. My favorite was the Scotch ale version and my least favorite was the stout, but it was fun to try them all. The pretzels are tasty and really big (and it comes with two)—one is easy to split between two people. I like them—they are better than most.

On both visits I had a burger—the District burger ($11). It’s their basic burger with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle. I also ask for a side of their garlic mayo to put on there, which adds a nice additional creamy touch. They have a bunch of sides to choose from, but I tend to choose the tater tots because I have a little weakness for them, and they cook them just right. Nice and crunchy. I was good on one visit and got a side salad—it’s a nice salad with nice fresh mixed greens and homemade dressing (I got blue cheese). The burger is a very good burger—the beef is a custom grind of brisket, chuck, and short rib and they serve it on a brioche bun. It’s a really tasty burger that feels pretty high end. Since Recess and Barking Dog closed, I am always on the hunt for my next favorite burger. I can’t say it’s my absolute favorite, but it is a very good option. And I have had it twice in the last month or two, so obviously I liked it. My son also had one and liked it as well.

Hubby got the tenderloin sandwich ($12) and they serve it just the right way with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickle and mayo and also on the nice brioche bun. It’s a solid tenderloin for sure, but we both preferred the burger. It was just more interesting. They do their tenderloin on the thicker side, and not one of those super big, super skinny plate fillers. It was decently tender, but again, not as tender as that burger. 

My daughter had the chicken Madeira ($16), which she seemed to enjoy. It’s enormous—a whole breast, so two giant halves—covered with cheese and mushroom/Madeira sauce and served with mashed potatoes. She only ate about half of it, but thought it was good. 

All in all, The District Tap is a good place to keep in rotation for me for a burger or something along those lines. That is, if you can get over the sensory overload that sort of dominates the place with the multitude of TVs that are everywhere, including at the table. Service is good though and the food is solid. And it’s literally five minutes from my house, so I need to remember it more.

The District Tap

3720 East 82^nd Street

Indy  46240

317/ 288-8251

www.thedistrictindy.com 

Piada

I had never been to Piada—not sure why, maybe because it’s a chain, but when a friend suggested it for lunch, I agreed. It’s one of those places where you can kind of walk down the line and build your own pasta bowl or sandwich. I went with one of their combinations (I find I really don’t want to build my own anything, I really prefer an expert do that work. I mean, I can do that at home). So I chose the farm club tasca ($7.99), which is sort of like a thinner tortilla stuffed with boneless fried chicken breast, fresh avocado, spicy balsamic aioli, tomatoes, arugula, lemon basil dressing and pancetta. It is also supposed to come with bread and butter pickles, but as much as I love pickles, this just didn’t sound good with everything else to me so I had them leave them off.

I also got a cheesy breadstick just because they looked good when I walked in. My friend had a build your own pasta bowl. The tasca was actually quite tasty—I have to say my expectations were somewhat low, but I was surprised. The chicken had nice flavor and was very tender—and put avocado on anything and I am happy. It’s a little tough to eat the way it’s wrapped—even though in the picture it looks like two pieces, it’s actually wrapped up and is one big sandwich. I also really like the aioli and the dressing on there as well to brighten it up—and that is what makes a sandwich good to me. The other ingredients were nice and fresh—the arugula and the avocado.

I was not a fan of the breadstick though—it had a little bit of a funky taste. Maybe the cheese taste burnt or something? Not sure. Also, my friend had the build your own pasta, which I wasn’t a huge fan of either or it may have just been the choice of things on it. A little too much for me—a very heavy Alfredo type sauce.

All in all, it wasn’t as terrible as I sort of had in my head it might be. It was kind of like Panera with an Italian bent. Ingredients were fresh and the food tasted pretty good. It wasn’t mind blowing, but better than a lot of fast casual chains and certainly with fresher, more interesting ingredients.

Piada

8601 River Crossing Blvd (but multiple locations)

Indy 46240

317/581-9985

www.mypiada.com 

Ruth’s Café

Hubby and I had lunch at Ruth’s the other day. It used to be a pretty regular place for me, but for one reason or another I haven’t been in awhile. I am always impressed with how solid their lunch business seems to be. It’s really nice to see an independent restaurant thrive in that location (near the Fashion Mall) because there are so few in the area. They are doing so well in fact, according to their website, it looks like they have opened a little branch in a nearby office building.

It was early for lunch so hubby went with one of their benedicts. This one is the salmon avocado version ($11.25).  This is sourdough toast on the bottom, seared smoked salmon, avocado, the two poached eggs and then homemade hollandaise sauce.  It was really good. The eggs were poached just right and I liked the fact that the salmon was warm. They use lots of avocado, and the hollandaise sauce is light but has a nice lemony flavor. We both had side salads with our dishes—I appreciate that they make this an option—and the side salads at Ruth’s are good because they use nice mixed greens mixed with some romaine. I am picky about the lettuce I get in a salad, and they are using good quality. They also served it with a few cherry tomatoes and slivers of parmesan.

I ordered my favorite combo---the half sandwich and salad (around $10). The sandwich I get is their version of a turkey club. There’s some thick slices of turkey on grilled sourdough (you can get whatever bread you want though) topped with melty Havarti cheese, avocado, bacon, lettuce as well as some pesto mayo. There’s just something about this sandwich that I love. I like that it’s grilled and warm, I like the avocado, which they are not stingy with, and I like that they don’t screw it up by putting a slice of under ripe tomato on it. I feel like that is a fatal flaw at many restaurants.  I also really like their chunky blue cheese dressing with my salad, as well as with my sandwich (I tend to dip the sandwich in it as well). 

Anyhow, it’s a very good breakfast and lunch option on my side of town, which is a rarity. The menu is large and there are lots of appealing things, even if I tend to be drawn back into that turkey sandwich nearly every time.

Ruth’s Café

3343 East 86^th Street

Indy  46240

317/757-8006

http://www.ruthscafeindy.com/ 

Flemings-Bar Menu

Hubby and I ran into Flemings the other night after an event—it was Saturday and it was late, so we figured our best bet in the area was a bar. I have always wanted to try their prime burger from the bar menu ($10 during their “Eight Nine Ten” happy hour from 8:00-10:00 in the bar). And we also got the tuna tartar tacos, which are $9 during the special menu times). 

The burger is pretty straightforward as far as the toppings go—there’s cheese and bacon on top and ketchup, onions, tomato and lettuce on the side. I will say, the meat itself is delicious—what you would expect from a prime burger at a steakhouse. We asked for it medium rare, and it was really probably more rare, but it was so fresh and tender, we were okay with it. I do kind of like the fancified sauces that some restaurants put on burgers, and if this one had one, I would have really, really liked it. But it was a very high quality burger. And the fries that come with it are also delicious. Thin and super crisp. Again, ketchup is pretty boring, but what are you going to do? Bring me some aioli or dijonaise anytime. The bones of the dish are very well done though, even if in a perfect world, I would alter the accompaniments.

The tuna tacos, though? No. They were not good. I guess there was some ahi on there somewhere, but between all the other stuff—radish and jicama slaw and “Thai vinaigrette,” you couldn’t even taste it. And it had a very distinctive sweet flavor that I just wasn’t into. I liked the little crunchy shells—and if they were filled with some nice acidic flavorful tuna with just a bit of accompaniments, they would be interesting. As they are, they are not worth ordering.

The burger definitely is good though. Next time I’ll at least ask for some mayo.

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse

8487 Union Chapel Road

Indy 46240

317/466-0175

www.flemingssteakhouse.com 

Napolese- Quick Revisit

Hubby and I had a quick dinner at Napolese with friends over Valentine’s weekend. We hadn’t made plans and since it was Saturday and it was nearly Valentine’s Day, we needed a place that didn’t take reservations. As far as having to wait (we did for about 45 minutes), the location at the Fashion Mall is good because you can wander around and shop while you wait for them to call you and let you know your table is ready.

Anyhow, we planned accordingly and sat down right about when our friends arrived. I love the olives they give out at Napolese, even though I had to ask for them this time (maybe they were wasting too many on people who don’t like them?). We also shared the Brussels sprouts salad ($12) and the crostini with apple bacon jam, spinach and gorgonzola ($9). That crostini dish was delicious. The sweetness of the apple bacon jam with the freshness from the just wilted spinach and the salty ripeness of the gorgonzola were great. And it was unique—it wasn’t just a creamy spinach dip or a creamy blue cheese dip. I would happily eat this again. The Brussels Sprouts salad left me a little underwhelmed though. They sprouts were roasted, but still a bit too firm for me and the whole thing came across a bit too sweet with pieces of sweet potato and bourbon gastique. There was also kale, radish, and pancetta.

We went with one of our classic choices for pizza—the Napolese broken yolk ($15). This is a margherita pizza (sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil) with three quail eggs on top—they are meant to be nice and runny (you know that’s how I like them), but sadly, these were not quite as runny as they usually are. I think it must have been because they were so busy, but just a plain fried egg on a  cheese pizza isn’t quite as exciting. The crust was still very good—it has that nice chewiness to it. Our friends’ BLT, which is another common order for me and hubby, looked spot on though.

All in all, it’s great to have some independent places right in the mall—that seems so uncommon and overall,  while this wasn’t my best meal there, I enjoy Napolese. They have a decent Italian wine list and friendly staff. It’s a good local option to have nearby.

Napolese

8702  Keystone Crossing

Indy  46240

317/705-0765

www.napolesepizzeria.com 

Seasons 52 - Revisit

My in-laws were in town, and we had this gift certificate we had received at the holidays for Seasons 52, so we figured it would be a good time to use it. I have been a couple of times and have had mixed experiences, so after a couple of years, it was probably a good time to go back. Also, being the beginning of the year, with all those resolutions, I figured something on the healthy side might also be a good idea. Everything on the menu is less than 475 calories.

We all got different things, and honestly, I was more impressed with the food this time than I have been in the past. My daughter, who loves black beans, started with a cup of the black bean chili ($6.25) and it was pretty tasty. It had some bits of beef in it and had a smoky flavor and was rich with beans. There was also a little dollop of cilantro sour cream on top.

Hubby and I got two different things and shared them. We had the mahi mahi fish tacos ($9.50) and the tuna tartare ($12.75). They were both quite good, although both benefited from more acid. I collected the grilled lemons from around the table and used those. The tacos had nice large pieces of the seasoned fish on top of shredded cabbage as well as chunky pico de gallo salsa on top and a drizzle of cilantro sour cream. The fish was pretty tender and with a squeeze of lime (and then some lemon), it added the little extra that it needed. There was also some salsa verde on the side as well as a smooth, smoky red salsa. You kind of needed all of it (and secretly kind of wished for more of the sour cream) but once you got it all on there, they were tasty. I was impressed that you got three of them for the calorie count.

The tuna was very good quality, even if there wasn’t a ton of it. There was a layer right below the tuna made up of a tropical salsa—mango and some red pepper—and it added a bit of sweetness that was nice with the tuna. There was also a layer that was described as wasabi avocado mousse, but it was actually pretty chunky—more like a chunky guacamole, which I prefer to a “mousse” anyway. A generous squeeze of the lemon, and this was really good. My only complaint is that the proportion of tuna to everything else was a little uneven. The Hawaiian sea salt crisps they served with it were damn tasty too. Very thin and light and super crisp. I’d eat either of these two items again.

My daughter ordered the cedar plank-roasted salmon ($19.95) and was also very pleased with it. She got the dill-mustard sauce on the side, but I enjoyed it with my bite of the salmon. I appreciated that they didn’t cook the salmon to within an inch of its life too. Maybe a touch more done than I would cook it myself, but still tender. The cedar plank did impart a slightly woody, smoky flavor and the fish itself was nicely seasoned. It was served with simple (read not really seasoned) potatoes and veggies (mostly carrots and asparagus). I would eat this dish with that sauce again as well—it was right up my alley, although I might ask them to cook it to medium rare. You can order a lobster tail for $9.95 to be added to a meal, so we added it to my daughter’s dish and that’s what my son ate. It was roasted as well and had a nice woodsy flavor like the fish. And a pretty good deal at less than ten bucks.

My mother-in-law ordered the blackened steak and blue

cheese flatbread as her main ($9.75) and it was pretty good too. I think they have improved the crust a bit since my first visit and it stayed crisp and help up to the steak, mushrooms, spinach, blue cheese and caramelized onions. I just had one small piece, but I enjoyed it. My kids had a couple of those little dessert shots (“mini indulgences”) and they loved them. They now love this place just because of those little desserts.

Like I said, I don’t know if we just ordered better and got lucky, or if they have done a better job with seasonings, but I enjoyed this visit much more than previous ones. Most things I had before just seemed very under-seasoned and forgettable. I also think that knowing the basic calorie count is reasonable when you are trying to watch what you’re eating is a nice benefit as well.

Seasons 52

8650 Keystone Crossing

Indianapolis 46240

317/846-5252

www.Seasons52.com 

Freshii

My daughter and I went after Christmas sale shopping at the Fashion Mall and while we were there we decided to grab some lunch. We went to the food court and tried the only place we haven’t been to yet, Freshii. To be quite honest, I chose it because it didn’t have a line and I felt like I needed to try and go a little on the healthy side after the gorging done over the holidays. A salad seemed like a good idea.

I ordered the Cobb Salad and substituted red onions instead of corn. The salad also included avocado, tomato, blue cheese, bacon, and chicken. I ordered mine with blue cheese dressing. I like the way they mix the salads—they put all the ingredients in a plastic bag and shake it up to mix the ingredients together. I was disappointed when I sat down and started to eat it because as far as I could tell, there was no avocado at all. I searched and searched. So I went up and asked for some and she gave me a little teeny wedge in a paper cup. I understand that avocado is an expensive ingredient but this made me sad. I love avocado. They did give me a lot of blue cheese, which I appreciated. But these salads aren’t super cheap (it was around $9-10) and on top of that, the bacon was chewy and a lot of the romaine part of the lettuce was wilted and had black and brown spots on it. If you’re gonna be a salad-type place, make sure your lettuce looks good. That’s all I’m saying. Maybe you’re better off with their burrito-type options, I don’t know.

My daughter got the children’s chicken and cheese quesadilla and an apple juice for her lunch. The quesadilla (I think it was around $5) looked good and my daughter said she liked it well enough. The cheese was white cheese and there were some nice hunks of chicken in there (a lot more than in my salad). Honestly, it looked a lot better than my salad.    

 

I guess it’s better than a lot of mall food court food—it’s at least healthier, but it’s to bad they can’t give you more of the really good, “fresh” ingredients and keep on top of their produce.  And it isn’t cheap—for the 2 of us with 2 drinks, it was over $22. The people working at the counter gave me what I wanted without complaint, but I can’t say they were overly friendly. 

Freshii

The Fashion Mall

8702  Keystone Crossing

Indy  46240

317/660—8110

www.freshii.com