Half Liter

The newest addition to the Sahm’s empire is Half Liter, which is a Texas-style BBQ place that is in the back of Liter House on the Monon. It’s an impressive huge high-ceilinged place with vary casual picnic style tables. Downstairs there are only the benches and tables, but I think upstairs has some regular tables with chairs with backs. The one weird thing is I still don't know where the "front" door is on this place. I ended up going in through the patio because the door by the parking lot that said enter here was locked. 

It’s a cool place though and it was packed for a midday lunch (but not so packed we didn’t get a table right away). The concept is Texas dry rub BBQ and they serve several different BBQ sauces on the table. They have a Carolina-style mustard sauce, a traditional Texas style red sauce and a sweet, Dr. Pepper-based sauce. I ordered a quarter chicken leg for my lunch ($7) and it came with 2 sides. I went with potato salad (because I always try potato salad whenever I try a BBQ place) and a green salad because I was feeling peckish for something green.  The chicken was really, really good. I always worry that it will be horribly dry, but this chicken was anything but. It was so, so good. Super moist and with a ton of smoky flavor. It was a big leg/thigh quarter and it was a great lunch portion for me. I would be hard-pressed not to order the exact same thing again. Seriously, really good. As for the sides, the potato salad was a no-go for me. I am weird about potato salad and when I like it, I really like it. And if I don’t like it, I just don’t. There’s no middle ground. This one had celery in it, which isn’t my favorite, but it also had a certain sweet flavor I didn’t care for. Like I said, I am super weird about potato salad. Although my green salad was simple—just fresh lettuce, red onion and tomatoes. They only have like 3 choices for dressing (again one of the choices is Dr. Pepper flavored). I went with ranch and was happy I did—it was really tasty—not just ranch but ranch with some spicy kick to it that went well with the BBQ. 

My friend had the Eddie’s melt sandwich ($10) with one side. The sandwich was really interesting—it had pulled pork, collard greens, pimento cheese, and caramelized onions  It was something I am not sure I would have ordered before, but really enjoyed. His mac and cheese side was the superior of the two hot sides for sure. Not fancy or anything, but really good. 

We also got to try the cornbread and the waffle fries randomly, because I guess they made a serving of them on accident and because we were by the service window, they gave them to us. The waffle fries were good waffle fries—I liked that they made them a little unique with some extra seasoning. The cornbread was a nope for me. So dry and crumbly it bordered on sandy. But it was nice to have the opportunity to try them out.

All the meat I tried (which sadly wasn’t a ton) was spot on. Had a good deep smoky flavor and was very tender. The sides were kind of hit or miss—honestly, I would likely go for the mac and a salad again because I liked the dressing so much. There are several other options to try. And of course you can never go wrong with tots. 

I am looking forward to going back with more people and trying some more of the meats. Hubby can’t wait to try the brisket. Anyone had it?

Half Liter

5301 Winthrop Ave 

Indy 46220

463-212-8180

https://www.halfliterbbq.com/

Sahm's Place - Revisit

Sometimes you just need a high quality fried sandwich. And the other day I was meeting a friend and that’s what I wanted, so we headed to Sahm’s. My go to fried sandwich there is the buffalo chicken sandwich ($9.49)—they have a very tender chicken patty that is dipped in buffalo sauce and served with blue cheese (or ranch depending on your preference). They know how to do it just right. The knot bun is good, the chicken is good, and dipping it in blue cheese is perfect. I love their pickles as well, and always ask for extra. I also love the fried mushrooms on the side—they are the only place that I know of in Indy that does fried mushrooms and does them well. They give you this mild, creamy horseradish sauce to dip them in too. When I need some fried stuff, this is my go to.

My friend had the Cuban sandwich, which I will have to say was quite delicious as well. I think it was a special that day—but it had very tender pork, lots of cheese and the requisite pickles and mustard. The bread was toasted nicely (I think they just turned a bun inside out but it still was tasty). And another order of mushrooms, because seriously, those things are great.

Sahm’s is a great place to go to get quality American pub-type food. The ingredients are good and many of the products (and beer etc.) are local. Plus, they do a lot to support the community, and I think that’s pretty cool.

So what’s your favorite Sahm’s item?

Sahm’s Place

2411 East 65^th Street (and several other locations)

Indy  46220

317/202-1577

http://www.sahms.com/ 

Big Lug Canteen

The other day my twitter lit up with people telling me about how much they were liking Big Lug Canteen, so I quickly added it to my list of places to try. I was having a subcommittee meeting with some other moms from school regarding a school fundraising night, so I made the suggestion that we try it. They were game.

This is the newest creation from Ed Sahm and Scott Ellis.  It’s a 21 and over place and they are making beer in there. I like the way the menu is set up, and you have to appreciate their humor about it—“We Make Some Decent Food For You.”

And they’re right. It’s not totally different from what you might get at Sahm’s, but everything is elevated just a bit. I had a “slider” under the “knots” section of the menu. I chose the chicken B.L.A.T. The knots refer to the buns which have a knot shape swirled into them. The buns are really good. A little bit denser than a typical burger bun, but still soft. The chicken breast was seasoned and grilled. It was topped with lettuce, tomato, bacon, herb mayo and avocado. The chicken was good—not too tough. The name “slider” is a bit of a misnomer though—these are sandwiches and one is enough for a meal (especially since they come with a side), at least for me. I was kinda sad because I wanted to try more things, but I enjoyed my slider. For my side I had a salad with blue cheese dressing—the dressing was very good, I liked dipping my sandwich in it as well as my salad. On the salad itself, there were some big hunks of cucumber, which I would skip next time (I am not a fan of cucumber) and the greens were maybe a little heavy on the iceberg, but the dressing and the sandwich were very good.

I was intrigued to try the Nashville fried chicken (they have mild and hot) but after reading the warnings on the menu and hearing it again from the server, I was worried they would be too hot—I don’t like it when you can’t even taste food because it’s too spicy. One of my friends said she loved spicy things though and went for it. She got the  “Willie’s Special” salad with the Nashville fried chicken—she even went with the hot version. It also came with mixed greens, black bean corn salsa, mozzarella, avocado and Fritos salt ($10 for a full, $6 for a half). She was kind enough to let me try a bit of the chicken and it was really tasty—it was spicy, but honestly even I could handle it—it feels like most of the heat is coming from cayenne. I would totally order it (I would get the mild though). The chicken was nice and tender. I would really like to try the Nashville chicken slider—it comes with the same bun as my sandwich and also pickles, chopped romaine and green goddess dressing. It sounds like it would be excellent and based on my little bite, I think it would be. That is on my list for next time.

I didn’t try the beer, because you know me, I’m a wine girl (they do have a few wine selections). Remember this place is 21 and over though, which is sort of too bad, it would be a good place to take the kids and it is pretty darn close to my house. I look forward to going back though, and it’s a nice addition to Nora.

Big Lug Canteen

1435 East 86^th Street

Indy  46240

317/672-3503

www.biglugcanteen.com 

Sahm's

Several of you guys have been bugging me for a while to try the fried chicken at Sahm’s. Apparently the one in Fishers offers it daily, but the one near me (at 65^th and Keystone) only offers it every other Sunday. Well, that makes it seem kind of more special right? So we invited some friends and all headed over.

Pretty much all of us decided we wanted fried chicken (except 2 of the 4 kids) so we thought we would get 4 orders for the 6 of us (there are 4 pieces of chicken per order).  They made it all together and brought it all out family style so we could just give the kids the pieces they wanted. I thought that was a nice touch. It was nice to pass the plates and take what you wanted since we were all sharing. (The meal is usually 4 pieces of chicken—a breast, wing, thigh and leg, with the two sides mentioned below and a biscuit for $12.99).

plate-o-breasts and thighs

So the chicken? The chicken was very good. It was really well seasoned and had a super crispy outer crunch. But what impressed me was that the breast I took was actually very tender throughout (although one person at our table commented that their breast wasn’t).  I loved the leg and the couple of bites of a thigh I shared with hubby as well. Probably the dark meat was my favorite, but I was impressed with the white meat as well. The meat was marinated and you could tell care was taken to try and keep the meat as tender as possible, even on the larger pieces (and the thighs were pretty darn big too—almost as big as the breasts. These must have been some curvy chickens.) The kids were digging it too. I don’t think we will have a problem getting them back here and I will certainly be happy to go back for fried chicken night (although my daughter had the cheeseburger and liked it as well). Actually hubby ate the leftover pieces for lunch over the next couple of days and told me he thinks he might have even liked it better cold. In fact, he wants to just order some to put in the fridge for the next day (weirdo). He said it stayed crunchy and because it was so meaty, and was better than any other cold fried chicken he has had.

Even though I missed my classic side of mashed potatoes (I am a creature of habit with fried chicken), I liked that they did something different with the corn stuffing that they served with it. It was pretty moist with pieces of corn in it, and a touch of sweetness. The carrots weren’t as popular for sure. I dunno, I just can’t get excited about cooked carrots, although they were buttery and lightly seasoned. They also served rolls alongside that they called biscuits, but I would call buttery dinner rolls. Much lighter and less dense than a biscuit. They were good though, although I saved most of my room for chicken.

Overall, I give the fried chicken two thumbs up. I really enjoyed it and I have a feeling it may become a regular, well, every other, Sunday kind of thing in our family (well, maybe cold the next day for hubby). He does want to try the fried tenderloin sandwich he spied coming out of the kitchen.

My Sahm’s location is a fairly small dining room and was pretty full. Our server was really helpful and nice and made the suggestion to share and to serve it family style.  They have a very good selection of local beers on the menu (well, it seems like it to me). I guess they do a monthly beer dinner with courses paired to certain beers—that sounds fun too. I am excited to find some new fried chicken that I like and it’s sort of got me in the mood again. So feel free to leave any suggestions for other favorite fried chicken places around town. I am always looking for more!

Sahm’s Place

2411 East 65^th Street (and several other locations)

Indy  46220

317/202-1577

http://www.sahms.com/