Rock Cola Mile High Club Sandwich - Super 46 Sandwich Conference Champion (Click to Enlarge)

Go ahead, click that image. See the Mile High Club Sandwich in all of its splendor! Then, go visit the Super 46 Sandwich contest page RIGHT NOW and vote for Rock Cola.

Here’s the deal. If you’ve never had the Mile High Club Sandwich from the Rock Cola you owe it to yourself to get one as soon as possible. But that shouldn’t keep you from voting. Vote, then eat, then realize you were right all along to vote. Next time you’re in the city and looking for a place to eat, let me know and I’ll escort you to the Rock Cola myself.

I need you to send you friends to this post or directly to the voting website and have them vote as well. We need to pull this in for the little guys on the east side of the city of Indianapolis.

Go vote NOW!

Tip: Are you on Pinterest? Pin the photo above to your wall (or re-pin mine) and ask your friends to help us out and vote. Are you on Facebook? Like this post using the buttons above and ask your friends to vote. On Twitter? Share the link and ask your friends to vote. Google+? Share it and ask your friends to vote. Getting the hint?

Unless you’re visiting the website for the first time you know I’m a big fan of eating. I love supporting local restaurants and I’ve been pushing you to vote for my friends Papa Roux and Rock Cola Cafe in the Super 46 Sandwich contest. It’s down to the Final and you can still vote FOR both and not against either of them. I can’t explain what this means to both of these local businesses any better than how Papa has said it himself:

Please VOTE NOW for both PAPA ROUX and ROCK-COLA CAFE!

ACTION REQUESTED:

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NATIONAL SUPER BOWL MEDIA COVERAGE OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIANAPOLIS EAST SIDE. YOUR ASSISTANCE NEEDED!

WHAT:

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As you may know, the Super Bowl 46 Committee selected a number of East Side restaurants in their “Super46: Best Sandwich In Indiana” promotion, which initially included 46 sandwiches across the entire state.

TWO EAST SIDE FINALISTS REMAIN IN THE TOP 4.

WHY:

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The committee just announced that the TOP 2 finalists will be involved in a National Media Promotion with TV and other media coverage, in the Super Bowl Village downtown, in which visitors to Indianapolis will be encouraged to try the sandwiches and cast a deciding vote.

Suddenly, this is no longer about sandwiches or restaurants or competitions. It is an opportunity to promote Indianapolis’ East Side in a positive light in the national spotlight. It is a chance to breathe life into the East Side economy, and make a positive and lasting change, while making history at the same time.

TWO GREAT EAST SIDE establishments in the final 4. In ALL OF INDIANA, the EAST SIDE OF INDIANAPOLIS has quite possibly the TWO BEST SANDWICHES. Think about that for a second.

And then think about this: Every visitor to the Indianapolis East Side spends money here. If we can promote our East Side on National TV for one restaurant, people will come out here and spend money. They’ll buy gas here. They’ll find Irvington. They’ll find homespun and Jockamo and Lazy Daze and Tie Dye Grill and The Legend and DuFour’s and more.

And that’s if we only get one restaurant in the finals. Imagine if we get two.

Our challenge becomes clear: secure spots for both Papa Roux and Rock-Cola in the Final 2 Bracket.

Imagine what it means to our East Side economy. These establishments alone EMPLOY OVER THIRTY EAST SIDERS, many from local schools such as SMHS and WCHS. This is their payroll. This is our economy, and it trickles to our property values, quality of life, quality of public service, schools, and more.

HOW:

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Even if you have no interest in the sandwiches, restaurants, or competition, please take a moment to vote for East Side Pride.Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the sandwiches and restaurants are in fact great additions to our East Side, and are deserving of your support.

Please share this everywhere you can. Get this into the hands of every east side establishment, all of your friends, all of your relatives, and even a few complete strangers. Time is of the essence.

WHEN:

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It is CRITICAL that we vote IMMEDIATELY. Voting ends early Friday morning, so please VOTE NOW. Do not wait for Friday morning.

Vote this round at:

http://www.in.gov/visitindiana/blog/index.php/super-46/

Online graphic for easy sharing:

http://paparouxindy.com/super46/super46.png

CONTACT:

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For more information, contact Art Bouvier at Papa Roux.

317-603-9861

http://www.paparouxindy.com

http://facebook.com/papa.roux

http://plus.paparouxindy.com

mail: papa@paparouxindy.com
Please VOTE NOW for both PAPA ROUX and ROCK-COLA CAFE!

There you have it! Even if you have never tried one of these sandwiches, vote for Papa and Rock Cola. Then go visit them as soon as possible and try one for yourself to prove exactly why you voted for them in the first place.

I’m not sure what that looks like to you, but to me it looks like…LUNCH!

This is it folks. The Final 4 sandwiches have made the cut for the Super 46 Sandwich contest. I’m very happy to say that the two remaining sandwiches from Indianapolis are my friends at Papa Roux and Rock Cola Cafe.

Here’s the specifics you need to know:

• Bratwurst | The Schnitzelbank (Jasper)
• Roast Pork Po’ Boy | Papa Roux (Indianapolis)
• Duane Purvis All-American Burger | Triple XXX Family Restaurant (West Lafayette)
• Mile High Club Sandwich | Rock Cola 50s Cafe (Indianapolis)

It’s time to vote! You gotta go to the Super 46 Sandwiches website and cast your vote now! I wouldn’t want to sway your vote or anything, but if you’ve had the po boy or the mile high club, it should be an easy decision. One of these days I’ll make it to the other locations and try their offerings, but for today, you gotta vote!

been featured in the Super 46 Sandwich contest being sponsored by the Indianapolis Super Bowl committee. It was their Mile-High Club Sandwich as shown below from the article.

The Mile-High Club isn’t one of the dishes I’ve had yet, but now I’ve got to add it to my list. Not sure how they picked their choice, but they didn’t choose the Reuben, the Philly Cheesesteak or the GIANT 16oz pork chop sandwich, which are all fantastic!

Also on the list from one of my favorite restaurants is the roast beef po-boy from Papa Roux. Another delicious sandwich and I have had this one.  I think I’ve had everyone of their poboys along with just about everything else. The one pictured is the egg poboy with bacon.

So here’s the news though. We’re down to the final 16 sandwiches in the bracket and you should vote and share your opinion. I’ve voted and so should you. I’d also be very interested in knowing what sandwiches that you love in our city that didn’t make it on the list. Let us know!

Vote now in the Indiana Super 46 Sandwiches playoffs now

Save on Kid’s Meals

If you’re going out to eat with the whole family and you have small children, look for family-oriented establishments. Your young kids probably don’t eat very much, so go somewhere with a kid’s menu. There are lots of restaurants that run “kids eat free” specials, so look for those. You might want to even consider ordering yourself something that your child will like, especially if he or she is just a nibbler, and sharing it.

Drink Water

One of the quickest ways to run up your tab is to order beverages. Sodas, coffee, alcoholic drinks, and teas can be very expensive, and even more so if refills aren’t included. You can save a few dollars per person just by only drinking water. Not to mention it’s healthier, too.

Use Deal Sites

If you want to go out to eat, take advantage of daily deal sites like Groupon or LivingSocial when they offer restaurant vouchers. You can also use a website like Restaurant.com to get $25 vouchers for as little as $2. Be careful to read the fine print, though, as many of these vouchers can only be used on certain days and require a minimum purchase. If the fine print works for you and you’d easily be spending the minimum anyway, consider getting a voucher ahead of time to save big on your total.

Share

If you’re going to a restaurant that has notoriously large portions, consider sharing an appetizer with someone else. You could easily split what you get, and most places don’t mind if you ask for an extra plate.

Go Early

If you want to eat dinner out, consider going earlier than usual to take advantage of early bird specials. Find out if the place you want to eat at has an early bird menu and what time it runs, then take advantage of it.

Use Coupons

Look in your local papers and online for coupons to restaurants. If you want to go somewhere in particular, visit their website or do an online search to see if you can find any coupons for it. Sometimes you can find coupons for a dollar amount off, or a free appetizer, or an entire free meal.

Get a Doggie Bag

If you have any leftovers, be sure to bring them home to stretch your value as far as possible. If you can use your leftovers as the next day’s lunch or dinner, you will be getting even more for your buck.

This article and many other informative pieces on the web have been enhanced and corrected using the most accurate grammar checker on the web.

So, last Monday, hungry, I ventured out of the office and drove down the street and rolled into The Rock Cola Cafe. I was immediately transported back in time to a simpler, friendlier lunch time experience. It’s a small, little hole-in-the-wall that most people will probably never notice and especially not stop and walk-in. They are missing out!

The feeling was a bit of a cross between places we may have been familiar with growing up watching TV: Cheers and Mel’s Diner.

The place was hopping, all the tables were filled and I picked a seat at the end of the counter. I was greeted warmly, asked what I’d like to drink and handed a menu. The pork chop sandwich didn’t really interest me on this day, so I eventually ended up asking the server, Stephanie, “This is my first time here, what do I just have to have to experience this place?” She recommended either the grilled tenderloin sandwich or the reuben. I love a good reuben so I went with that choice. I wasn’t dissappointed. I substituted some onions rings for the fries and added a strawberry milkshake for good measure.

While I was waiting for my food to be prepared right in front of my eyes, I took a look around at the interior and the patrons that were enjoying their own lunch that day. You can tell many of these folks were regulars. There was an older gentleman named “Rex” sitting to my right. A brief conversation about the Colt’s pre-season efforts was being shared between him and Greg.

Once Stephanie finished cleaning a table up from a previous group of guests, she let “Stanley”, who had been sitting at the counter, know his table was ready. Other regulars were seated at their tables and everyone was enjoying each other’s company, conversation and a great meal.

The decor in the restaurant is a mix between Happy Day’s Al’s Diner and an American Picker’s honey-hole (not sure why I’m using so many TV show references). So much old nostalgia items and images from pop culture from decades back.

The time passed quickly and my lunch was served.

Just like the pork chop sandwich, the photo doesn’t do this justice at this angle. The sandwich was piled with corned beef. This wasn’t to be eaten with your hands, you had to just dig in with your fork. The onion rings were a great compliment to the sandwich. They were easily eaten without taking one bite and pulling out all the onion at once and leaving yourself with just a shell of batter.

I’ve got to say that as I was eating my own lunch, Stanley and his wife(?) ended up ordering the pork chop sandwich. These had to be the largest pork chops I’d ever seen! They would have been right at home sitting on a linen table cloth and served at some fine dining steak house. But these suckers were being grilled up and tossed on a bun and eaten as a sandwich! I’m still blown away by how huge these things were. If I remember correctly, the sandwich is a 16oz pork chop and is only $6.49!

Greg and Dan are co-owners of this place and it’s been running as The Rock Cola Cafe for the last 17 years I believe. I’m sure when the International building was humming with employees, this was quite the popular lunch spot for those workers.

The other intriguing nugget of information about this place is its relationship to a drink called Choc-Ola. I wasn’t familiar with the drink, which people immediately responded to me by saying, “You’re not from Indiana are you?” I’m not. Although I was quickly reprimanded for comparing or associating it with Yoo-Hoo, it is NOT Yoo-Hoo! The drink is a smooth, non-carbonated chocolate beverage. It doesn’t have the malted taste of Yoo-Hoo and in my opinion is a bit sweeter.

To make a long story short, Yoo-Hoo (The Chocolate Group) bottlers purchased the Choc-Ola product. Then Mott’s bought The Chocolate Group and shut-down production of Choc-Ola. Dan, the owner of Rock Cola Cafe, obtained the trademark for Choc-Ola after Mott’s let it slip through their fingers and is beginning to re-bottle and distribute Choc-Ola from the Rock Cola Cafe and soon through numerous other outlets.

I really encourage you to read the full-story about Choc-Ola on Wikipedia.

After I finished my lunch, I shared a nice conversation with Stanley about this place. I talked about how reading through their menu wants me to come back every day for a couple of weeks and try everything, particularly their breakfast dishes. The slabs of hickory smoked bacon they were cooking up for their lunch sandwiches was enough to hook me in on coming for breakfast.

I did eventually come back on Saturday, they have a breakfast buffet. Let’s just say I had plenty of bacon, eggs, sausage and breakfast potatoes. And that was just a few of the items that were available.

So, stop going to all those name-brand places for lunch and breakfast. If you’re on the east side, or even remotely close, drive on over to the Irvington area and head down Brookville Rd. The Rock Cola Cafe will be on the north side of Brookville, just west of Arlington and right across from the International Harvester building.

Let me know when you’re coming, not that I need another reason to visit, but I just might meet you for lunch or breakfast! And don’t forget, when you’re there check-in on Foursquare when you visit!

Recently Classic Cakes cakes were featured with 25 Amazing Custom Wedding Cakes, along side other national cake talents you may have heard of like Duff, from Charm City Cakes that you’ve seen on Ace of Cakes on The Food Network.

The two cakes from Classic Cakes in Carmel that are featured in this article on MSN’s Delish channel are #19 and #25. Great work!

I’ve been told the story that the owner of Classic Cakes used to enter a cake competition at the Indiana State Fair every year, after winning it a number of years in a row the judges came to her and asked her to stop entering because nobody was even coming close. I think they made her a judge instead.

Since this was the test run for the grand opening, all hands were on deck to make sure our experience dining this evening was everything we expected. We were greeted very enthusiastically as we entered and were promptly seated and welcome to our table by our server for the evening, Wendel.

Wendel is originally from Indiana, but just recently moved back from Los Angeles and had worked for a California Pizza Kitchen out there, so he was well-versed and experienced with the menu and encouraged us to start off with his personal recommendation of the Spinach Artichoke Dip. Soon, all of our drinks from their fairly extensive drinks menu, including a wide variety of beer, cocktails, wine and non-alcoholic beverages, were delivered along with our appetizer. The cheese had a nice crisp bite to it that mixed well with the spinach and artichoke. Crisp and light tortilla chips were perfect for dipping, but I also dipped a little bit of the fresh, sliced bread into it as well and that was good too.

Even though they offer more than pizza; a fantastic selection of salads, various pasta dishes and sandwiches, as soon as I saw “Habanero Carnitas” pizza, I HAD to try it. Listen to this list of toppings and ingredients:

Slow-roasted pulled pork, red onions, cilantro pesto, Mozzarella and Queso Quesadilla cheese with SPICY habanero salsa, and I chose to also substitute the Honey-wheat whole grain crust over the traditional crust.

This pizza was fantastic! The folks monitoring the CPK Twitter account seemed to agree with me as well. When the servers brought my pizza to the table, they were sure to make me aware that the habanero was very spicy. Their warnings delivered accurately! It wasn’t the hottest thing I’ve had in a restaurant, but it was up there! The heat level was perfectly mixed with a slightly sweet flavor that perfectly complimented the roasted pork and cheese of the pizza. I spooned a little bit onto each bit and even asked for a second cup of the salsa to finish my last two pieces.

Luckily, I was also able to trade a piece of my pizza to also try what my friend George ordered, the Wild Mushroom pizza. He got his pizza with a gluten free crust, which tasted great as well. I also found out from Rachel, the front of house manager, they also have a vegan, thin-crust option if desired as well. And with 28 more pizza options to choose from, it’s going to take a few more trips to experience them all.

As I said before though, don’t think all they have are pizzas. The other entree ordered by out table was their Jambalaya dish with blackened chicken, shrimp, crawfish, Andouille sausage and Tasso ham all playing together on a bed of linguini in a spicy Jambalaya sauce. Our friend said it was perhaps the best Jambalaya he’s had.

Now no dinner is quite complete with a little bit of a sweet treat to end the meal right? Again, taking the suggestion from Wendel we had to give the Butter Cake, a “CPK Favorite”. We couldn’t stop there though, we also had to give the Tiramisu a try as well. Both were a delicious end to the meal. The Butter Cake was super rich, and looked like a small souffle or cheesecake as it was delivered to the table. The top was just slightly toasted looking and was super rich, moist and buttery inside. The Tiramisu was topped with a super-creamy white custard, and the lady finger cookies were soaked in a delicious espresso and rum sauce. My personal opinion though is that the Tiramisu edged out the Butter Cake, but I’m a coffee lover, so that probably tip the scale for me.

Although we didn’t have our kids with us on this visit, the CPK has a few different options and combinations available, including a couple of different gluten free options. We believe that my daughter has a gluten intolerance, so this has really hit our radar lightly as we think about dining options as a family. We’ll be adding California Pizza Kitchen as another gluten free friendly option to our list.

Throughout the evening, we had the opportunity to speak with a number of servers and managers for the location. As I said, Wendel took tremendous care of us and Kim came up from Birmingham to help make sure all the servers were trained as needed. We also met Aubrey, who’s the front of house manager and moved here from Columbus, OH to help open and run the Indianapolis location. Last up was Rachel, the General Manager and she moved up here from Nashville, TN. Turns out we were just about neighbors when I lived in Nashville before moving to Indy to get married, so like a good neighbor, let’s make all of them feel welcome to their new Indianapolis home, extend them some Hoosier Hospitality and show them all the positive things Indy has to offer.

If you’d like to give California Pizza Kitchen a try, Doug Karr of DK New Media will be hosting a Meetup on Thursday, August 25th at 5:30pm. Be sure to RSVP and sign-up for the event if you’d like to check it out for yourself.

Again, I’d like to thank George Jensen for inviting me to join him to give this place a try, and if you don’t believe me and want to take my word for it, you can ask some other local celebs like Joe “The Buckeye Bulldozer” Staysniak, @Beefain or @Melmatto what they thought, as I saw them enjoying their meals tonight as well.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYqjO2c6s_0&feature=fvsr

Now that we’ve all been couped up in the house for a few days, where did you just have to go out and grab a bite to eat? Where did Adam Richman miss when he was in town and should have featured perhaps instead of the other places he went?

For example, here’s my quick favs list:

• Papa Roux
• Tye Dye Grill
• Pizzology
• Bella Pizzaria
• Mug ‘n Bun
• Santorini’s Greek Kitchen
• Yats
• Banura 1
• Boathouse Grill
• Scotty’s Brewhouse
• Thai Spice
• Thai Papaya
• Jockamo Pizza

As I was walking out I noticed a promotion that the area restaurants are doing where you can get an appetizer, two entrees and a dessert for $30. It’s called restaurant week at Greenwood Park Mall and the promotion is valid at The Cheesecake Factory, Stir Crazy, Bravo Italian restaurant and BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse.

After getting home I noticed an email in my Inbox that let me know I could get a free appetizer (up to $9) with the purchase of an entree if I bring in a retail receipt from a store or a movie ticket stub from the AMC Greenwood Park 14. Great promo! Help your own business and those businesses around you!