The Indianapolis Super Sandwich Playoffs
Yesterday morning I walked into one of my favorite Indy restaurants, the Rock Cola Cafe on Brookville Rd for an unexpected breakfast. When I walked in, Greg let me know that one of their sandwiches had
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
Dining Out on a Budget
Just because you’re trying to save money and stick to a budget doesn’t mean you should never get to eat a meal out of the house. Going out to dinner can be a very enjoyable excursion for the whole family. It’s nice to have a change of scenery, do something special and have someone else do the cooking. You can try new foods and explore new cultures. Dining out is more than just grabbing dinner, it’s an entire experience. You may want to eat out to enjoy some alone time with your spouse, get the kids out of the house, or just because you’re out of groceries and don’t feel like shopping tonight. Whatever the reason, everyone should get to eat out once and a while. Even if you’re on a tight budget, it’s still possible to go out for dinner. Here are some tips for dining out on a budget.
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.
The Rock Cola Cafe Delivers Nostalgia
Last week as I was working in Irvington, I thought I’d skip lunch; my stomach finally convinced me otherwise and I decided to check-out a place a friend had told me about a few months ago. The Rock Cola Cafe on the east side. My friend had noticed my Foursquare check-ins on the east side and asked me if I’d ever been there. He said he had gotten the grilled pork chop sandwich and it was enormous! He showed me a picture, and it looked big but the scale was lost in the image on his phone.
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!
