Maxine's Chicken & Waffles

Ever have that craving for some good ol' comfort food like fried chicken, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and...waffles? Sounds like an unlikely combination, but that's exactly what you get at Maxine's Chicken & Waffles. And you know it's going to be good because it's connected to a gas station! j/k. But you shouldn't let the name or the outside deceive you! Dining there is a great experience. Service (dining in & carryout) has always been wonderful. The restaurant is decorated really nicely. And best of all, the food is amazing.

This was my third time here. We at...(wait for it)... The Penthouse (Like the new name?! Yeah?? Yeah?!) ordered some carryout thanks to our Living Social deal. We didn't get the signature chicken and waffle dish since we got it last time, but let me assure you - the waffle is goood.

Now, what we ordered:

1. Chicken sausage omelet with house potatoes and raisin toast

Really good. Which is kind of amazing when you think about how the eggs sat in a Styrofoam container for the 15 mins home. They weren't too dry. They weren't overcooked or undercooked. The omelet was filled with sausage, onions, green peppers, and cheddar cheese. And those ingredients held up very well too!

2. 10 pieces of wings with buffalo sauce

Really, really, really good. The skin on these wings were perfectly crispy. There wasn't too much breading. It was so well seasoned that I thought they were good enough without the buffalo sauce. Definitely a must order if you're not getting the chicken & waffles.

3. Smothered chicken with collard greens and fried corn bread

The smothered chicken is a boneless fried chicken breast smothered in gravy over your choice of rice or mashed potatoes. We chose mashed potatoes. This dish was really good. Gravy+potatoes+fried chicken = perfect comfort. The collard greens were solid, and the fried corn bread was just so darn cute! I thought they were really good, especially with a little smear of Maxine's homemade peach butter. MMM!

4. Catfish dinner with candied yams and black eyed peas

I looooove the catfish here. In the catfish dinner, you get 3 perfectly seasoned catfish fillets. The catfish is juicy and flaky. And like the wings, there wasn't too much breading. The candied yams were like dessert. And ever since living in South Carolina for 2 summers, black eyed peas will always have a special place in my heart. So yes, I thought they were good.

Maxine's is definitely a special treat for The Penthouse (Is it weird that this is also what we call my dog's crate when she's in trouble??). We could easily eat it all the time, but then we'd be broke and 400 lbs. each.

The Rating

- I always have a food baby after eating at Maxine's.

The Info

Maxine's Chicken and Waffles

132 N. East St.

Indianapolis, IN 46204

317-423-3300

www.maxineschicken.com

Workingman's Friend

After my disappointing visit to Boogie Burger, Jamie and I were in need of a really solid burger. We met for lunch at Workingman's Friend close to where I work. It's another one of those blue collar hole in the wall that you could very easily miss when you're driving. The restaurant sign is an old school sign with a giant Pepsi logo and their very faded name. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm pretty sure they serve Coke products. Be sure to stop at the ATM because this place only takes cash. It's probably because of the old school cash register that the bartender still uses. It kind of looks like this:

The atmosphere is relaxed. The servers are friendly. And if you order a tea, it'll come in a mason jar. :-)

They are known for their double cheeseburgers and tenderloins. Personally, I don't care for their tenderloin - you should just go to John's Famous Stew or Bourbon Street for that. So I only get a double cheeseburger there. They cook the burgers on a griddle so the patties have a really crunchy crust and crispy bits around the edges.

I got the double cheeseburger with everything on it. That includes lettuce, tomato, and onions. Jamie got the jalapeno burger, which I didn't even realize they had, but it's basically the regular cheeseburger with pepper jack cheese instead of American.

1. Were the patties juicy and well seasoned? They're not oozing with juice because they're thin, but they're definitely not lacking in flavor!

2. Did all the extras balance well with the meat? I thought so. They're your standard toppings. The lettuce and onions were crispy. The tomato was surprisingly not gritty. The cheese wasn't overwhelming. Kind of perfect actually.

3. How did the bun hold up? The bun is also standard, and it was all you needed. It was soft. It didn't fall apart. It didn't turn to mush. It did its job. A+

This is one of those places that I crave. You might too after trying it. ;-)

The Rating

- Of course I'm giving it 2.

The Info

Workingman's Friend

234 N. Belmont Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46222

317-636-2067

www.workingmansfriend.us

La Piedad

Normally my philosophy for finding a Mexican restaurant is to just drive around until I see one. This is because, unfortunately, none of the ones I've tried here in Indy have stood out to me. They all seem to have the same menus, and all of the food taste just as good as the last restaurant. Maybe, one of my problems is that I always order the same thing: The Combination Dinner of 1 tamale, 1 enchilada, and rice and beans. My visit to La Piedad was no different.

I heard La Piedad was pretty good. Actually, I've always heard that it's better than La Jolla, and it was. I ordered my usual with a Dos Equis. They brought the dos equis out with a lime wedge; which I've never seen before and there's a reason why. It's disgusting! Dos Equis is not a Corona! It's not meant to have lime in it. So if you get a Dos Equis with a lime, save the lime for your tacos.

Just like I suspected, the food at La Piedad was just fine. Not great. Not terrible. Just fine. Will I go there again? Sure, when I'm in Broad Ripple...but I won't be making any special trips. I'll just go down the street to the closest restaurant.

The Rating

The Info

La Piedad

6524 Cornell Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46220

317-475-0988

www.lapiedadindy.com

There is a 10% off coupon available on their website.

Za

Za is a New York style pizzeria that sells pizza by the slice. I've had pizza in New York (I might have been intoxicated, but I remember eating it.), and Za was pretty good! By talking with one of workers, he told me they only use fresh ingredients and make everything from scratch. I wasn't convinced with the sauce, but the cheese definitely tasted fresh. That's more important to me.

The downside of buying pizza by the slice is that you're at the mercy of what they have available at that time. So when I went I could only get cheese or pepperoni & sausage. They had a lot of other exciting combinations and ingredients like margherita, greek style, and gouda, but those were only available if you ordered a whole pie. Since we just popped in, I could only get a slice. :-(

Overall, it was pretty good! I'd go again.

The Rating

The Info

'Za Pizzeria

801 Broad Ripple Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46220

317-602-3753

www.zapizzeria.com

Pupcakes & Cupcakes - Parcha Sweets

The problem with being behind in my blog posts is that when I write one for some place I went to awhile ago, I get really hungry for the food I'm writing about. So even though I'm super full from dinner, I really want a cupcake..or two...well, look at these pics! How could I not?!

April 20th has a certain significance for a lot people, but for me, it's my "kid's" Coco's birthday! My little pomeranian turned 2 years old. So to celebrate, I picked up some pupcakes from Three Dog Bakery for the dogs, and some cupcakes from Parcha Sweets just down the street. It's super cute inside, and the lady that helped me was ridiculously helpful. Turns out the chef has a very impressive resume, and sometimes she will just make whatever she feels like (see the above picture of the mini cheesecakes!) along with the regular cupcakes on the menu.

Top Row (from left to right): Caribbean Coconut, Lemon, Cappuccino Cream

Bottom Row (from left to right): Peanut Salty Caramel, Red Velvet, Wedding Cake

Right Picture: Tres Leches

(All descriptions are from the website.)

Caribbean Coconut Cream: White chocolate coconut ganache hidden inside a coconut cake frosted with coconut buttercream. (P's favorite!)

Lemon: Sweet and tangy lemon cream filling tucked inside a ricotta lemon cake frosted with smooth vanilla buttercream.

Cappuccino Cream: Mocha cake, Kahlua filling, and vanilla frosting sprinkled with cinnamon. (One of my favorites!)

Peanut Salty Caramel: Chocolate cake surrounds delicioius salty caramel filling, all crowned with peanut butter frosting.

Red Velvet: A marriage of sinfully rich red cake and white cream cheese frosting. A touch of Southern charm!

Wedding Cake: A light and moist cake is infused with vanilla, almond and brandy and finished with delicate vanilla buttercream frosting.

Tres Leches: Vanilla sponge cake soaked in a combination of three classic milks and topped with marshmallow fluff frosting. (You'll need a spoon!)

All of these cupcakes and desserts were AMAZING!!! What I really enjoyed about these cupcakes is that there was a good balance of icing and cake. Sometimes you get cupcakes that have so much icing that it's all that you can taste. Not here! I thought a lot of flavors were creative and great combinations. I really loved this place and will come here again. And for those that want more than cupcakes, Parcha offers coffee drinks, ice cream desserts, custom cakes, and free wifi at their store.

The Rating

The Info

Parch Sweets

2101 Broad Ripple Ave.

Indianapolis, IN 46220

317-723-5600

www.parchasweets.com

Shapiro's Deli

I've only started going to this Indianapolis staple recently because of my friend, Kara. It's super close to both of our workplaces so it's an easy spot for us to grab lunch and chat. This visit I went with my roommate, Jamie.

Shapiro's Deli has been around since 1905 serving kosher food. The restaurant is set up cafeteria style. They're really smart about the order in which you'll see the food - the desserts are first and they look good! You have to have a lot of self control when you pass them. My trick: I remind myself of all the OTHER food I already plan on eating, and then I don't pick up dessert.

I ordered my "usual", half of a corned beef on their homemade rye with spicy brown mustard and swiss cheese. Normally, I hate hate HATE mustard, but I don't mind it on this sandwich. This doesn't sound like a lot of food, but the sandwich is huge. They are definitely not stingy. And per usual, the food was fantastic. The corned beef is juicy. The bread is soft. And the mac and cheese is comforting. It has a sweet taste to it, but I think it works.

Jamie got the pastrami sandwich, and it looked really good! I might actually order that next time! But the part of Jamie's meal was her side of potato pancake. Talk about comfort! It was a giant hashbrown!

The Rating

The Info

Shapiro's Deli (Downtown)

808 S. Meridian St.

Indianapolis, IN 46225

317-631-3958

Boogie Burger

Along with writing this blog, I spend (too much) time reading food blogs. One of my favorite blogs reviews burgers, so I feel like a bit of an expert. They look at how juicy and well seasoned is the patty, how well the garnishes balance with the meat, and how the bun holds up. So that's how I am going to review Boogie Burger.

We heard from many people that Boogie Burger was the best burger they have ever eaten. We also heard that the garlic fries were to die for. I, unfortunately, did not have the same experience. Boogie Burger gave me heartburn and made me puke. :-/ But to be fair...it was most likely my fault. P said it best; sometimes I forget that I'm a small girl and not a big, burly man.

Sarah, Jamie, and Mike ordered the Wild Wild West Burger. Boogie Burger's most popular burger. It has onion rings, chedder cheese, bacon, and bbq sauce.

P ordered the Disco Inferno (I knew she would!) that has grilled serrano chiles and pepper jack cheese. Sorry that I couldn't get a picture of the burger..P was hungry. ;-)

The fatty that I am ordered the Boogie Monster (bwahaha!): Two beef patties with onion rings, grilled pastrami, a fried egg and bacon. I'm getting heartburn just thinking about it.

For a side most of us got the garlic fries. They're your thicker cut standard frozen fries tossed with fresh garlic and parsley. Mike hated them. He felt like he was eating cloves of garlic and a couple of spuds.

1. Were the patties juicy and well seasoned? Jamie and I agreed they weren't. Kind of tasted like the pre-formed frozen patties you can get at the grocery. Very disappointed.

2. Did all of the extras balance well with the meat? For mine...it was a little much. I love egg and bacon on burgers, but the grilled pastrami didn't add anything and it was very dry. The Wild Wild West and Disco Inferno were better. P said that the Disco Inferno had just the right amount of heat.

3. How did the bun hold up? The bun for my burger was pathetic, but in its defense, there were a lot of stuff on the burger. Everyone else's burgers seemed to hold up pretty well.

I'm willing to try Boogie Burger again, but I will definitely NOT get the Boogie Monster. I think I'll acknowledge my limitations and just get the single Boogie Burger.

The Rating

The Info

Boogie Burger

927 East Westfield Blvd. (Moving to 1904 Broad Ripple Ave. Corner of Broad Ripple Ave and Crittenden)

Indianapolis, IN 46220

317-255-2450

www.boogieburger.com

Kimu Asian

Kimu Asian was added to the list after reading about it in the New York Times article, "In Indianapolis, the World Comes to Eat". It's a Burmese restaurant on the edge of Greenwood and Indianapolis, right across from the Greenwood Park Mall. We decided to adventure there when we were in the mood for something really exotic. ;-) Sarah was unfortunately absent from this excursion, but not to worry; my good friend, Rani, stepped in for a guest appearance. This was Rani's first Feed My Food Baby experience, but she was already hip to the rules. She knew she was going to have to share her meal.

Per the Nuvo article about Kimu, the owner worked as a sushi chef prior to opening Kimu. This explains the random sushi menu in the middle of the table. Since we were wanting exotic, we opted out for the sushi.

The service was really slow (took us about 30 mins to get our checks), but very helpful and friendly. With the server's help, we ordered the Pork with Pickle Mango, Pork with Bamboo Shoot, Tuak Tuak Kyaw (Chinese Style), and Curry with Tofu. I also did something I don't normally do; I ordered the Burmese sweet hot tea instead of water or beer.

My favorite was the curry with tofu. The tofu worked really well with the potatoes, carrots and coconut sauce. This was the dish that I kept grazing while we were waiting for our check. I think I might just be a curry lover.

What I really enjoyed about the pork with bamboo shoot is that they used pork belly instead of chopped pork loin...and who can resist pork belly? It was really tasty, and I liked all the veggies with it. Unfortunately, I didn't really notice the bamboo shoots...oh well.

I couldn't try the pork with pickle mango (I'm allergic to mango), but I'm told that it tasted a lot like the pork with bamboo shoots. I think it looked better, and really wanted to try it. I was very tempted to risk breaking out around my mouth for a taste, but I was supposed to go out afterwards and that's not very attractive...

Last but not least, the tuak tuak kyaw which is a dish of sauteed meat of your choice and veggies. We ordered it with beef. I really liked this dish right away, but Jamie was put off, at first, that the beef was ground. They went a little heavy on the sauce, but once you mixed it with the nice, you didn't even notice. I would order this again.

I have to say, while I wasn't disappointed with the food, I was disappointed by how much everything reminded me of another type of cuisine. I was really hoping for something really different and memorable. The tea reminded me of Indian chai; the curry was like thai curry; and the other dishes were like chinese dishes. Oh well, I now know better than to expect something different. Maybe next time I'll try the sushi too.

The Rating

The Info

Kimu Asian

1280 US31 North

Greenwood, IN 46142

317-893-2221

Coupons are available at www.coupons4indy.com.