By JOHN & STACI GEIGER
Food & Dining Reviews for Everyone
Once in a while, there’s something that’s probably obvious to others that I never realized. One of those is that the word “pub” is short for “public house.”
pub (pʌb) NOUN: A pub is a bar or tavern that serves food and often acts as a community gathering place.
Pub is a shortened form of public house that dates from 1859.
Grindstone Public House owner Blake Fogelsong is a third-generation local restaurateur with his pub located only two blocks away from the first restaurant his grandfather Carl opened back in 1965.
Reporter photo by JohnGeiger.com
Eat outside on the limited seating patio or enter the side door at 101 N. 10th St. in Noblesville.
Very nice interior décor with wooden floors, brass and copper tones, Victorian-style tin ceiling, and cool lighting. It includes an upstairs for overflow or parties.
The beautiful wooden bar includes many Indiana craft drafts, a nice whiskey and bourbon selection, and a wide variety of wines. It’s nice that Staci’s Maschio Prosecco was served from an individual 187ml bottle ($8).
The varied menu made it hard to choose.
On Friday after 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday after 2 p.m., Grindstone offers Roast Prime Rib of Beef. A generous 12-ounce center cut of USDA choice rib of beef slow roasted for 12 hours plus choice of two sides costs $32.
We were there on a busy Tuesday evening, but the service was quick. I couldn’t believe how fast our cheeseburger cup of soup ($5) of the day came. It was delicious and creamy with bite-sized potatoes.
Fried Green Tomatoes ($11) – the fact that neither of us had ever tried fried green tomatoes came up. Ever since the 1991 film starring Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy, I have always wondered what they were like. I had always thought a green tomato meant that it wasn’t ready to eat. Why would frying them make them better?
They were amazingly crunchy on the outside and green tomatoes inside that were just soft enough and delicious – hand-breaded with parmesan, parsley, and chipotle ranch for dipping.
Our Yukon Gold loaded baked potatoes were covered with cheddar cheese and bacon-y deliciousness ($5).
I was reluctant to try it at first, thinking it would be the same old thing, but for both of us, the showstopper of the night was the Buffalo Chicken Dipper appetizer ($11). It consisted of shredded buffalo chicken, cream cheese, cheddar jack cheese, panko bread crumbs, and blue cheese dipping sauce. The outside breading was very light and crunchy with the mixture inside fluffy and perfectly balanced. These little nuggets are now on the list as one of my favorite munchies in the county. They’re so delicious that I wanted to eat them all, but held back to keep room for the rest of the meal.
Reporter photo by JohnGeiger.com
The pub serves up a bit of history with a burger that pre-dates “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame-seed bun,” called Clancy’s Topper ($11).
It’s like Big Mac on steroids with double-stacked burgers, American cheese, shredded lettuce, house tartar sauce, and a double-decker sesame seed bun.
It’s a delicious throwback to the Fogelsong family restaurant, Clancy’s Hamburgers, which was once one of the Midwest’s premier burger joints through the late 1960s and 1970s.
Staci ordered the Whiskey Chicken Breast ($20) which was very good, hot, and tasty, but just slightly over-cooked. A little pepper jack cheese, bourbon BBQ sauce, fried onion straws, and yes, bacon! The green beans and Yukon Gold mashed potatoes added to round out the yummy meal.
The Creamy Jambalaya Pasta ($18) is cavatappi pasta, grilled bell peppers, shallots, garlic, Cajun alfredo cream sauce, seared chicken, shrimp, andouille sausage, and parmesan cheese. Topped with little toasts, or crostini.
I should have done my homework or read the menu more carefully because I didn’t know cavatappi pasta is thick and much like macaroni, but with a sauce-grabbing ridge. I would have preferred a thinner, long ribbon pasta like linguine or fettuccine. Regardless, the dish was a hot creamy yummy combination that I really enjoyed.
Believed to have originated with Quaker settlers who came from North Carolina in the early 19th century – and also known as Hoosier Pie – in 2009, the Indiana State Senate named sugar cream pie the state’s official pie. Grindstone has another hit with their rich, silky, and deliciously indulgent Sugar Cream Pie ($7).
An interesting note to add that you don’t see every day is that the menu that Grindstone has online is $1 more expensive than what we were charged.
Leftovers were also very good the day after.
Grindstone Public House features live music each Thursday and Saturday. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
Call Grindstone at (317) 774-5740 and visit them online at grindstonepublichouse.com.
Please contact John@ReadTheReporter.com to comment on this restaurant or review.
Reporter photos by JohnGeiger.com