Well, Scotty’s has been on the list awhile, and we had the kids and my parents and it was a great day to sit outside, so we thought, why not? I have to start by saying they do a nice job of making the place pretty kid friendly for a “brewhouse.” Inside there are TVs at each table (can you change the station? I am not sure. If not, sports may not keep the kids entertained after all). We sat outside though, and they had one of those nifty bean bag toss games right outside the fence on the sidewalk that kept the kids entertained until their food got there. And since it was Sunday, the kids’ meals were free (with the purchase of an adult meal) which was a nice surprise as well.
Before I get into the meat of it, so to speak, can I just complain about something? This menu is an assault on the senses. What is it about these types of restaurants that makes them think they a) need to offer every type of food under the sun; and b) print them all in screaming bold graphics that just make me dizzy. Seriously, there are so many things on the menu, it was a bit overwhelming. My Mom even commented, with so many things on the menu, you wonder if they can do it all well.
Anyway, since there were 6 of us, I ordered some starters for the table. According to everyone and everything I have ever read about Scotty’s, the fried pickles are the thing to order, and since I love pickles, and even fried pickles (anyone ever had the fried pickles at the Irish Lion in Bloomington?). The pickles come with a horseradish sauce or ranch dressing. I asked for both (and eventually got both). But the horseradish was definitely the best I think. Not too spicy and nice and creamy. A really nice complement. And by the end of the meal, I think hubby and I agreed that they probably were the best thing on the table. They are sliced pickles (as opposed to the spear-type ones I have had before) and were clearly hand battered (since a couple that were stuck together still had quite a bit of wet batter in them). They were tasty overall for little fried items, and I enjoyed them. And I think pretty much everyone did, even my 3 year old.
We also ordered the 7 tidals buffalo chicken dip because it sounded interesting and was designated as a house specialty. It is described as chicken, bleu cheese, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and mild sauce all blended with blue corn chips and celery. Well, it wasn’t very good. Tried a couple bites and couldn’t eat any more. And judging by the amount left at the end, no one else liked it either. Chicken? Really? There was chicken in there? Sorta reminiscent of that Velveeta con queso dip people used to make in the microwave with salsa. But funkier. And it was very, very orange.
Because I was attempting to try lots of things, after that, I opted for what are called “scooty snacks” on the menu, which are basically Scotty’s version of sliders. There are several flavors you can try, so I chose the turkey Caesar and the buffalo chicken. These are intended to be a smaller portion (which I do appreciate that they are offering), so not served with a side or anything (and if you get a side, watch out for all the choices on that front too. Whew!) Well, the turkey and Caesar sandwich was pretty dang boring. It was like two slices of turkey with some very lightly dressed Romaine. Oh wait, it says there was Swiss on it too…really? I don’t recall that at all. (hey, now that I look at my photos, you can see cheese on one half, I think that was the half I didn’t end up eating.) Anyhow, bland was the word for these. After about 2 bites, I was done. The buffalo chicken was much better, the chicken was nice pieces of white meat, fried and covered in buffalo sauce and supposed to be served with a side of blue cheese dressing. Well, I had to ask for mine, but when I got it and put it on the little sandwich, it was tasty. The chicken was tender, the sauce not crazy hot and the blue cheese dressing a very high quality with large chunks of cheese in it.
I also had a couple of bites of my Mom’s bayside turkey wrap which was a honey wheat tortilla with sliced turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, pepper jack and guacamole. It was certainly better than my turkey Caesar “snack,” but nothing amazing. Better dipped in some ranch. Could have used some sort of dressing or something on it.
Hubby had the “bugle blazing blues” burger which was described as a burger with Cajun spices, crispy bacon and blue cheese crumbles. He thought the beef itself was very good, and the proportion of meat to bun appropriate, although still a huge burger if you ask me (and since he basically wouldn’t eat dinner that night, I’d say I was right). I had a bite and it wasn’t bad—I appreciated that the meat wasn’t cooked to death. It wasn’t spicy though. And I think hubby nailed it on the head when he described it as really nice ingredients that were too dry together. The blue cheese and bacon were good, but the sandwich was dry. Maybe if they used some of their blue cheese dressing which was quite tasty and full of those nice sized chunks of blue cheese instead (which is basically what hubby ended up doing with my left over blue cheese dressing), it would step it up. The waffle fries on the side were good.
Mom wanted a margarita and they were offering a pitcher for $7 so I had a margarita as well. Again, not bad (and freakin’ cheap for sure) but nothing to write home about. And on the topic of drinks, why is it a “Brewhouse” that doesn’t brew beer? Is that a question that everyone else knows the answer to except me?
The thing about Scotty’s is, it is bar food, generally done with pretty good ingredients and seemingly some of it is done in house. So I guess what I am saying is, nothing was making me crave going back there, but if you want a large (very large) selection of classic bar food (you can certainly see how Scotty’s started in college towns) that is made fresh (at least what we had), and is a local alternative to all the chains doing similar, but not as good stuff, give Scotty’s a go.
Scotty’s Brewhouse
3905 E. 96th Street (and there is one downtown)
Indy 46240
317-574-0101
http://www.scottysbrewhouse.com/ (wow, the website reminds me a lot of the menu!)
Before I get into the meat of it, so to speak, can I just complain about something? This menu is an assault on the senses. What is it about these types of restaurants that makes them think they a) need to offer every type of food under the sun; and b) print them all in screaming bold graphics that just make me dizzy. Seriously, there are so many things on the menu, it was a bit overwhelming. My Mom even commented, with so many things on the menu, you wonder if they can do it all well.
Anyway, since there were 6 of us, I ordered some starters for the table. According to everyone and everything I have ever read about Scotty’s, the fried pickles are the thing to order, and since I love pickles, and even fried pickles (anyone ever had the fried pickles at the Irish Lion in Bloomington?). The pickles come with a horseradish sauce or ranch dressing. I asked for both (and eventually got both). But the horseradish was definitely the best I think. Not too spicy and nice and creamy. A really nice complement. And by the end of the meal, I think hubby and I agreed that they probably were the best thing on the table. They are sliced pickles (as opposed to the spear-type ones I have had before) and were clearly hand battered (since a couple that were stuck together still had quite a bit of wet batter in them). They were tasty overall for little fried items, and I enjoyed them. And I think pretty much everyone did, even my 3 year old.
We also ordered the 7 tidals buffalo chicken dip because it sounded interesting and was designated as a house specialty. It is described as chicken, bleu cheese, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and mild sauce all blended with blue corn chips and celery. Well, it wasn’t very good. Tried a couple bites and couldn’t eat any more. And judging by the amount left at the end, no one else liked it either. Chicken? Really? There was chicken in there? Sorta reminiscent of that Velveeta con queso dip people used to make in the microwave with salsa. But funkier. And it was very, very orange.
Because I was attempting to try lots of things, after that, I opted for what are called “scooty snacks” on the menu, which are basically Scotty’s version of sliders. There are several flavors you can try, so I chose the turkey Caesar and the buffalo chicken. These are intended to be a smaller portion (which I do appreciate that they are offering), so not served with a side or anything (and if you get a side, watch out for all the choices on that front too. Whew!) Well, the turkey and Caesar sandwich was pretty dang boring. It was like two slices of turkey with some very lightly dressed Romaine. Oh wait, it says there was Swiss on it too…really? I don’t recall that at all. (hey, now that I look at my photos, you can see cheese on one half, I think that was the half I didn’t end up eating.) Anyhow, bland was the word for these. After about 2 bites, I was done. The buffalo chicken was much better, the chicken was nice pieces of white meat, fried and covered in buffalo sauce and supposed to be served with a side of blue cheese dressing. Well, I had to ask for mine, but when I got it and put it on the little sandwich, it was tasty. The chicken was tender, the sauce not crazy hot and the blue cheese dressing a very high quality with large chunks of cheese in it.
I also had a couple of bites of my Mom’s bayside turkey wrap which was a honey wheat tortilla with sliced turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, pepper jack and guacamole. It was certainly better than my turkey Caesar “snack,” but nothing amazing. Better dipped in some ranch. Could have used some sort of dressing or something on it.
Hubby had the “bugle blazing blues” burger which was described as a burger with Cajun spices, crispy bacon and blue cheese crumbles. He thought the beef itself was very good, and the proportion of meat to bun appropriate, although still a huge burger if you ask me (and since he basically wouldn’t eat dinner that night, I’d say I was right). I had a bite and it wasn’t bad—I appreciated that the meat wasn’t cooked to death. It wasn’t spicy though. And I think hubby nailed it on the head when he described it as really nice ingredients that were too dry together. The blue cheese and bacon were good, but the sandwich was dry. Maybe if they used some of their blue cheese dressing which was quite tasty and full of those nice sized chunks of blue cheese instead (which is basically what hubby ended up doing with my left over blue cheese dressing), it would step it up. The waffle fries on the side were good.
Mom wanted a margarita and they were offering a pitcher for $7 so I had a margarita as well. Again, not bad (and freakin’ cheap for sure) but nothing to write home about. And on the topic of drinks, why is it a “Brewhouse” that doesn’t brew beer? Is that a question that everyone else knows the answer to except me?
The thing about Scotty’s is, it is bar food, generally done with pretty good ingredients and seemingly some of it is done in house. So I guess what I am saying is, nothing was making me crave going back there, but if you want a large (very large) selection of classic bar food (you can certainly see how Scotty’s started in college towns) that is made fresh (at least what we had), and is a local alternative to all the chains doing similar, but not as good stuff, give Scotty’s a go.
Scotty’s Brewhouse
3905 E. 96th Street (and there is one downtown)
Indy 46240
317-574-0101
http://www.scottysbrewhouse.com/ (wow, the website reminds me a lot of the menu!)
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