Location: 2108 Veterans Memorial Pkwy Suite C, Lafayette (map it)
Phone: (765) 838-0176
Cuisine: American

A loyal follower has been suggesting this place for a review for a while now, so I finally made my way over to the south side to give it a try. If you are looking for it, it’s in the strip mall there near the Bar Barry Liquor store. When you walk in, there are tables in the middle, booths up one wall, and a big eat at bar on the other side. It was very clean, very nicely arranged, and everything looked fresh and new. I was impressed.

We were told to sit anywhere, so we did. The server was there immediately to give us menus and take our drink orders, and our drinks came back almost as fast. The menu consists of mainly breakfast, which is served all day, burgers, and salads with a few other items. (The full menu can be seen here.) It’s certainly not an expansive menu, but they also had specials on the a chalkboard which I assume change daily.

My friend noticed the appetizers and ordered something I’ve never heard of before: cheese curds. Apparently a staple in Wisconsin, the cheese curd is some kind of deep fried cheese. These came and out and YUM! I have no past experience with the cheese curd and no basis for comparison, but it was really good. However, a word of warning: it’s not health food!

I’d been told to get the breakfast, and since I always do as I’m told (heh) I ordered the Southside Breakfast Monte Cristo, which is a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich of sorts, although it’s served on some kind of special bread and then cooked like French Toast. Really, it tasted like a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich on French Toast. It was good. Different, but tasty.

I ordered the hash browns and my other friend who was having breakfast went with the fried potatoes. I tasted both, and definitely the fried potatoes were better. The hash browns weren’t bad, but lacked a little of the crispness that I like in hash browns. The fried potatoes had a better flavor and consistency.

My other friend ordered off the lunch menu, and choose the breaded tenderloin with fries. She reports it was pretty good, although not the best she’s had and that the fries were very good.

After eating lunch we were looking at the dessert case. I had no plans to have dessert, because I was full and really, dessert doesn’t go so well with breakfast. I asked our server if the desserts were made there, or if they were brought in. She assured me that the owners actually make all the desserts and so I was sold. I would have to try something. We ordered a slice of peanut butter pie to share and it was delicious. Decadent, for sure, but yummy. If I’m having dessert, then I always feel like I need coffee to go with it, so I ordered a cup and the coffee was quite good too. There’s nothing worse than bad restaurant coffee.

The service here was really good too. The servers were around often and were extremely pleasant. Always ready to refill a drink or get anything we needed. Overall, we had a very pleasant experience.

Kid Friendly: Yes.

Price: Breakfast platters from $2.75 up to $7.25, entrees between $6-8.

Restaurant Name: Five Guys Burgers and Fries

Location: 135 S. Chanucey Avenue, West Lafayette, IN (map it)

Phone: 763-743-3100

Cuisine: American

Review: There has been a lot of hype around the addition of Five Guys to Chauncey Mall. Everyone I know that had been to one somewhere raved about it so I was pretty stoked when my husband suggested we go there for lunch the other day. It was during the winter break at Purdue, so we were lucky that it wasn’t too crazy over near campus.

We got good parking and it didn’t appear too crazy, but once we got inside, the place was PACKED. By the time we ordered, there was only one table left in the restaurant. I could not believe it was so incredibly full this soon after opening. Wow.

As for the menu,  it is as it states in the name, almost exclusively burgers and fries. They have a burger menu, a little burger menu, and fries. Coke products for drinks. You order at the register up front, then wait for your order at the other end of the counter. It’s self serve for drinks, etc.

When you order, you tell them everything you want on your burger – they have a big sign that all toppings are free. Heh. I figured I’d go simple, just a cheeseburger and fries. The cashier was very helpful in alerting us to the fact that the regular order of fries will feed 2-3 people. I wish she had been as helpful when ordering burgers, because mine was HUGE.

So onto the food. There are burgers and little burgers. The difference, apparently, is that the burgers have two meat patties and the little burgers only have one. As you can see from the picture above, the burger, was quite large. Way bigger than I needed, so I know for future reference, get the little burger.

All burgers are cooked well done, you don’t get to choose. One of the things my husband liked most about the burger was that the bun wasn’t huge. We’ve eaten at burger places where you have some meat, toppings, and then 17 pounds of bread surrounding it. This had the appropriate amount of bun.

And it was good. Really good. I said as much after my first couple of bites to my husband, then paused and said, “Does it remind you a little of Wendy’s hamburgers?” He agreed that it did. I’m not saying it’s the same as a Wendy’s burger. I’m just saying that there was something about the flavor that was similar. This was definitely a better burger, but there was something about it familiar too.

The fries were also very good, and the portion was way more than any one person should need.

This is going to be a neat addition to West Lafayette, and if the day I went is any judge, they shouldn’t have any problem staying in business! It’s definitely fast food, nothing fancy or elaborate, but if you are in the mood for a good burger, this is the spot. It definitely beats out AJ Burgers and Beef and Scotty’s Brewhouse as well, as far as burgers go.

Kid friendly: yes.

Restaurant Name: AJ Burgers & Beef

Location: 124 S. River Rd, West Lafayette, IN (map it)

Phone: 765-743-1940

Cuisine:  American

Review:  A reader recently send an inquiry requesting I review AJ’s Burgers and Beef, and I aim to please! Tonight we headed over to the west side to try them out. It’s a small little shop just around the corner from the Silver Dipper, a place I spend entirely way too much time.

The restaurant is small with a few tables and chairs, a couple of small booths, and a long wall bench with high stools. You order at the counter and then they call you when the food is ready. It is small, but very clean and orderly. When we went, they were completely empty. Apparently, they have a delivery service which is available for online ordering. (They do not deliver to my area on the south side, I’m afraid.)

The menu is small, a variety of dogs, burgers, and chicken. Deep fried seems to be the order of the day. Our table ordered a range from a plain hot dog and hamburger to an Italian Sausage and a garlic cheeseburger. They offer waffle fries and regular fries. If you are looking for health food (or anything resembling a vegetable) – look elsewhere.

Mainly, my impression was just “Eh.” It was okay, but nothing special. I can’t see myself deciding to go there again. The bread for all the food was enormous, making everything too big for your mouth. The fries were a deep fried variety, very crispy but practically coated in something. The hamburgers didn’t make anyone at our table all that excited. A very mediocre visit.

And to make things worse, they only offer Pepsi products, and no, Diet Pepsi is not the same as Diet Coke.

Kid friendly: Yes.

Price Range: $3 – $7 for sandwiches

Methods of payment: Cash and Credit.

Restaurant Name: Scotty’s Brewhouse

Location: 352 E State St. West Lafayette, IN (map it)

Phone: (765) 746-3131

Cuisine:  American

Review:  This doesn’t often happen to me, but I had a craving for a cheeseburger so we headed out to Scotty’s Brewhouse. Scotty’s is an Indiana chain that has really done well. It started in Bloomington at IU, and then proceeded to open locations in other Indiana college towns including Lafayette and Muncie. They’ve evan branched out to Indianapolis now.

They’ve got a great location in Wabash Landing, right across from Borders. The set up is very pub like with high tables and a big bar in the center. Don’t let the name fool you, they are very kid friendly. Plenty of high chairs and booster, an extensive kids’ menu including noodles, chicken fingers, corn dogs, and macaroni and cheese to name a few. Crayons too. My kids love it there.

The menu is pretty extensive and is available online. You can also order online for pick up. I’ve never done that, but I generally like online services. You know, because I’m a geek.

The food is kind of hit or miss. I wasn’t ecstatic about my burger to be honest, but that could be because I was overly romanticizing it in my head. The waffle fries are great and I’ve had some good wraps there too. I didn’t care for the grilled cheese when I had it, but I have really enjoyed their soups. I really think there is something for everyone here. They also have a full bar with lots of beer on tap.

I’ve always had very good service at Scotty’s and I think they do a good job of training their staff. The food generally comes out pretty quickly as well, which keeps the kiddos happy. Definitely a hot spot for the 20-something crowd, but pleasant for those of us of other ages as well.

Kid friendly: Yes.

Methods of payment: Cash or credit.

Price Range: Varies – around $8 – $13 per entrée.

Restaurant Name: Chili’s Grill & Bar

Location: 3980 State Road 26 E Lafayette, IN (map it)

Phone: (765) 449-8430

Cuisine:  American, Tex Mex

Review:  Near every interstate or mall across America, you will find a Chili’s.  The Lafayette one is located on SR 26, close to the I-65. I found myself in that part of town today around lunch time and was looking for something that would suit the children, but also not be 8,000 calories per entrée. Sometimes I’m weird like that.

Chili’s fit the bill. I had to avoid the bottomless chips and salsa, which is a weakness of mine. Their menu has items from burgers to quesadillas and sandwiches and ribs. It’s fairly extensive with a large selection of salads. The reason I like to go to Chili’s on occasion is because of their Guiltless Grill options. They have one page of their menu with a handful of selections that are less than 750 calories and less than 25 grams of fat. So you still have to be careful with these items, because 750 calories is a lot for one meal. But still, a better option than most restaurants. Once upon a time they had the calories and fat listed on the menu, but apparently they did away with that so do your research before you go if you are counting calories. You can dowload the nutritional information here.

The restaurant is clean and the staff is friendly and my water was refilled often. I ordered the Guiltless Chicken Platter, which is a grilled chicken breast on rice with a side of broccoli. It was good, nothing to write home about but overall a decent meal. My daughter ordered the kid’s pizza, and she enjoyed it but it was pretty sad – limp and clearly something that had recently been frozen and wrapped in cellophane.

If you are looking for a predictable chain restaurant with an extensive kids’ menu, this is a good choice. I don’t go here often, but it’s nice once or twice a year.

Kid friendly: Absolutely. They have coloring pages and crayons and an extensive children’s menu. (Although I’m pretty sure most of the kids’ items are pulled from a freezer and zapped.)

Methods of payment: Cash or credit.

Price Range: Between $8 and $17 for most entrées.

Download and print the Chili’s menu here.

Download and print the nutrtitional information here.