Location: 220 Columbia St, Lafayette (map it)
Phone: (765) 420-0283
Cuisine: Mexican

I had a chance to try out Tomates Mexican Grill yesterday. They have taken up residence in Bea One’s old location. I had read about it in the Journal and Courier, but didn’t have any information on if it was open or when it would be open, but then I drove by and saw the “NOW OPEN” sign. I figured that was a good indication. There’s not a lot of parking in that area, so prepare to walk if you go.

The walls were brightly colored but aside from that, there wasn’t much in the way of decor. I hope that changes, because there are really no windows in this place, and it can be kind of dreary. That was one of the things I disliked about Bea One when it was there – no natural light.

We were greeted warmly and given seats and immediately had our drink orders taken. Sadly, we learned at this time that they do not yet have a liquor license, therefore we could not enjoy a margarita with our lunch. (They are trying to get one, they assured us.)

The chips and salsa arrived at the table and they were pretty good. Not the best in town, but good.The menu was large with everything you can expect on the menu of a Mexican restaurant. Because I’m a nice reviewer, I even have a poorly scanned menu here for you to review. Although the menu has beer and margaritas, and they as of yet don’t have those things.

I ordered burrito verde off the lunch special menu. It was described as “A big burrito filled with beef chunks, onions, green peppers & beans. Then smothered with cheese & our special green tomatillos sauce.” And so it was. It was really big and it was really quite good. I could only mange to finish half of it because it was so big, but I saved the other half for dinner. It came with rice.

My friend ordered the Tomates Quesadilla, which is labeled as a specialty. Flour tortilla filled with steak, pico de gallo, and cheese served with guacamole, sour cream, and tomatoes. She reports that it was very good.

We also ordered some guacamole, which was okay. Not exceptional, but okay.

The service was very good. The servers were all friendly, our water glasses never went empty, and overall we had a great time. If I was downtown and in the mood for Mexican, I’d definitely go again.

Kid Friendly: Yes.

Price: Very reasonable

Location: 1005 Main St, Lafayette, IN (map it)
Phone: 765-742-4793
Cuisine: Wine

I was SUPER excited when I saw this article in the Journal and Courier the other day titled Check out Uncorked, Lafayette’s new wine tasting room. It details how Main Street Wine and Cheese has expanded into the next door office space to create a wine tasting room and wine bar. Truly, this is something that has been sorely missed in Lafayette, for those of us who enjoy a glass or three of wine. For a while, we had a wine bar in West Lafayette (anyone remember Windows on the Levee, above the Capp and Ginos?) but they didn’t do wine tasting, if my memory serves. So having a wine bar in downtown Lafayette is very exciting and I couldn’t wait to go try it!

I convinced a bunch of my friends to join me for drinks and food last night to check it out. I was really impressed with the ambiance. They did a fantastic job of converting an office space into a wine bar. They had a large bar on one side with shelves on wine behind it, tables all around. The decor and lighting was really nice and it was super clean. Even the bartenders and servers were in uniforms which you really don’t see that much anymore. I immediately liked it. Oh, and it was busy. Considering I had never heard of this place (and it only opened December 11th) I was not expecting that.

We went in and got a table for our group (six of us) and the waitress brought us all water. And here is where I stop to show you a picture of my water glass.

Clearly, I am easily amused. But how cool is that water glass? Maybe the picture doesn’t do it justice, but it’s like a leaning tower of water. Truly, it’s the little details like that that always excite me the most.

Our server told us we could either go to the bar to taste wine, or she could bring it to our table. Of course, we opted for delivery! They have a list of all the wines available for tasting, and you can choose three one ounce “tastes” for free, then after that it’s $1 a taste or $4.99 for a glass of any of the wines available for tasting. They offer 10 different wines for tasting at a time.  Update: I went back tonight (1/4) and they only had 5 wines available for tasting and the cost per glass went up to $6.99. While $6.99 per glass ultimately isn’t bad, it was kind of a bummer. I did speak with the owner, who said they are keeping the cost of the bottles low by raising the cost of the by the glass wines.

They don’t have a full menu, but a wide selection of appetizers and some desserts. We decided to each order an appetizer for the table to share, so we had a wide selection of options. Among our table we had: steamed mussels, bruschetta, baked brie, stuffed mushrooms, spanakopita, steak tartare, and then some fondue as well. I am a sucker for appetizers, so this type of eating is right up my alley. I really enjoyed everything I tried. The brie was delicious, and the fondue came with a wide selection of options for dipping, including apples, bread, asparagus, and a meat that I’m not entirely sure what it was, but had a bit of a kick to it. The food was good. My only complaint was that for sharing and for the price, the dishes were pretty small. The stuffed mushrooms only came with 4 mushrooms, which makes it hard to share among six people. (They were really delicious though!)

Our server was super friendly, funny, and helpful. The delivery of the wines for tasting was pretty slow, but I imagine that has more to do with being a new place and that kind of kink will hopefully get worked out as they grow into their new business.

Overall, I was really happy with my experience and I will definitely be back again.

Kid Friendly: No, it’s a bar.

Price: A little on the pricier side for the appetizers, but very reasonable for wine by the glass. It’s rare to find a glass of wine for $5 a glass.

Menu is available on  their website and other info on their Facebook page.

Location: 660 Main Street Lafayette, IN (map it)
Phone: 765-427-8166
Cuisine: American

In this week’s installment of Lafayette Eats, we headed downtown to try out a quaint little spot called the Copper Dog Cafe. I’ve been by this place a few times before, and hadn’t been able to try it because they weren’t open the times I’ve tried. It’s located downtown, north of 6th Street in a small little space. I’ve been by before and seen outdoor seating, although this is not the season for that anymore.

I had never been inside before, and I was surprised by how nice it was. When I’d been by and viewed people eating outside, it seemed like everyone eating there had their dog with them so I was under the impression it was a lot more casual than it actually is. The inside is small but very tastefully decorated. with a light jazz music playing in the background. Upon being seated, our table was brought a large glass bottle of water with cups of ice, so we could server ourselves water if we wanted and we were offered an assortment of beverages including wine, cold and hot tea, coffee, and soda.

The menu is very small, and I assume changes seasonally since the menu I found on their website was different than the one I saw in the restaurant. It consists mostly of a few various sandwiches, salad, and soup choices. They also had fresh hummus and pico de gallo. I was starving, so I ordered some hummus and pico de gallo for the table and an iced tea.

There was only one other table occupied the entire time we were there, so it certainly wasn’t busy with any kind of lunch rush, and I’m not sure if that’s due to location or if it was just an off day. Our server was very polite and attentive. My tea glass was frequently refilled and he had lots of information about the menu items.

For lunch, I ordered a turkey sandwich that was advertised as a turkey and Swiss on Rye. I did this with some trepidation, because I’m generally not a fan of Rye bread. However, the Rye was light and the sandwich was good. It was server with potato chips on the side. I really liked the Swiss they used on it. The hummus and pico de gallo was also quite good. It came with pita bread, which was nothing special, just the kind you can get at the grocery. It was cut into triangles and served with a slice of cucumber on each triangle, which was something I’ve never seen before. I really enjoyed the hummus/cucumber combination, as well as adding the pico de gallo to that combo as well. Very yummy.

One friend ordered the “signature sandwich,” which is a portabella sandwich with melted cheese, tomato and avocado. It was served with veggie straw sticks. She reported that the sandwich was delicious and the sauce on it was a little spicy in a good way, but that the veggie sticks were mostly flavorless. (She let me try one, they were.) My other friend ordered the soup and grilled cheese, and reported both were quite good.

While we were munching on our appetizer, we heard the server telling the other table about their dessert offerings. Because of that, I knew I was going to want to get dessert so I only ate some of my sandwich so I would have room. When we told us the dessert offerings, there were several but I forgot what they were after I heard “pumpkin cake.” So my friend and I shared a piece of pumpkin cake. I did ask if it was made fresh there, and he said it was not, they have it made and shipped in from Indianapolis. I’m glad we opted to share a piece, though, since it was HUGE. Delicious, but huge.We were also offered complimentary coffee to accompany our dessert, which is nice because I really like a good cup of coffee with my meal, and the coffee was very good.

They have odd hours, only open Tuesday through Saturday for lunch only, and opening for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights by reservation only. So don’t run out there unless you check that they are open first, because you might arrive to find them closed.

According to their website, they only serve meals with all natural, whole ingredients and use only fresh, locally grown produce. I do like a place that tries to stay local in their offerings so I give that a plus.

Kid Friendly: Not kid unfriendly, exactly. The menu had grilled cheese, but there was no kids’ menu and no other children in the restaurant.

Price: A bit pricy for cafe fare. In this neck of the woods, $11 is high for a turkey sandwich and some chips.

Location: 524 N. 4th Street, Lafayette (map it)
Phone: (765) 742-5000
Cuisine: American

Today I ventured downtown once again, to meet a friend for lunch and try a place I haven’t been in years. Jane’s Gourmet Deli is located on 4th Street, north of Ferry a bit in some kind of plaza. There’s not a lot of parking, but I was able to find a spot.

When you walk in, on one side is a wall of wine. That’s my kind of place! It was a really neat display. Then there’s a take out counter, and some display cases of cheeses and desserts. It all looked delicious!

There wasn’t a sign or a greeter, so we just seated ourselves. It was fairly busy, although there was a second room unused at the time. We sat down and a server, a very funny server I might add, came over to take our drink orders and give us menus. It was at this point that I checked in on Foursquare, and what did I see?

And oh my goodness, that really excited me! In all the places I’ve checked in and all the places I’ve eaten, this has NEVER happened! I was pretty excited to show it to my waiter to get my 10% off. So if you want your 10%, go check in there for lunch one day.

The menu contains a lot of deli items, of course. Mostly sandwiches, hot sandwiches, wraps, salads, and soups. It was a hard decision, but after the waiter’s assurance that the fruited chicken salad is without a doubt the best on the menu, I ordered half a sandwich, a cup of the clam chowder, and a side of potato salad. My friend ordered a panini with tomato soup and potato salad as well.

When the food came, it was so pretty I took a picture. The soup was a generous portion and looked and tasted really good. There’s nothing worse than ordering clam chowder to find it exactly as you can get it out of a can of Campbell’s, but this was tasty. I enjoyed the big chunks of red potatoes and veggies throughout.

The fruited chicken salad was good. It didn’t blow my mind or anything, but it was good enough. I am an overly harsh critic of potato salad and I’ll just say that right off the bat. (Nobody’s is as good as my  mom’s, and that’s the current standard.) The first bite of this was really good, and I thought I was going to wind up really enjoying the potato salad. And it was good, but the more I ate, the thicker the mayonnaise seemed to me, and it got kind of gloopy. So it was okay, and certainly better than the potato salad you can find most places, but again didn’t blow my mind.

My friend reported that her sandwich, the Panini Rustica, which has fresh mozzarella, tomato, pesto and field greens was really tasty and enjoyed the bread that it was served on, which is a little different than regular panini bread.

The service was really friendly too and our drinks never went without being refilled.

Overall, I think as deli’s go, this is a great little place. I’ll go again.

Kid Friendly: Yes, there is a small kids menu.

Price: $10 for a half sandwich, soup, side, and drink. See full menu on their website.

Location: 914 S Union Lafayette, IN (map it)
Phone: (765) 423-9999
Cuisine: Italian

I frequently travel between Lafayette and West Lafayette, and I often take Union Street because of all the construction going on around town, so I’d seen the signs for Niko’s Spicy Pickle. I knew it was there, although it was a little scary to me. Located on the corner of 9th and Union, it’s not exactly in a very restaurant friendly location. It’s a tiny place, just a hole in the wall really, with very little parking. I’d wondered about it, but for lack of information, hadn’t yet dared to try it.

And then, all my wonderful friends on Facebook said I must, must,  must go. Since nobody on the Internet has ever steered me wrong, I went over there today with a healthy dose of optimism and a full appetite.

And boy, was I not disappointed.

I parked in one of the few parking spots. There are only a handful, but there’s plenty of street parking. I’m not sure what this building used to be, but from the outside, it’s nothing special. However, I could NOT believe how nice it was on the inside! It was clean with ample seating, nice furnishings, and tastefully decorated. I was impressed!

At the counter was a friendly server. We approached and she asked if we were dining in or taking out. We opted to dine in so she gave us all the info we needed on ordering and we took our menus and sat down. The menu was extensive, with everything from subs, pizza, salads, wraps, calzones, and more including appetizers and dessert. It was a tough decision. I ultimately chose the ham and cheese sub and an order of bread sticks, and my friend choose the Stromboli.

Once you have decided what you want, you go back to the register to order. These subs come in half or whole sizes. Since I was getting bread sticks, I went with the half but my friend choose the full. We got our drinks (Pepsi products, for those who care – I’m a Coke person) and sat down and after a bit, our bread sticks arrived. And here is where I had to stop and take a picture of the bread sticks.

Breadsticks with cheese and marinara

Seriously, will you look at those things? Not only are they beautiful to behold, but they were delightfully delicious! And there were a TON of them. For $4.95, that’s a healthy serving of bread sticks.

Next came our sandwiches. We learned when our sandwiches arrived that our idea of whole and half were different than those who created this menu. My sandwich, which I ordered as a half, was a full size sub. My friend’s stromboli, which she ordered as a whole, was TWO full sized subs! So know going in there, that the half size is big, and the whole size is twice is big. The sandwiches don’t come with sides, other than a spicy pickle. They aren’t kidding when they named the place, it was a very spicy pickle! In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had a pickle quite so spicy. But it was great!

The sandwiches were both very yummy as well. The bread is always toasted unless requested otherwise, and it was just great. Toward the end of our meal, the counter girl came over to check to see if we’d enjoyed our food. She brought us to-go boxes (because it was seriously WAY too much food). The service was really good, the people very friendly, and the food enjoyable. Overall, I give this restaurant two thumbs up! My only complaint was that they were out of  “to go” menus and they don’t have a real website with their menu available for take out ordering. (They are on MySpace, which I think is kind of weird. Do people still use MySpace?)

Kid Friendly: Yes.

Price: Very affordable. Half sandwiches at $4.95 and whole sandwiches at $7.95.