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.

Restaurant Name: Bruno’s

Location: 4212 Brown St. West Lafayette, IN  (map it)

Phone: (765) 743-1668

Cuisine: Pizza

Review: I love getting reader recommendations, so when an email came in saying I just had to review Bruno’s, I hopped right on it! (It helped that I had a coupon for free Bruno dough.) So tonight we went there for dinner; it seemed just the thing for a wet, rainy evening.

Unlike the other time we tried to go there, this time there was no wait. We were seated right away and given menus. Apparently Bruno’s is a very popular place for sports fans, as there were TVs in every direction and sports paraphernalia on every inch of each wall.

The menu had not only pizza, but pasta, salads, sandwiches, and other items called “Bruno Specialties.” I usually opt for one of the specialities, figuring that the people who make the food know best, but as this was a family outing, we went simple and ordered a pepperoni pizza. (And our free Bruno dough.)

The drinks and Bruno dough came out pretty quickly, and I found the dough rather tasty, if a little greasy. My kids were big fans, eating more than we did. I’d like an opportunity to try out a few other dip options for the dough.

We ate our dough and waited for the pizza and it took quite a while for the pizza to come out. It didn’t seem that busy and our order was pretty simple so I don’t know what the hold up was. Service overall was a bit spotty all  night, and I do recognize that usually has more to do with a particular server than the restaurant. Our server wasn’t great or particularly friendly.

The pizza finally came. It wasn’t cut into triangles, but into narrow rectangular slices. Interesting option and the kids really liked it. I really enjoyed the taste and flavor of the pizza; it was really good. I was a little less enthusiastic about the goop factor. Not sure how else to describe it, but the dough was floppy and the pizza was very limp. It made it harder to eat, but we ate it all.

Overall, I definitely think it warrants a second try. I’d like to try some of the specialities and see if the pizza is generally floppy or if we hit a bad night.

Kid friendly: Yes

Price Range: $10-$20 for pizzas

Restaurant Name: Arni’s

Location: Various – Main store at 2200 Elmwood Ave.
Lafayette, Indiana (map it)

Phone: 765-447-1108

Cuisine: Pizza, subs, and salads (Menu)

Review: Arni’s is a Lafayette institution, so anyone in the area probably does not need a review. In my mind, it has the best pizza in town. But, that’s because my tastes run toward that kind of pizza, having grown up eating eastern Indiana Pizza King pizza (which is different than the western Indiana variety). The pizza crust is flat, crisp, and salty, the ingredients are ground, and the pieces are typically cut into party squares. Arni’s is also known for its Arni’s junior salad – a nice mix of lettuce, cheese, and meat. Additionally, it has a full menu of sandwiches, pastas, and salads.

I should make clear that, with this review, I’m primarily focused on Arni’s Market Square location which I view as its flagship store. This store has a number of dining rooms, including a traditional dining room, a bar/dining area, and a “game room” where the dining area is furnished with train and game decorations that will likely be popular with the kids.

The food is great and it’s available for eat-in or pick-up. The service has always been efficient and friendly. And, I would be remiss if I did not mention how generous the Cohens, owners of Arni’s, have been to the Lafayette community. I am directly aware of Brad Cohen’s years of support for Tippecanoe County’s Legal Aid program and indirectly aware that he has been very civic minded in other respects as well. But, please don’t think I’m letting that color my review. I just flat love the pizza.

Kid friendly: Yes.

Price Range: $5 – $7 for sandwiches; $7 – $15 for pizzas; $5 – $8 for salads.

Methods of payment: Cash and Credit.

Restaurant Name: Red Seven

Location: 200 Main Street, Lafayette, IN (map it)
Phone: 765-742-7337

Cuisine: Bar & Grill

Hours: Mon 11 to 10pm, Tues 11 to 10pm, Wed 11 to 12am, Thurs 11 to 1am, Friday 11 to 1am, Saturday 11 to 1am, Sunday closed

Review: If you are a regular reader or subscriber, you are probably aware that I’ve reviewed Red Seven before. I was invited to dine with some lady friends of mine this weekend, and had such a pleasant experience that I felt the need to revise my review. I didn’t originally give it a bad review; I just thought it had some potential and was hoping it would improve, and it did.

I love dining downtown, and the location of Red Seven couldn’t be better, right across from Chase and Riehle Plaza. It’s beautifully decorated, with an obvious amount of time, money, and energy put into the ambiance. Really quite nice.

The menu has really expanded since my last trip there, and for the better. Six months ago I dined in to be given a one page menu that housed everything from starters to entreés, but now it’s quite expansive, with appetizers, salads, and a slew of menu choices.

We got pot stickers and crab rangoon for starters. Both were good, but I preferred the pot stickers. For my meal, I chose the Penne pasta with grilled chicken, portabella mushroom, brandy cream sauce. It was good and extremely large. In fact, all the dishes were huge and we all took home sizeable containers.

The service was very nice as well. Our waitress was friendly and attentive, and our food was served in efficiently. I’d say a definite improvement over my last visit there and I’m actually looking forward to going again.

My husband also recommends the R7 Chop Chop salad from the lunch menu.

Kid friendly: No.

Payment Methods: Cash and credit.

Price Range: Pretty steep – you pay for ambiance. The least expensive items are the pizzas, which start at around $8, but they go up to over $20 for some of the steak options.

Restaurant Name: Puccini’s

Location: 300 Brown Street, West Lafayette, IN (map it)

Phone: 765-746-5000

Cuisine: Italian

Review: Puccini’s Smiling Teeth is located right behind the Wabash Landing theater. It’s a pretty big restaurant, part of a larger chain that has locations throughout Indiana and Kentucky. It has a separate bar that stays open late, and a large family dining area.

Our recent trip to Puccini’s was quite nice. It wasn’t crowded and we were seating right away. There were crayons and paper for coloring and the menu was pretty extensive.

The food was good and plentiful. I ordered the pasta primavera. It came with whole wheat penne, which was pretty good. I thought I was ordering a healthy dish, but the entire thing was liberally covered in oil so I’m guessing it wasn’t quite so much. It wasn’t great, but okay.

We also got bread sticks, which I didn’t care for the kids liked. My husband ordered the Sweet Lil Razorback pizza, which came with pepperoni, smoked sausage, and bacon and was really quite good.

My son ordered chicken tenders, and he really enjoyed them – although he was a little displeased that they didn’t have ketchup. (Really, they do not have ketchup in their restaurant.)

The service was okay. Nothing spectacular, but nothing bad either. A nice afternoon meal in a pleasant environment.

Kid friendly: Yes.

Methods of payment: Cash or credit.