The Musings of Brian Groce

He who said there is no such thing as a “free lunch” is (mostly) wrong.

Last week I won lunch for 15-20 people from Chipotle just for dropping my business card in their “fish bowl”. So yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch (a $140.29 lunch at that)…and no, we’re not going to count the minuscule cost of printing the business card, the previous trip for dinner and the gas to drive there since these are things that really have no bearing on free lunch (I would have done all of these regardless).

So thanks guys! It was tasty as always.

Last year I said that I probably wouldn’t partake in Red Lobster’s Endless Shrimpâ„¢ Fest again after devouring 78 Shrimp Scampi along with a salad and biscuits last year (and feeling horrible the next day). Well, I’m a sucker for shrimp. I broke down and went again this year for the third year in a row, but this time with any sort of competition in mind as I wanted to enjoy it.

So this year the damage was 35 Shrimp Scampi, one order of Popcorn Shrimp & one order of Shrimp Pasta (I mainly picked out the shrimp and brought the pasta home for leftovers) along with a salad and biscuits. I still feel like an American glutton, but I feel much better than I did after last year. Next year I’ll probably cut it back to 25 Shrimp Scampi, but we’ll see…because they are so tasty and just slide down so easily.

While at Dairy Queen tonight I was looking around and noticed a mural on the wall behind the Pepsi machine which showed a cup of Coca-Cola. I don’t know when they made the switch, but I was puzzled as to how that was missed. Maybe it was a statement by the store owner, because I could see myself doing that. “We serve Pepsi but I’d rather be drinking a Coke.”

We went to the German American Klub of Indianapolis for dinner last night with my parents and I think that we were the only non-members there in the “crowd” of about a dozen people.

I ordered the Sauerbraten (beef, not horse*) which was interesting with the initial apple butter type taste with a bite of vinegar at the end. Tasty and different than anything I had ever had before, but I’ll probably try something different if I manage to get back there. For dessert I had the bread pudding with whiskey sauce which was also tasty (which I found funny to see it listed on the kids menu as well…sure, it’s cooked out, but that caught me as funny).

If you’re into beer, it looked like they had quite a selection, but that’s not an area which I can offer much critique (I have found a few beers that I can tolerate, but it is not my drink of choice). And speaking of my drink of choice, they only offer Pepsi products, so not having Coca-Cola available is my only real complaint (I did the Dew which isn’t my favorite, but it is better than Pepsi).

My verdict is, if you want good German food and don’t want to fight with a crowd on the weekend (not during their special events though), give them a visit. Price wise, it was a little expensive ($15-$16 for most dinners plus drink ($1.50), dessert ($4) and tip), but for the cuisine I don’t have anything to compare it to, so that may be normal. And I love to support local eateries, so what are a few extra bucks for something different than the major chain restaurants?

* And no, they do not offer horse meat…at least that I saw…but traditionally that’s what was/is used. (I know that we sell horse meat to foreign countries, but I’m not sure that you even legally serve it to humans in the States. And I don’t really care to know so I’m not even going to search to find out.)