Saint James Restaurant (Avilla, Indiana) - iconic area restaurant worth a try…read more Take a short drive to downtown Avilla to try the Saint James Restaurant. It has been a fixture in Avilla since 1948 when it started as a hotel. St. James has a long tradition of serving northeast Indiana patrons (groups, families or friends) food and drinks from this historical structure. The building is large and dominates the block. It is in good repair but rather plain in appearance. There is plenty of parking out back. Once you find the entry door you have to navigate a series of hallways to the attractive bar and hostess area. The building has lots of walls that reflect the hotel structure. The back of the restaurant has a large open and plain looking dinning area. Everyone here is very friendly. They are good and simple people. They seem to seek to serve you and make you happy. There isn't much fancy about St. James. Just a good ole relaxing and home feel atmosphere. The menu is big. There is something for everyone. Prices are fair and portion sizes are decent. Here is a rundown on the items we ordered: -Strawberry pie: it's seasonal and popular. Reserve your piece when ordering dinner - if they still have it. The berries were sweet and fresh. The filling is homemade, nice berry flavor, not over the top sweet. Crust is flaky, tender and delicious. -Onion rings: we got about 6 medium sized rings for $7 on the appetizer menu. Each piece was uniquely made. Some were really thin and crispy. Others had a really thick/tender piece of onion with a thicker batter. Overall nice taste, not too oily. The ranch sauce was very thin and short on ranch flavor -Side salad: nice smaller salad with fresh ingredients. Plenty of side veggies and cheese. The croutons were tough. Garlicky and very crispy. The Smokey Bit dressing was outstanding. Kind of a blend of a southwestern chipotle sauce with a strong smoke flavor! -Crab cakes: my wife really liked the thinner cake. This allowed the cake to be heated throughout and more crispy surface areas. She liked the stronger crab meat taste. -Oven baked BBQ ribs: very tender and meaty rib. The BBQ sauce had a mild BBQ flavor with no spicy kick. The meat could be flaked off the bone with a fork. No Smokey or grilled flavors. The baked potato was large and cooked to a tender but firm center. The skin was slighted salted.

We visited on a Friday night this summer and waited about 45 minutes to be seated. Unfortunately,…read morethe experience did not improve once we sat down. The interior was pretty dark and outdated. I always try to give the wait staff the benefit of the doubt, but the service was disappointing, rude, and lazy throughout most of the evening. Right out of the gate, the rolled silverware contained a dirty knife, so I had to ask for a clean one. I ordered the broasted chicken, which is something they are known for, but it wasn't very "broasted." It felt like they had cooked too many pieces at once. Additionally, the beans were cold and unappetizing, and the chicken noodle soup tasted ridiculously old. My husband ordered the fish, which was also barely lukewarm and completely flavorless. He mentioned that the rolls might have been the best thing he ate, but even they were pretty yeasty. The garlic toast was also more soggy than crunchy, which was a disappointment. There is free, easy parking right in front of the restaurant, though there is no outdoor seating. Overall, it was relatively lackluster, but if you are really hungry, you can chow it down.

Great restaurant, at home atmosphere, friendliest staff anywhere! The food is wonderful, priced…read morevery well and delicious! The specials are also a great choice for a nice price.

This place isn't fancy, but it's so worthy!!…read more We stumbled across this lil restaurant on a date night and we were so glad we stopped. The service was great and we enjoyed everyone we encountered. The food was so good. We started with fried mushrooms and ranch. I had the bbq ribs special and American fries. My husband had the blue gill platter. Their tartar sauce is AMAZING. You can't stop dipping into it.

Great food! Blueberry big g pancake hit the spot. Crunchy outside fluffy inside. Megan's service…read morewas solid. I love the window by the corner to watch cars go by.

The Fried Bologna brought back childhood memories!…read more I would have never found this place had it not been for a local referral. The service is very friendly and 'home-like' which makes the environment feel homey. Definitely a must if you're driving through Columbia City

Oh man!!! A helluva chili dog! I'd go out of my way for these. The gal working the window was quick…read moreand kind. The Dogs were simply fantastic. I do prefer shredded cheese to cheese sauce but it made no difference in this case because the chili dog itself was that good 5/5 would highly recommend

Service was good but didn't make up for the worst "Chicago dog" I've ever had. Need go no further…read morethan the hotdog itself which was low-quality, mushy and cold. Just gross.

Do not recommend! This was my hubbys sandwich after we gave…read morethem a second try. First time my sandwich was missing toppings, but hubby's sandwich was so good I let it slide. Second time we ordered and got home, I didn't even notice until he picked his sandwich up to eat it that is was completely burnt! He had to tear off the bottom bun just to eat it. We gave them two chances. Haven't been back since.

Service was very fast. Manager was very respectful and personable. There are several seats outside,…read morebut weather wasn't favorable. 6" Cubans was worth the cost.

Hungry and on a budget??? Head over to Sylvan Shores Diner, breakfast is my favorite with many…read moregrandmothers famous dishes. Eggs anyway you want, delicious pancakes, endless cups of coffee by an efficient wait staff, bacon, and sausage. My go to is the meat lovers skillet with a side of biscuits and gravy!! Can't wait to get back there to dive into one of those great meals. Bright blue building just south of the Sylvan lake in Rome City IN.

Had a great breakfast on Saturday morning with my wife! I enjoyed the hungry man skillet with gravy…read moreand biscuits. Both were delicious and perfectly cooked. The service and coffee were exceptional for a decent price!

I enjoyed my experience! This seems like the place to be in Grabil. Stacked drive-thru line and…read morelong wait for food. Good place to come to catch up with friends and make new ones. Indoor bench seating and outdoor white/aqua picnic benches. Ordered coney with cheese, hot dog with cheese, mushrooms, and large twist cone. Found a bonus side of fried jalapeños. Spicy doesn't agree with me but seemed good.

Over the phone service was good, but once you get inside there are a bunch of kids running every…read moreinteraction with customers. Absolutely no professionalism. The food is okay if you don't mind waiting an extra long time, which could have been told to us as we had no clue about this place. After standing for 30 minutes we asked and the employee told us they were just getting our order started. Disappointed

Update. Restroom renovation- THANK DOG!…read more food has always been consistently reliably well prepared and served timely and hot!

Mad Anthony's Auburn Tap Room - dinning & relaxing downtown Auburn, Indiana…read more You can find Mad Anthony's just off the north side of the square in Auburn. It is set in an older building where they have kept the unique brickwork and history apart of the decor - nicely done! There is street parking available...though you may have to hunt for it. The serving team was friendly and helpful on this trip. Mad Anthony's has a large and varied menu. Plenty of choices for most dinners. I can not comment on the beer selections as this isn't my expertise. We started with the cheese curds which were excellent. The curd had a thick breading whose seasoning really accented the cheese and oil tastes. It comes off light and slightly crunchy. The cheese curd was simply delicious. It was slightly gooey and just under a shade under temperature hot. The marinara sauce was thick and heavy on the tomato taste. This made a good complement to the cheese flavor. Definitely give this a try! We also tried the fried pickles. The pickle was a very thin "stick" of dill pickle spear. It has a pretty good tart taste. However, I would prefer a thicker pickle and more bold pickle taste. The pickle was wrapped in a thicker breading that differed from the cheese curd. This breading was more corn meal based and textured. It comes off a little tougher and retains the oil taste more. The dill sauce was really thick, colder and somewhat difficult to dip into. Overall a nice appetizer with a different flare. I've been craving a deep dish pizza and just happened to get one at Mad Anthony's in Auburn. MA has about 8 different deep dish pizzas and 10 flatbread type pizzas to choose from. I went with the medium Politician deep dish pizza for $21. The crust on the edges of the pizza came out a bit tough and crunchy. The interior was nice and soft. The edge crust had a bit of a buttery flavor. The sauce was plentiful and sweet. They use plum Roma tomatoes in the sauce. This gives is a richer tomato taste and zing. It also enhances the moistness of the pizza while keeping the topping thick. The toppings were piled high and thick - as you would expect. There was plenty of fresh cheese to give you that pull apart stretch. The vegetable toppings were fresh and had a bit of crunch to them. The meat was layered nicely and plentiful. The pepperoni and sauce had a nice meat flavor that completed the taste pallet. Overall I thought this was a good pizza. I'm sure there are places that do deep dish even better. A member of our party ordered one of the flatbread pizzas. This looked delicious as well.