John's Famous Stew

John's Famous Stew is definitely a tavern with no minors allowed and no windows. There is a bar along one wall and booths on the opposite wall with tables in the middle. As we each placed our orders for Reuben sandwiches, our server kept saying, "That is just like so wrong...", referring to the fact that we were not ordering their stew. The bread was nicely grilled and served on a delicious marbled rye. The sauerkraut tasted a little canned, but was good. There was not a lot of corned beef on the sandwich, but it tasted good. The sandwich doesn't include any sides, but at $6.25, that is okay. The cheese tasted a little too-processed, but could definitely be tasted. The experience was good enough that I would come back for a Reuben. I had never heard of eating stew at a restaurant before, so I was a little wary. After eyeing some of the bowls of stew in the restaurant, I think I will come back to try the stew sometime. With free parking, being close to downtown Indianapolis and offering food at reasonable prices, there is no reason not to stop by for lunch or dinner.

Walking into the place, the aroma of steaming stew permeates through your senses. While we were here to eat the Rueben sandwich, the stew is what you think of. The general atmosphere of the restaurant is typical of older bars; the walls are well worn, faded from history and homey. Our waitress was friendly and treated us like a doting aunt. She thought it unusual that we all order the Reuben instead of stew, but took the order without a second thought. I personally found it hard to not order stew instead, but duty calls. The sandwich arrived. Careful examination revealed that the cheese appeared to be a kind of Swiss American variety of processed cheese; the type commonly found individually wrapped in plastic in the grocery store. The bread was toasted somewhat, but not crunchy. The meat was very good, slightly seared and thinly sliced. Of course, a little more kraut would have been appreciated too. I was quite sparse for my taste. As sandwiches go it was okay, but the stew is all I thought of. Its scent was reminiscent of grandma's kitchen and made me wish for home. Don't go for the sandwich, go for the stew and let me know what that was like.

No Swiss; double slice of American--I'm not a fan of American. Even so, something VERY tasty about this sandwich--perhaps the beef or sauerkraut. Smaller than average, though cheaper, too. The sides cost extra. The place is basically a tavern with a bar and an open floor plan. I like it. Service was bitchy, but fast and fun.

The sauerkraut was a bit salty. The use of processed "Swiss" was a bit disappointing. The corned beef was good. The bread could have been more toasted.