Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Squealer's BBQ - Indianapolis, IN

While I was in Indianapolis, I kept going back and reading this food blog - Indy Restaurant Scene - that had great reviews of places to eat. I found mention of a BBQ place that this lady’s husband raved about. I decided I needed to get there any way possible. I called a cab and gave the guy him the address. He told me it was quite a drive, but I told him I didn’t mind. He asked if I had cash and I assured him I did. How far was it anyway?...

$44 later, I found out.

It’s on the outskirts of town, nowhere near downtown. At this point, I was committed, I might as well enjoy it, right? The guy said he’d stick around and have some lunch himself at a nearby place so I didn’t have to call another cab and wait for it. Super nice guy, honestly.

I rolled inside and got a table. I already knew what I was going to eat, but I found a drink menu that had some appealing things on it. I ordered a Colt Kicker. It’s a Long Island Iced Tea but dyed blue for the Indianapolis Colts. The drink was like Windex with some lighter fluid in it. Not appealing at all and burn-y, but I sucked it down. I also ordered a half slab with some sides. BBQ beans, and mac and cheese (kind of a staple for me). The thing also came with two deep fried biscuits. Yes. Deep fried biscuits. What’s not to like with that?
The food came out quickly and I dug into the biscuits first. Holy cow. These are the best biscuits I’ve ever had in my life. They’re a cross between a biscuit and a donut. They’re also served with cinnamon apple butter, which was mind-blowing as well. Did I mention there were TWO of these things. Amazing. The Mac and cheese was really quite good and not cafeteria-like that you’ll find at a lot of places. The BBQ beans had shredded pork in them and a little bit of spice to it. Some of the best beans I’ve had in a while.

I went for the ribs next. These ribs are served with a dry rub, rather than sauce. You’ve got to try them without sauce before you know how much sauce you can put on them. They were fantastic. I know why the blogger’s husband raved about this place. Perfectly cooked. They fell off the bone, but still had a lot of texture to them. They weren’t sloppy and crumbly. Just meaty and juicy. The rub on them was salty, just to warn you, but I’m a salt addict, so I absolutely loved them. The waitress had asked what kind of sauce I’d like when I ordered – I got the sweet and spicy combo. This was the way to go: perfect amount of sweet and perfect amount of kick to them. Really delicious sauce.

I ate it ALL.
The waitress, Laura, was extremely helpful. She checked back on me to make sure I was doing alright, but not often enough to be a bother. And I will tell you this, I licked my fingers cleaner than I have in a really long time. I didn’t even want to use the wetnap they brought me for fear of losing a tiny bit of the dry rub or sauce that was still stuck to my fingers. I haven’t tried every rib place in Indianapolis, but this place honestly has some of the best ribs I’ve eaten.

Now if we talk about how much the meal actually cost me, there might be some questions. Remember, the $44 cab ride? Even with the discount the driver gave me for the ride back, it was still a hundred dollar half slab of ribs. But they were incredible, so I won’t complain at all. I’ve spent more money on crappy food than that before. It’s time to take a nap now…

Top 5 things about Squealers BBQ
T1. Amazing Baby Back Ribs
T1. Deep-fried biscuits with cinnamon apple butter
3. BBQ Beans
4. Mac and Cheese
5. Super awesome staff

Bottom 5 things
1. Cost of a cab ride to get there was higher than expected. Significantly higher.
2. Colt Kicker wasn’t awesome
3. I wish HotGirlsBrother and Low-Vee were sharing the experience with me
4. I wish there was some sort of napping cot for after meals like this. (I wonder if I should start that sort of restaurant niche…)
5. I can’t even find a fifth thing that was bad. The place is worth the trip.

www.squealersbarbeque.com

1 comment:

Erin in Indy said...

wow, that is serious dedication. I am glad you liked it or I would have felt really bad! We are still working on more BBQ places ourselves. Will let you know if I find anything better.