Road Tips

Villa Macri Ristorante - Granger, IN

My company has decided to consolidate parts of my territory and Indiana was going to be taken out of my mix of states that I cover.   I was a little upset about it, but it didn't result in a reduction of pay or benefits - just a more focused area that I will begin to travel to later in the year.  I wanted to make one last trip over to see some of my accounts in Indiana that I had gotten to know for nearly 20 years.  I ended up in the South Bend area one night and was in the mood for some Italian food.  I took a quick look for restaurants near my hotel and it turned out that there was one that was literally walking distance from my hotel - Villa Macri Ristorante.  I made the short walk over to Villa Macri for dinner that night.     

Just after World War II ended, George Macri met and young lady, Iole Toscano in Reggio-Calabria, Italy.  Three years later, the couple married and they immigrated to the United States in 1954 ending up in the South Bend area.  From this union two sons - Jerry and George, Jr. - and a daughter - Yvonne - became part of the Macri's young family.  George Macri, Sr. started a jewelry store in South Bend in 1956, but his wife, Iole, was known as a great baker, making breads, cakes and pastries for friends and family.  She wanted to have her own bakery, but was told many times that it would be impractical for her to have a bakery.  However, she persisted over the years and with the help of her husband and three children, Iole Macri opened Macri's Italian Bakery in 1978 directly next door to the family's jewelry store.  

In 1980, Jerry and George, Jr. purchased a building that had been a bar on Niles Ave. in downtown South Bend and gutted the place.  They refurbished the space and turned it into a small 36-seat delicatessen - Macri's Deli.  The delicatessen sold both sandwiches, meats, cheese and other special Italian items.  

Jerry ended up taking over the delicatessen and moved it to a strip mall he had developed on Grape Road in nearby Mishawaka.  George, Jr. transformed the former deli space into Carmela's Bakery named after his wife who learned to cook and bake from both her own mother and Iole Macri.  Eventually, the bakery became Macri's Bakery after Iole passed away in 2007 and Carmela's became a full-fledged Italian restaurant.  

Pictured right - Jerry Macri.  Photo courtesy South Bend Tribune.  

In 2007, Jerry decided to sell the strip mall he developed and he bought a plot of land in Granger and developed a small "Italian Village" complete with a gift shop, wine shop, a sports bar, and two restaurants in one - Macri's Deli and Villa Macri.  In 2008, Jerry Macri opened his spacious complex located just north of Indiana State Highway 23 and N. Main Street in Granger.  (see map)

I walked into the Villa Macri around 7:15 p.m. and found that they actually closed at 8 p.m.  (I'm guessing it had to do with staffing issues more than anything.)   I was greeted by two young women at the hostess station just inside the door.  The wine store appeared to be just down the way from the hostess stand, as well as a couple other shops.  

At first I asked if there was seating in the bar.  One of the girls said that there was and I asked if I could see the dining room and the bar before I figured out where I wanted to sit.  She pointed down a hallway and said, "They're down there."  I started to walk down the hallway and then I turned back figuring that I would get a menu and park myself somewhere if neither one of them was going to show me where it was.  

I asked for a menu and said, "I'll find a place myself.  No use walking all the way there and then having to come back."   The other young lady told me that she'd take me to the dining area.  

I was ushered down the long hallway toward the dining area.  There were Macri family pictures lining the hallway along with decorative Tuscan-style wall lighting.  At the end of the hall was a gelato/dessert bar.  Opposite the gelato/dessert bar was an enclosed banquet room for meetings and private functions.  Just outside the banquet room was an outdoor patio where Villa Macri hosts live music from time to time.   

About halfway down the hallway on the opposite side of the large meeting room was Villa Macri's sports bar.  It was empty and all the televisions were turned off.  It seemed so out of place in an Italian restaurant like Villa Macri.  Considering that they closed early through the week, closing at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday - plus the fact that they weren't open on Sunday at all - it just seemed strange to have a sports bar in an Italian restaurant. 

The hallway emptied out into the bar area.  It featured a long curved marble-topped bar with a walnut back bar.  Old world Italian architecture with arches and a high ceiling were the highlights in the bar.  It was a slow night at Villa Macri and there were only two other guys sitting at the bar.   

The dining room on the other side of the bar featured faux Italian statues, faux vines and brick accents throughout the room.  Sturdy wooden tables covered with linen tablecloths were spaced around the room.  There was no one in the dining room.  I was starting to think that maybe I needed to go to someplace else given that hardly anyone was in the place and that could be a tell-tale sign.  But by this time it was 7:20 p.m. - 8:20 body-time - and I was hungry.  I told the young hostess that I was going to sit at the bar.  She handed me a menu and I took a seat at the bar.  

Ashley was the bartender that evening and she was doing chores behind the bar.  I could kind of tell that she didn't want to be waiting on anyone as she was sort of short and curt with her greeting as she was flying around behind the bar doing whatever.  She asked me what I wanted to drink and I got a pint of the Bell's Two-Hearted IPA that they had on tap.  

The menu featured typical Italian items - pasta dishes such as manicotti, tortellini, and lasagna, as well as steaks, chicken dishes, a pork osso bucco, and lamb chops were prominent on the menu.  Seafood entrees such as grilled salmon and scallops with risotto were also on the bill.  A number of appetizers including calamari, bruschetta, spinach artichoke dip and antipasto for two were available.  Curiously, appetizers such as chicken wings, nachos, and ahi tuna sashimi were available, as were a full slate of deli sandwiches from Macri's Deli.  I'm guessing that those were more for the crowd who would be coming in to the sports bar part of Villa Macri.  

They also had a number salads on the menu and I ended up starting out with a small Italian salad consisting of chopped romaine lettuce, sliced cherry tomatoes and shaved parmesan cheese.  Their house dressing is a pomegranate/balsamic vinegar that was served on the side.  Along with the salad came a basket of warm Italian rye bread and a plate of olive oil with red pepper flakes.  It was a good salad and the bread was fabulous.  I think I've had red pepper flakes in dipping oil once or twice before and I forgot how it jazzed up the flavor of the olive oil.    

I love ravioli and I find myself getting it quite a bit when I'm out at Italian restaurants these days.  Villa Macri had a whole section of specialty ravioli on their menu - you could get ravioli stuffed with veal, butternut squash, Italian cheese medley, beef, lobster and porcini mushroom in a garlic sauce were available.  I ended up getting the beef ravioli topped with Villa Macri's housemade marinara sauce.  The bowl had about a dozen large ravioli pillows stuffed with Italian-seasoned ground beef with a layer of marinara ladled on top.  

Everything about the dish was wonderful - the taste and consistency of the ravioli was excellent and the marinara had a sweet and tangy taste.  All the flavors mixed together made for a great Italian meal.  I had no problem finishing my plate and even used some of the Italian rye bread to sop up the remaining marinara sauce.  It was that good.  

I was sort of leery about Villa Macri when it was about 7:30 at night and there were only two other people in the place.  I almost left figuring that few people in such a big place didn't bode well for the food in the place.  But I'm glad I stayed.  Even the bartender warmed up and became more attentive as time went on.  My beef ravioli with marinara sauce was outstanding, and the Italian salad with the warm Italian rye bread was a great start to the meal.  I don't think I'll be back out in the South Bend area anytime soon, but if you're looking for a good Italian meal in Granger, Villa Macri is a great place to go.  

O'Rourke's Public House - South Bend, IN

Staying overnight in South Bend late last year, I decided that to try a German restaurant that wasn't far from the hotel.  The only problem is that when I pulled up to the place, it turned out they are closed on Monday and Tuesday nights.  Well, Plan B was going to be an Irish pub for that evening's food choice.  I had already tried Fiddler's Hearth last year in downtown South Bend (click here to read the Road Tips entry on Fiddler's Hearth), but my old neighbor who is a huge Notre Dame football fan told me after my visit there of an Irish pub literally across the street from the University of Notre Dame campus on the north side of the city.  I looked the place up and found the name - O'Rourke's Public House.  That's where I went for dinner and some beers that evening.  

Even though the O'Rourke's Public House is owned by a number of investors who went to school at Notre Dame, the backstory of how it got to South Bend is one of those "Only in America" kinds of stories.  It all started with a young guy by the name of Dave Magrogan who, along with two siblings, were raised in near poverty by their single mother.  Forced to move multiple times before Magrogan started high school, his mother always stayed positive with her outlook in life and eventually got her degree in nursing.  

Magrogan inherited much of his mother's positive "can-do" spirit and after college he looked at becoming a chiropractor.  He opened his first practice in suburban Philadelphia on a shoestring in 1996 and he quickly found that normal chiropractic techniques of multiple patient visits with fee scheduled payments wasn't working out.  Moving to a "Pay-what-you-can" philosophy, adding seminars, and giving patient discounts for referrals turned out to be the Midas touch for Magrogan.  Within a short time, he was seeing over 800 patients a week, opened a second clinic, and had a local weekly cable television program on chiropractic health where he was known as "Dr. Dave."

By 2003, Magrogan had grown bored with the practice of chiropractic medicine even though he was immensely successful with his business.  He started to look into starting a restaurant, even though it was a risky venture as a study found that nearly 60 percent of all restaurants fail within their first three years.  But, he had worked in restaurants since he was 12 years old all the way through high school, into college and through chiropractic school first as a busboy, then a waiter, then becoming a bartender to help get himself through college.  He focused his first restaurant - an Irish pub by the name of Kildare's - in the wealthy suburbs west of Philadelphia.  

By 2007, there were five Kildare's in and around the Philadelphia area and Magrogan drew the attention of Bernie Spain who, along with is brother Murray, sold their Dollar Express chain of dime-stores to Dollar Tree.  Bernie Spain was looking to invest his money and he was taken by Magrogan's entrepreneurial spirit.  He invested into Magrogan's plan to open 25 more Kildare's locations by 2010.

However, the Great Recession of 2008 put a large hold on those plans and Magrogan had to rethink his outlook.  He discovered that putting Irish restaurants in affluent suburbs wasn't the smartest thing because most people didn't like Irish food - they would end up ordering burgers, sandwiches and appetizers - and they would only have a couple beers since most people had to drive to and from his restaurants.  And beer was a huge money maker in restaurants.  He decided that focusing on Kildare's locations in cities near college campuses to help cater to younger crowds would be the answer.  

It was a group of 8 Notre Dame alumnus who entered into a franchise agreement with Magrogan's restaurant group to put a Kildare's in the new Eddy Street Commons just south of the Notre Dame campus.  The restaurant opened in August 2010, but it wasn't long before the group of investors began to splinter away from the Kildare's concept.  They broke their franchise agreement with the rapidly failing Kildare's concept and rebranded their restaurant as O'Rourke's Public House in the spring of 2011.  (Kildare's formally closed their last company restaurant in Philadelphia in 2016, but Magrogan continues to run other restaurants today.  He sold the original Kildare's in West Chester, PA to his manager there in 2015 and it continues to this day.)

Parking around Eddy Street Commons can be a little tricky, especially near O'Rourke's Public House situated at the corner of E. Angela Blvd. and N. Eddy St.  (see map)  However, there's a large public garage with free parking up to 2 hours most evenings just around the corner.  That's where I ended up parking that chilly fall evening.  

Inside O'Rourke's Public House, I found a nice open space with a long bar with a curved turn-out at one end.  Like the other Kildare pub's that were built before this place became O'Rourke's, the interior of the restaurant was designed and built by a company in Dublin, Ireland that was shipped to South Bend for installation.  The restaurant has five different Irish design themes depicted in the space - Victorian, Cottage, Brewery, Shop and Gaelic.  I didn't know which was which, nor did I bother to ask anyone for a tour.  It's an Irish pub, for god's sake!  Let's drink and not worry about various architectural themes!

I ended up seated at the bar and I was immediately greeted by one of the bartenders, Aubrianna.  She introduced herself to me, stuck out her hand and asked my name.  I've been noticing more places are doing that.  Actually, I sort of find it somewhat forced and canned on the servers part to do that, but I guess it's all right.  She gave me a food menu and I ordered up a Bell's Two Hearted Ale from the somewhat impressive craft beer tap list they had. 

Now, this was an Irish pub, right?  I thought it was sort of strange that they were playing country music over the sound system in the place - something that would drive my somewhat Irish pub-puritan ex-neighbor crazy.  (When I told him after the fact that they were playing country music in an Irish bar across from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, he went apoplectic.)  

Well, it got better.  At 8 p.m. they switched the music to urban.  I just had to laugh over that.  It had to be the first time I'd ever heard hip hop in an Irish pub.  And at 10 p.m. that evening, they were going to have karaoke.  I thought it may be pretty late on a weeknight for karaoke.  

O'Rourke's Public House featured a number of sandwiches, burgers and entrees including Irish favorites such as fish and chips, and a Guinness beef stew.  Their pub burgers consisted of ground prime rib and available with five different types of cheese and a number of other toppings including Irish-style rasher - thin slices of bacon.  The Four Horsemen burger consisted of a prime rib burger topped with corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing.  It's for people who can't make up their mind between getting a reuben or a burger.

And I was sort of that way that evening.  I was contemplating between getting a sautéed mushroom/Swiss cheese burger and the reuben.  But the guy seated a couple seats down from me was just finishing up his Shepherd's Pie.  Aubrianna asked him how it was and he said it was very good.  I decided to go with the Shepherd's Pie that evening.  After I ordered, the guy said to me, "Good choice.  I was happy with this."

After getting a dinner salad that had too much other stuff on it than lettuce - it was covered in croutons and had too many sliced cucumbers and red onions on it, but the balsamic vinaigrette was very good - I was served the Shepherd's Pie.  It was served in a dish with a ton of mashed potatoes topped with broiler-melted cheddar cheese (a $1 add-on) and onion straws on top.  I certainly didn't need - or really want - that heavy layer of mashed potatoes covering the rest of the Shepherd's Pie.  The potatoes really got in the way of getting to the ground beef and veggies mixed in with the stout beer gravy.  It was good, but it was a lot of food.  I was able to maybe eat just over half of the Shepherd's Pie, picking around the potatoes where I could.  It was very rich, very filling and pretty good.  

Given that O'Rourke's Public House was my second choice that evening since my first choice was closed for the night, I can't say that I was disappointed.  The pre-fab Irish decor in the place gave it a true pub feeling, but the curious choices of blaring country music and then urban hip hop after 8 p.m. sort of destroyed any type of Irish ambience to the place.  Aubrianna's service was friendly and efficient, and while I had a couple quibbles with the food - too many toppings on the salad, and too much mashed potatoes on the Shepherd's Pie - I thought it was good for what I got.  They had a good selection of craft brews and there were enough flat-screen televisions to keep a single diner entertained for the duration of their stay.  O'Rourke's Public House wasn't the best Irish pub I've been to, but it was better than others that put up an Irish flag on a wall and call themselves an Irish bar.  

Heavenly Goat Brewing Co. - Granger, IN

I had a morning meeting with a prospective dealer in Granger, IN earlier this summer and I drove into Granger the evening before, getting to the hotel just before a torrential downpour.  Not really wanting to go too far from the hotel, it turned out there was a brewpub just walking distance from the hotel.  Just before it began to rain, I strolled over to the Heavenly Goat Brewing Company to check the place out.  

Heavenly Goat Brewing Company is located in the Heritage Square entertainment and shopping area of Granger.  (see map)   Like most brewpubs, the genesis of the business started over 10 years ago when Joel Miller brewed up his first homemade batch of beer.  Homebrewing piqued Joel's interest enough that he eventually enrolled in the brewmaster course at Chicago's famed Siebel Institute of Technology.  Part of his coursework at the Siebel Institute was an overseas education program at the prestigious Doemans Academy in Munich, Germany.  It was there where he learned the principles of the German Purity Laws of brewing beers.  

Once he was satisfied with the beers he was brewing after graduating from the Siebel Institute, Miller started to look for a place where he could have a brewpub.  One of the first restaurants to open in Heritage Square, Gino's East Pizza, closed its doors in 2012.  Miller discovered the place and started to work on what he needed to do to get the place open.

He knew that he was going to have to serve food, so he reached out to personal chef and industry consultant Greg Wisinski, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef.   The two came up with the Heavenly Goat name as a nod to the Norwegian myth that a goat in Valhalla made mead for fallen soldiers for eternity.  Miller focused on European-style style beers, while Wisinski came up with a menu that focused on traditional beer hall favorites, only with more of a gastropub touch.  By April of 2017, the two were ready to open Heavenly Goat Brewing Company.  

Lightning was visible in the near distance with rumbles of thunder accompanying the vivid flashes when I walked over to Heavenly Goat around 8 p.m.  It had been a long day of meetings and driving so I was ready for a beer.  I was seated in the main dining area with a long bar along a wall.  It had sort of a contemporary, yet upscale rustic design.  Wooden planks from reclaimed barn boards covered the ceiling.  At the far end of the dining area were the brewing vessels that could easily be seen behind large windows.  

There was an enclosed patio area next to the dining room with overhead garage doors that would open to the outside.  An antique shuffleboard table was the centerpiece of the patio.  It, too, featured a large window that looked into the brewing area.  Classic rock music was playing in the background throughout the restaurant.  

My server for the evening, a laid-back young guy by the name of Cody, came over with a menu.  I ordered up an American pale ale by the name of Alien Moon Base.  It had a slightly forward hoppy taste with a nice finish.  I liked it a lot.  

All the food items on the menu are made from scratch at Heavenly Goat Brewing Co.   Their fresh cut meats are butchered and processed in-house, and they make their own sausages and bratwurst.   The menu consisted of appetizers, soups and salads, burgers, brats, a reuben sandwich, and a half-dozen "large plates" that included a 7 oz. salmon filet, grilled pork chops with a brown sugar glaze, and a pork schnitzel and waffles plate that sort of intrigued me.  

In the end, it was down to one of three things - the reuben sandwich, the sausage sampler plate with fried potato salad, and pickled red cabbage, or the bangers and mash.  I ended up with the latter.  The dish featured two house-made sausages with caramelized onions on a bed of mashed potatoes all topped in a creamy gravy sauce.  

The sausages were juicy and flavorful with a nice little "snap" to the casing when I cut into them.  The gravy that came with it had a tangy taste to it and went very well with the sausages and the mashed potatoes.  Even the grilled onions helped complement the very good sausages. 

Cody tried to tempt me with some of their desserts made by Heavenly Goat's in-house pastry chef, but I was full of food.  It was still raining somewhat after what turned out to be an initial heavy downpour of rain that forced the closing of the overhead garage doors that evening.  I decided to have another beer since I was less than a minute walk back to the hotel.

There wasn't too much that I could say went wrong on my visit to the Heavenly Goat Brewing Company.  The brewpub was nice in its appearance and atmosphere.  My server provided a laid-back vibe with his demeanor and I didn't feel rushed or pressured at any point.  I certainly enjoyed the couple three American pale ales they had on tap that evening.  And the food was very good for being pretty basic pub-style food.  Being walking distance from the hotel, Heavenly Goat Brewing Company was well-worth the short hike.  

 

Fiddler's Hearth - South Bend, IN

A few years ago, my old neighbor and his wife - who are HUGE Notre Dame football fans - went to South Bend for a football weekend and spent one evening in what my neighbor said was the neatest Irish pub that he'd ever been to.  And my neighbor is one of those guys who despises pubs who open in strip malls, put an Irish flag up on the wall and Guinness on tap, and then call themselves an authentic Irish pub.  When I was in South Bend awhile back, I was looking for someplace where I could get a sandwich or some comfort food along with some good beer.  I found a place in downtown South Bend by the name of Fiddler's Hearth.  When I got inside, I texted my ex-neighbor and asked him if the place he loved was the same place.  "Yes," was his quick reply.  When I texted back that I was seated at the bar, I got a picture back from him of his wife who was flashing an obscene gesture at me.  I knew that I was in the right place.  

Terry Meehan was a native of the South Bend area, but his family lineage dates back to Ireland.  Meehan is the direct descendant of the first non-native child born in the area after his forefathers moved from Ireland to northwest Indiana in the 1800's.  His wife, Carol, grew up in California, but came from a family with deep Scottish roots.  Their son, Sean, is an accomplished bagpiper.

The Meehan family were members of the St. Patrick Church in downtown South Bend.  The church was in need of restorations and the Meehan's organized the first what turned out to be a number of fundraising "celli's" - a traditional Celtic food and dance party.  During one of the celli celebrations, Meehan realized that in the city that is home to the Fainting Irish - sorry, Fighting Irish (old habit from being a University of Iowa football fan) - that there was no Irish public house in the city.  

Pictured at right - Terry, Carol and Sean Meehan.  

He set out to find a location that they could transform into an authentic Irish pub complete with music.   The Meehan's found a spot on S. Main just south of Colfax and they put in a small bar, an authentic hearth and a stage for live music.  Fiddler's Hearth opened on October 1, 2002.  

I was able to find parking in a parking garage just across the street from Fiddler's Hearth that allowed me to park for free for the first two hours.  (see map)   Entering Fiddler's Hearth, I found a small and cozy space that was filled to the rafters with people in there having dinner.  True to form, there was an old fashioned fireplace with two high-backed winged chairs in front of it.   The lighting was subdued and the place had a welcoming vibe.   

The dining room featured a number of tables with Irish paraphernalia on the walls.  A small stage was at one end of the dining room and some musicians were setting up instruments on the stage.  (Fiddler's Hearth has musical entertainment seven nights a week.)  This was truly a traditional Irish pub in my friend's overall criteria  of what a true Irish pub in America really is. 

I was able to find a seat at the small L-shaped bar in the back corner of the restaurant.  The stools they had weren't all that comfortable, but I knew I wasn't going to get a table for as busy that it was.  One of the bartenders, a young lady by the name of Emily, was multi-tasking when she greeted me as I sat down.  She asked if I needed a menu.  She grabbed the menu and sat it down in front of me before she hurried off to drop off a couple of drinks at the waitstaff station.  She finally settled down enough to come back to see what I wanted to drink.  They had a number of craft beers to choose from on their beer menu, but I ended up getting a good ol' Smithwick's that they had on tap.  

The menu at Fiddler's Hearth featured a number of Irish and British Isles specialties including Scotch Eggs and Welsh rarebit as part of their appetizer list.  They had boxty (grated potatoes - sort of an Irish potato pancake) that was stuffed with a choice of smoked salmon, steak, barbecued pork, chicken or vegetables.  Traditional meals such as fish and chips, bangers and mash, lamb stew, and shepherd's pie were also on the menu.  Fiddler's Hearth also had a number of sandwiches and burgers on the menu, as well.  

I ended up getting the Steak and Guinness pie with a side of mashed potatoes and broccolini.  The Steak and Guinness pie featured a puffed pastry on top covering a mixture of chunks of steak, mushrooms and onions in a beef broth/Guinness beer gravy.  The steak tips were tender, the mushrooms added an earthiness to the taste, there was a hint of onions on the flavor, but it was all tied together with the wonderful beef stock/Guinness gravy.  The only quibble I had was that the portion was pretty small for $15. 

I was able to dip some of the mashed potatoes into the gravy and that helped with their somewhat bland taste.  And the broccolini was overcooked and lifeless.  That was OK with me as I really didn't care if I had a green vegetable on my plate that evening.  After I finished, Emily tried to tempt me into getting their white chocolate bread pudding with a whiskey cream sauce.  As good as it sounded, I was fine with what I had.  

As I said, my old neighbor is a stickler when it comes to categorizing what is and what isn't an authentic Irish pub in America.  And it's no wonder he liked the ambiance at Fiddler's Hearth.  Warm, friendly, cozy, an inviting atmosphere - these are all the things I experienced during my visit.  Along with a good craft and Irish beer selection, the food featured at Fiddler's Hearth was good, authentic Irish and British Isles fare.  This was one of the better authentic Irish pubs I've found in all my travels over the years.  Fiddler's Hearth is definitely a place to visit if you get to South Bend.  

Between the Buns - South Bend, IN

I found myself in South Bend, IN a few weeks back staying near the campus of Notre Dame.  I was trying to figure out where to go for dinner and nothing was sounding good to me.  I went to the front desk to inquire with the young lady what options where in the area.  She gave me a sheet on some restaurants and I saw a place called Between the Buns that was a sports bar.  I wanted to watch some basketball that evening, so I decided to head over there for some basketball, beer and food.  

The Between the Buns in South Bend is located on S. Bend Ave. east of the Notre Dame campus.  (See map)  This was the second location of what were five total locations for Between the Buns at one point in Northern Indiana.  (There are three Between the Buns locations in the South Bend/Elkhart area.)  

The first Between the Buns was established in 1985 when the sports bar concept was still in its infancy.  Partners Tom Wilson, Sr. and Phil Schreiber opened the sports bar in Osceola, a suburb of South Bend and it was the first sports bar in the area.  It wasn't big compared to some sports bars today - it only seated 85 people.  Schreiber ran the day-to-day operations at Between the Buns.

In 2000, Tom Wilson's son, Tommy, joined the company and the group opened the South Bend location.  In 2006, Between the Buns merged with an Elkhart restaurant/ banquet facility The Matterhorn to open the Elkhart location of the sports bar.  The Matterhorn's ownership team of Bruce Tassell and Kurt Janowsky had been approached years earlier by Tom Wilson, Sr. (who was a business partner of Tassell's in the 70's) and Schreiber to put in a Between the Buns location in what was then The Matterhorn's under utilized dining area.  The group initially determined that the kitchen would be too small to have both Between the Buns and The Matterhorn sharing the facility.  But an expansion of the kitchen allowed for Between the Buns to take over the restaurant part of The Matterhorn while the other part of the building continued to hosts banquets and receptions.  (Between the Buns locations in Mishawaka and in Granger opened and closed over the past few years.)  

In 2012, Phil Schreiber gave up the management of day-to-day operations of Between the Buns and bought the Chicory Cafe in South Bend, a small New Orleans-style coffee shop.  Schreiber - who is a co-owner of the Chicory Cafe with his wife, Julie, and Jeff Morauski - is still a partner in Between the Buns with Tom and Tommy Wilson.  

The South Bend location of Between the Buns is located in a strip mall.  As I waked in, I noticed a sign where ESPN designated Between the Buns as one of the Top 8 sports bars in North America.  (I found out later on that it was designated by a voting process - I'm sure the bar got their patrons to "stuff" the ballot box.  But still, it had to be a pretty good marketing effort for the bar to pull it off.)

(Update - I got a very nice e-mail from Dave from Between the Buns thanking me for the honest review of the place and explaining the run-up to getting named as one of ESPN's Top 8 Sports Bars in North America.

"Just wanted to clue you in on the ESPN thing.  We were nominated with a description of our place, ESPN selected us as one of the Top 8, then after that, it became a voting thing amongst the top 8 finalists (of which we were one) for the #1 spot.  The contest started as "in the US", but then they changed it to "in North America" so that they could name a Canadian bar as #1.  They would not tell us, even after many requests, the ranking of the remaining 7.  The Canadian bar just happens to be in the same city as Canada's ESPN sister company.  But enough about rigging and conspiracies.")

So, there you go!

(And it was also at this point that I realized that all the pictures that I had taken during my visit to Between the Buns had mysteriously vanished from my computer.  I ended up lifting some pictures from Between the Buns' Facebook page.)  

There are two parts of Between the Buns - there's a dining room to the left as you come in, and a bar area with booths and tables to the right.  I was greeted by a young girl who asked me if I wanted to sit in the bar or in the dining room.  I opted for a booth in the bar area.

Between the Buns was similar to a number of sports bars I've been to in the past.  Both parts of the place had a number of flat screen televisions, sports memorabilia including jerseys and pictures, and a very lively atmosphere.  I was looking through the menu when my server for the evening, Holly, came over to greet me.  They had a pretty good beer menu at Between the Buns, but that evening they had a $2.00 special on Budweiser products.  I couldn't pass that up even though they had Kona, Bell's and 3 Floyd's products available.  

Most of the items on the menu are your typical sports bar fare - a number of appetizers, soups and salads, burgers, and sandwiches on the menu.  Many of the sandwiches and burgers were named for sports stars or sports teams.  

I wasn't really fired up for a burger, but I didn't really see anything on the sandwich menu that really tripped my trigger.  I looked through the burgers and while they had some interesting selections - The Angry Knight (named after former Indiana University head basketball coach Bob Knight) starts out with Cajun seasoning on the burger, topped with Ken's Boom-Boom Sauce, bacon, frizzled onions, jalapeno peppers and pepperjack cheese - I ended up just getting the Razorback burger that had bacon and Swiss cheese.  I asked Holly if I could get some sauteed mushrooms with the burger and she said it was no problem.  

She asked me what kind of bun that I wanted with the burger.  Holly said, "We have plain, whole wheat, onion..."  I stopped her there and told her onion was fine.  "....or pretzel."  I immediately changed my mind.  She sort of laughed and said, "See?  You jumped the gun!" 

For a side, I had a choice of steak fries, onion chips, baked beans, cole slaw and a couple three other sides.  For a $1.00 upcharge I could choose a 1/2 order of onion rings, steamed veggies, a bowl of chili or sweet potato fries.  I took the onion rings.  "Our onion rings are good," Holly said as she grabbed my menu from me.  

Now, I'm really upset that I lost the pictures of the burger and the onion rings that I had.  This burger is pulled from their Facebook page, but it is nowhere close to how good my burger looked - both in thickness and it presentation.  Between the Buns features a 6 ounce, fresh ground, hand-pattied chargrilled burger.  

And I had to take a step back when she brought the 1/2 basket of onion rings.  The rings were big, thick and heavily battered.  There were seven or eight of them in the basket and they were all huge.  I incredulously said to Holly, "This is a half order?"  She confirmed that it was.  I took one out of the basket, placed it on a plate and put a fork next to it to establish the size as I took a picture.  I'm upset that I lost the pictures.  Crap...

Holly was off getting me another $2.00 bottle of beer and I started to look around at the cheese and bacon on my burger.  I realized that they forgot to put sauteed mushrooms on my burger.  When she came back, I told her that I didn't have any mushrooms on my burger.  "Really," she asked with a hint of exasperation in her voice.  "I'll go get some for you."  A moment later, she reappeared with a small 4 ounce cup filled to the brim with sauteed mushrooms.  "I got you a few more just because they forgot," she told me.  Holly was doing a great job.  

The pretzel bun was sort of dry.  No, it was really dry.  And there was too much of it.  I was taking bites of the burger and having to pull pieces of the crown of the pretzel bun away from the burger.  It was not a good bun, probably one of the worst pretzel buns I've ever had.

The burger, on its own, was fine.  It was juicy and had a pretty good flavor to it for a chargrilled burger.  The Swiss cheese, bacon and mushroom were a splendid taste combination with the burger.  I ended up just taking the pretzel bun off the top and  finished up by eating it with a fork.  I thought through the meal that I wish I would have gone with the onion bun.  

The onion rings were very greasy.  They were fine - not the best I've had - but the onions inside the batter were sweet and tasty.  The batter was thick and greasy and had a somewhat oily taste.  They were good, but not great.  I could only eat three of the behemoth onion rings.  

While the burger patty was good, the overall taste of the burger at Between the Buns was dampened by the pretzel bun.  It was dry and not fresh at all.  The huge onion rings - a half order is enough for two people - were all right.  I couldn't beat the price on the beer special and Holly's service was impeccable.  They had a great selection of games to watch - if a game is on, Between the Buns has it.  My experience was fine, but nothing special.  It was a typical sports bar with typical sports bar food. 

(UPDATE - After over 30 years in business, Between the Buns closed their doors at the end of 2015.  It appears the same owners are going to be taking the restaurant in a different direction with a more upscale restaurant tentatively called Taphouse on the Edge. Reportedly the new restaurant will be featuring micro brews, craft cocktails, and a new menu featuring organic, locally grown ingredients, grass-fed beef and non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) food items on the menu.  Sounds like a place I may have to try at some point. Thanks to Dave formerly of Between the Buns for contacting me to let me know.)

CJ's Pub - South Bend, IN

I was out in South Bend, IN recently for a couple of meetings that required an overnight stay in the city.  I didn't really know where to go for dinner that evening, so after I checked into the hotel I started to do some on-line searches for restaurants in the city.  I didn't want anything overly fancy, but I didn't want fast food, either.  A burger sounded good and I started to look into burger places in the area.  I found one in downtown South Bend - CJ's Pub, famous for their 10 oz. burgers.  I immediately set out to find the place.

It turns out that CJ's Pub is sort of an institution in South Bend.  The idea for the place began in the early 80's when two sisters, Cindy Medich, a columnist for the South Bend Tribune, and her sister, Judy Gish, began to talk about opening a business together.  They settled on opening a tavern/burger joint on North Michigan Ave. in South Bend, near Memorial Hospital.  Of course, they named the place "CJ's" and it opened on Labor Day of 1984.  It quickly became a favorite of Notre Dame students and alums for their burgers, waffle fries, appetizers and cold beer.  They put in a number of televisions throughout the place that sat about 125 to 150 people, making it one of the very first sports bars in the Midwest.  

The sisters welcomed their brother, Frederick, also known as "Ricky Joe", to work at the business and he quickly became the "face" of the place.  Ricky Joe was described as an interesting guy who was a performing musician, a scratch golfer, a huge Notre Dame sports fan and a guy who welcomed all to his family's place in South Bend.   Ricky Joe was sort of a bon vivant, travelin' kind of guy before he decided to come back and settle in South Bend to help his sisters out.  

The original CJ's was nothing more than a hole in the wall that had a boat load of Notre Dame memorabilia on the walls.  It was popular with the college kids as it stayed open until 3 a.m. every day except Sunday when it would close at midnight.  The Medich family was in the location for 21 years before a freak accident almost brought their business to a close.

Workers were tearing down a six story building next door to CJ's Pub in January of 2005 when part of the structure fell onto the building.  Part of their building collapsed (four people were inside, including Ricky Joe, but no one was hurt), damage was extensive to the structure, including the infrastructure of electrical and plumbing.  After 7 months and $250,000 in repairs later, the family reopened CJ's Pub in time for the Notre Dame football season.  

However, another tragedy hit the Medich family - Ricky Joe suffered from pneumonia in the fall of 2008.  When being looked over by doctors, they found cancer in his lungs.  It quickly spread to his brain and lymph nodes and he died just over two years ago at the early age of 60.  His death devasted the Medich sisters - Cindy Medich couldn't bring herself to enter CJ's Pub after Ricky's death.  Judy was also having a hard time coming to work and in early 2010, they decided to close the original location.  But the spirit of Ricky Joe got them looking for a new location to put CJ's and the decided on a spot at the corner of Wayne and S. Michigan where the old Rumrunners bar was located (see map).  In fact, Ricky had talked about moving to that very same location before he died, so the sisters thought it was fitting that they move to that very building.  The sisters reopened CJ's Pub in August of 2010.  It's not much larger than the old location, but they are now in the heart of the downtown area of South Bend.  

It was around 7 p.m. when I got into CJ's Pub.  I took a seat at the bar and the portly bartender asked if I was there for the General Electric party.  I said, "No."  Then I stopped for a second and said, "Should I be?"  He sort of laughed as I took a seat at the bar.  He gave me a menu and asked me what I wanted to drink.  They had a number of beers on tap - including something called "House Light".  I asked what that was and he told me it was whatever light beer they got a special on that particular week.  It was Miller Light that week.  I told him I'd just take a Bud Light in a bottle.  And it was very, very cold.  

The inside of CJ's Pub is well lit and features a long wall of pictures and memorabilia.  I'm not a Notre Dame fan at all - I usually root for whoever is playing against them, much to the consternation of my former neighbor, George - but I do understand and appreciate the Fighting Irish's place in football history.  There were many pictures of Ricky Joe Medich with Notre Dame sports legends and famous alums.  A number of flat screen televisions were hung throughout the dining area and there was one behind the bar.  

Burgers are the main item on the menu at CJ's Pub.  The burger menu features a number of named burgers that start out with CJ's famous 10 oz. "Super Burger" patty including the Baja Burger that has pepperjack cheese and banana pepper rings, the Hockey Works that has Swiss cheese, mushrooms and Canadian bacon, and the Four Horsemen that featured Swiss, American, cheddar and pepperjack cheeses.  In addition to the burgers, CJ's Pub also has a handful of appetizers and sides, as well as soups and salads, and sandwiches, paninis and wraps.  

The large party for General Electric began to trickle in and it was apparent that the bartender was also the waiter.  My first beer was gone rather rapidly, thanks to the coldness of the beer, and I was ready for another.  But the bartender was taking orders for the large table.  Finally, another bartender and another waitress showed up for work and I was able to get my beer.  

The first bartender/waiter finally came back and asked me if I wanted something to eat and I just ordered up a Swiss cheese, mushroom and bacon burger.  Their waffle fries sounded good, but I knew that I would have more than enough to eat with the burger.  "Lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion on it," he asked.  Sure!  You bet!

Now, one of the best things I liked about CJ's Pub was the cold, cold beer.  It was flowing down the gullet pretty easily.  I love cold beer and the colder the beer, the easier I drink it.  I'd had about four beers before I realized that I hadn't gotten my food.  It was well past 20 minutes after I had initially ordered my food, but with a lot of people in there, not to mention a large party seated directly behind me, it was taking for ever to get my food.  

It was nearly 30 minutes after I ordered my burger when the second bartender came out with a big burger on a plate and a large plate of a combination of the waffle fries and onion rings.  He looked at the large bartender/waiter and said, "Did this guy have the works with the combo plate?"  

He said, "He had the works, but not the combo plate."

The bartender turned to me and said, "You had the works, buddy?"  I said, no, I had the mushroom/Swiss/bacon burger.  He said, "Yeah, that's what we call "The Works"."  Oh!  I didn't know the vernacular of CJ's Pub, but I learned part of it right then and there.

 The burger was, indeed, huge.  The patty was layered with an ample amount of Swiss cheese and mushrooms with two slices of bacon crossed on top.  A side of potato chips came with the burger, but I wasn't overly interested in those.   The burger, itself, was thick and juicy.  It had a great flavor and the toppings went along very well with it.  The bun was moist and helped with the overall taste.  With each bite, I found myself becoming more and more impressed with this Super Burger from CJ's.  I can see why they've been called the Best Burger in South Bend for years and years.  

And it was a belly buster.  I'm very glad I didn't get any waffle fries with the meal as I probably wouldn't have made any dent in those.  But the burger was top notch.  I'm going to have to do a lot of reshuffling when it comes to my Best Burger list in 2012 and CJ's Pub is going to get some serious consideration as either Top 10 burger or, at the very least, will garner a High Honorable Mention from me.  Given the history and tradition at Notre Dame and how great the hamburgers taste at CJ's Pub, I may be able to get over my disdain for all things Fighting Irish if I get back to South Bend on a regular basis.