Driving to Evansville

Some friends and I are going to Evansville, IN next week. We were looking for a dinner stop. From mapquest it looks like Terre Haute is about 3+ hours south of Chicago. I did a search and found this recommendation from Christopher Gordon in November, 2005:

M. Moggers Brewery
904-908 Poplar St.
Terre Haute

I also found Dr. Thom’s Guide to Terre Haute. That listed some recommendations. But I doubt the group I am with would go for any of those listed there. We are more of beer/burger BBQ type.

So does anyone have any current thoughts on Moggers, or maybe a better place between Chicago and Evansville. We will be leaving right after work and would be looking to eat before we got to Evansville.

D

Unfortunately you are 10 years to late to eat at what were two great cafeterias in Terre Haute, Goodie Shop and Laughners. Since their closings we usually just stop at Steak and Shake which allows my family to give me plenty of grief that his highness is allowing them to eat at a chain. Can't help you out with M. Moggers but a few other comments have not been kind on other sites.

Save your appetite for a 5 minute trip from Evansville, over the Ohio River to Henderson, Kentucky for the best barbecue in the area unless you make it to Owensboro, Kentucky. Thomasons (basically take out) and Ralphs occasionally approach superlative levels. Some day I'll learn how to take food photos and post further on these fine joints. This is not your Southern Pride fired and lightly smoked type of barbecue.

I recommend Highway 41 ( follow the 63 route a little past Kentland, Indiana to Terre Haute. Avoid Northern Indiana congestion from hell by taking 394 south into Highway 1 and then east on route 17 (turns into route 2 in Indiana) over to Highway 41. Five and a half hours drive time to Evansville.

Don’t think we can wait the first night to get to Henderson, but maybe the next day we can go there. Do you have specific recommendations for Henderson? I assume Thomason’s and Ralph’s are in Owensboro.

D.

dodger wrote: I assume Thomason’s and Ralph’s are in Owensboro.

D.

Dodger, Thomason's and Ralph's Hickory Pit are both in Henderson. Sorry for the confusion. They both have pork spare ribs (tips attached), chopped pork and chopped mutton.

Thomason's ribs are heavily smoked, taking on a very dark to glistening black appearance. Their porkiness is exquisite. After these, your mouth will feel like it has been hanging over a wood burning fire pit for a while but in a good kind of way. They are served with a thin vinegar and pepper dominated sauce or Bar-B-Q Dip, hot or mild available. I've never ordered them with Dip on the side and the ribs may even need a little Dip to soften them up just a bit. Outstanding thick and smokey beans are a must. A disappointing contrast, their chopped pork is not recommended as it is somehow devoid of crispy bark and close to mushy texture. There are only two booths for eating in and they close around 5.

Ralph's has excellent chopped pork with the ribs less blackened but still nicely smoked. Quality of the ribs can vary more here lately but still often worthy. Sauce is a more traditional thick and tomato type but still a distinct tang. Ralph's is a regular diner type restaurant that is also very popular for breakfast. They serve good Kentucky Ham with red eye gravy.

My all time favorite barbecue in Owensboro and the entire mid south, Shady Rest, has sadly, now been put to rest. Old Hickory and George's are still worth the half hour drive which should be very pretty, with the Red Buds still in bloom. Highway 60, east out of Henderson is the scenic route.

Thomason's
701 Atkinson Street
Henderson, Kentucky/ 270-826-0654

Ralphs Hickory Pit
793 N. Green St.
Henderson, Kentucky/ 270-826-5656

Old Hickory Pit Bar-B-Q
338 Washington Ave.
Owensboro, Kentucky

George's Bar-B-Q
4736 Frederica St.
Owensboro, Kentucky

Well my friends & I went to Evansville last week. They wanted to eat downtown and let the traffic die down first. Since I was meeting them in Hammond I decided to go there first and then look for a place to eat. The hotel recommended:

Anthony’s Café
2936 Highway Ave.
Highland, IN
219-923-2075

this was a small cozy place. I started with a Tanquery martini. The price, given the location, surprised me $9.50. Then I ordered a small house salad $3 and chicken santucci $16. I ordered this because I was told the pasta was not homemade. I liked the salad and the chicken was excellent. I had never had/heard of this dish, but it was breast meat marinated in lemon, basil, and butter. I was surprised the color of the sauce was a rust brown. I asked the waitress, but she had no idea. I was going to ask someone else but I had to go to meet my friends.

We only had Friday night to try restaurants in Evansville, so we picked:

Ralph’s Hickory Pit
793 Green St.
Henderson, KY

It had the look of good BBQ, but did not deliver. We picked this place because they had BBQ mutton and 2 of us wanted to try it. We got an order of chopped mutton and ribs and split the two. The other guy got a chopped pork sandwich. The guy I split the order with raved about everything. For me I agree with T Comp above. The ribs were not very meaty, lukewarm, no smoke, nor what I would call BBQ flavor. I enjoyed the mutton, although I didn’t think it was anything special.

My quiet other friend would only say he liked the sandwich. We all liked the bean side order. We all ordered and liked very much the homemade pies. Best part of the meal in my opinion.

On the way back we stopped off at:

M. Moggers Brewery
904-908 Poplar St.
Terre Haute

Moggers is not a brewery. They contract brew (we were told) from a brewery across the street. We tried 3 different kinds of their beer, real bad, bad, and ok. We weren’t hungry so we didn’t order anything, but the menu looked like a standard pub type. It was crowded, but the service was slow, even giving them credit for the crowd. If you are a beer geek, don’t expect very much here.

D.