I just completed my second meal at the Depot this noontime. The clam chowder was the best I've had in a very long time. Very rich, thick and loaded with coarsely chopped clams. The turkey in the sandwich came off a carcass, not a piece of a turkey part. I asked Robert if the chowder would be a Friday staple. He said that they were still working on the soup menu, with the next addition likely to be a lobster bisque. Whatever the final choice, Robert said the Friday soup would always be a seafood one. This is their only their 15th. day of operation, but when I was there, 12 other people were having lunch.

Okay, curiosity got the best of me...had lunch at the Depot. I ordered the chili and a grilled cheese, which came with a side of fries. The chilli has a nice, black peppery spice and chili kick, two kinds of beans (red and white), and you can see real, identifiable chunks of beef--not the nubbly gristle nuggets you find in so much diner chilli. The grilled cheese was basic, well-buttered.

My co-eater, who was sold on the place as soon as a glass bottled Coke was delivered, ordered the Blue Plate--as Erik M. observed yesterday: two breast filets of chicken-fried chicken, coated in a crunchy, deeply- browned, highly seasoned breading. Smothered in a white, spice-flecked gravy, but surprisingly mild in flavor. I thought it would have more of a sausage gravy porkishness. Chicken was supremely juicy. The special came with bright peas and carrots (seriously...the color was striking compared to dull canned peas-n-carrots) and a pile of thick, creamy, cheesey mac and cheese, topped with shredded cheese. Heart-stoppingly good. Particularly the few spoonfuls I shoveled into my bowl of chilli--my own impromtu chilli mac.

Unfortunately, had no room for the made-to-order doughnuts or pie or cake, but it provides a good excuse to go back.

Sorry to tie up space with such a specific question, but does The Depot serve a tuna melt? If they do, and if it's awesome, I may weep.

Dmnkly wrote:Sorry to tie up space with such a specific question, but does The Depot serve a tuna melt? If they do, and if it's awesome, I may weep.

No, but if you suggest it to Robert, I'd bet he give it serious consideration. I mean, he's got chicken salad, egg salad, and a b.l.t., so tuna salad (and the melt variant) seems like an obvious addition to the lineup.

E.M.

01.28.07


hashbrowned potatoes, eggs, and sausage


biscuits & gravy (1/2 order)

A standard order of biscuits & gravy contains 2 split biscuits with sausage gravy, hashbrowned potatoes, and 2 eggs (any style).

The biscuits were rather leaden and dry, but everything else was first-rate.*

E.M.

* I was forthright with my opinion of the biscuits, and my criticism was well-received. A solution appears to be in the works.

(I ask this in all honesty)

How do you get the pics to look so diner-y/vintage? Really love 'em

Vital Information wrote:(I ask this in all honesty)

How do you get the pics to look so diner-y/vintage? Really love 'em

I lost my original hardrive a couple weeks ago, and with my new one I have yet to figure out how to use the software that I used before.

So, for the time being, I am using the Hewlett-Packard Image Zone photo editing suite which happens to have an "auto enhance" feature.

I set it at two standard deviations, et voilà!

E.M.

PIGMON wrote:Can I talk about the food here or is it limited to phone talk?

Went to Depot American recently and felt as though I was jumping into an Edward Hopper painting. Great vibe. If you're one of the many LTHers I've met who is in constant pursuit of places with a pulse, check this spot out.
A lot of thought is going into the details here; sodas from Mexico, homemade pies, homemade breads, homemade soups, homemade, homemade, homemade (and a real neato phone).
From what I tried, I thought the soups were the standouts. The owner told us that the daily blue plate specials are his early regulars favorite order; just like the old days.

Curious to hear what hardcore diner lovers around these parts will have to say about it.

OK, I'm a hardcore diner lover (and I recently had the chance to visit a really fine version in Minneapolis's Al's). Until yesterday I had not really paid attention to this place, but especially with ('cause of?) Erik's retro pics, I was anxious to try. What's more, there is rarely a LTH buzzing place that's so close to where I live. All in all, I am REALLY glad it's here, surely for reasons Pigmon states. I plan on going often--if nothing else to determine what is the one mysterious blue plate special pic.*

That said, it's kinda a hard place to write about. A few miles, nearly due west is one of my favorite diners, Louie's, in Forest Park. Louie's is nothing else, about Louie, Louie the Octopus, jaunty white hat, who juggles the needs of 30 or so customers at peak times. Louie makes nice potatoes, the ham's on the bone, the burgers decent; it's a diner. The energy moving outward from Louie and through the rest of the place makes Louie's enjoyable. Not the food.

Maybe (probably) Depot will pick up these features. It will become more of a diner. The problem is, it's too easy to not think of this place as a diner. And that makes me want to focus a bit more on the food. After all, nothing at Louie's tastes nearly as good as what I had last night. This only makes me want to pick nits.

On the plus sides, the house made chocolate phosphate and chocolate egg cream were outstanding. Do order! It was hard to outdo these things. What came close: gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, red velvet cake, pot roast, bun, cole slaw.

As noted, the fries can be a lot better, especially with the gravy, I wish they were. The catfish itself was tasty, on the bone was fine, but it could have been a tad crisper. Cherry pie needed a bit more ooph (more than made up by the red velvet cake).

Service was fantastic and friendly. Anna makes a great host (fer sure). My pot roast sammy missed the fried onions pictured above (although I did not say anything), and to really pick nits, my pickle was smaller

Like I say, the focus on quality here makes me only want to think of how they can be even finer. I look forward to the process.

*If you go, you will notice black and white pictures of the daily specials. Except for one, you can tell what it is. One makes no sense. Anna said if it was in color, it'd be easy. She gives you one guess. None of my family succeeded.

PIGMON wrote:Alot of thought is going into the details here

Absolutely, hint of basil in the clubhouse sandwich mayo, made with slices of house roasted turkey no less, shredded chicken topping the chicken soup, supportive, though not overwhelming, burger encasing bun and a kick-ass chocolate phosphate. Well thought out, well executed.

Chicken Noodle Soup



Club House Sandwich



Burger



I loved the chocolate phosphate, it had been ages since I'd had a really good version.

Chocolate Phosphate



Friendly, informed service makes the Depot dining experience even more enjoyable.

(L) Annemarie (R) Merley


Red Velvet Cake



Steve Z on The phone.



An inauspicious location for a terrific diner. Please consider me having firmly jumped on the Depot bandwagon.



Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:An inauspicious location for a terrific diner.

Gary, the above is the only thing you said that I have to take issue with. I was ignoring the "what does your neighborhood need" thread until The Depot opened in mine (because it just seemed hopelessly beyond hope). My neighbors and I are optimistically confident that Robert's arrival is the beginning of a turnaround of that stretch of Roosevelt Avenue, not an exception. (And, for anyone looking for an up and coming ( ) neighborhood to open your new [whatever], there are a number of storefronts available west of Central on Roosevelt!)

Thanks for all the reports.

Kristen

kl5 wrote:And, for anyone looking for an up and coming ( ) neighborhood to open your new [whatever], there are a number of storefronts available west of Central on Roosevelt!

Yes, yes, I agree, but you've managed to overlook one of the neighbourhood's most significant draws:


[Situated one block west of The Depot]

E.M.

Erik M. wrote:4 Shizzle!

Sadly, also closed.

Kristen

Is "2B Naughty" also closed? If so, we might have to add the restaurant "4Taste" to the dead pool..

gleam wrote:Is "2B Naughty" also closed? If so, we might have to add the restaurant "4Taste" to the dead pool..

No, 2B Naughty is open and looking especially fancy in these pre-Valentine's Day days.

Kristen

HI,

Last Saturday, after an OnStar intervention with Erik M who was enjoying the sites of Northwest Indiana, I located American Depot after blowing past it. After reading some descriptions of its locations here, I had the impression it was in the middle of a bus turn around park. I wasn't looking for a regular retail location.

This was after Culinary Historians, which means on this occasion my personal bus was full. The advantages, of course, you get to see more of the menu on your table. I first attempted to order the open face turkey sandwich. I was declined because they had already run out and the other turkey wasn't finished roasting yet. A fresh roasted turkey for an open faced sandwich is definitely a rare opportunity to try this sandwich under optimal conditions. Alas, it will have to be next time.

I ordered instead the biscuits and gravy with two eggs sunnyside up. When the eggs arrived over easy, I took them anyway because they looked well executed. The yolk was shimmying under a lightly cooked coat, which was perfection for me. There was no need to read for the pepper to doctor the sausage gravy. While I defer to Erik's remarks on the biscuit, I am sure they will be improved.



My Mom ordered the Club Sandwich and Mom2 ordered the BLT. Both remarked how great the bread was, which is normally not a remarkable feature in diner food. They also commented on how well the individual components were prepared, such as the bacon.

I inquired about whether they planned to make hand cut french fries, since it is the only item not made from scratch. Robert didn't sound interested because they are too challenging to get right. He was satisfied with the french fries as they were.

Club Sandwich


BLT


The Blue Plate Special, actually served on a blue plate, was fried catfish, cornbread, garlic mashed potatoes and fresh peas.



I had read earlier someone else remarking on fresh peas and carrots. It is rare not to get a frozen pea. Simply for my information, I made a point of verifying whether the peas were fresh or not with Robert, who affirmed they were indeed fresh. I commented about the fresh peas to Louisa Chu who rode up with me to Wisconsin later. She was really shocked, because of the price point. She said even Paris restaurants with slave labor wages don't always offer fresh peas. Fresh peas are rare because they are labor intensive.

My friend who ate the the catfish was very pleased with entire composition of the meal. She is very knowlegeable and doesn't shy away from controversial comments. If she was happy, then it really indicates this is diner food of extraordinary quality.

I had the chocolate egg cream, which was simply divine. Next time I will go for vanilla.

There is no exageration this place is very special with a high level of attention to food almost never exhibited in diner food. While it may not be a hard sell to get people to attend, I have the feeling I will be standing in a line to get in.

On a seperate note, I talked to Barbara from Culinary Historians, whom I tried to persuade to join us. Instead she drove by to find it was the very diner her kids loved growing up in this neighborhood in the 1960's. When I outlined to her our meal's quality, she couldn't wait to tell her family. She said back then it was neighborhood filled with great shopping. I'm sure she shares Kristen's sentiments this restaurant might be the nucleus for improvement.

Forgive me, I did ask about the telephone. It is a replica of a 1937 model, which was purchased after a frustrating search. Only after he acquired this phone did he locate an original, though now he had a phone. I did lift it to find it heavy, though not as heavy as my Grandfather's phone. Ok, no more phone talk.

Regards,

kl5 wrote:My neighbors and I are optimistically confident that Robert's arrival is the beginning of a turnaround of that stretch of Roosevelt Avenue, not an exception.

Kristen,

Far as neighborhood anchors go the Depot makes a hell of a starting point for a turnaround.

Here's to hoping your neighborhood is the next one I'm kicking myself for not buying property back when.

Enjoy,
Gary

Cathy2 wrote:

Mike G wrote:Has anyone actually used a rotary phone in the last, oh, 20 years?

My Grandfather had a genuine rotary phone, which looked like the faux phone. I loved the little whirling noise it made when you dialed. It was heavy. Regards,

20 years, they say. Grandfathers, they say. Sheesh, I feel old. I used one
(on a regular basis) about 5 years ago (Admittedly, it wasnt in this country,
but rather on a holiday to India - hadnt bothered to replace the old one
with the new-fangled handset thingy

Yes, they are slower (not *that* slow, but slower) - they are only *really*
slow if they "stick" (sometimes, when the dial thing is turning back after
youve dialled a digit, it sticks on the way back, and slows... and sometimes
requires a little push too. They do make whirling sounds when you dial,
which is cool enough And they do have holes for fingers (which the
faux phone doesnt appear to) - but the holes can be fairly small. If
you have fat fingers (or normal fingers, but not really really thin
fingers)... then its often easiest to keep a pencil nearby, so you can
stick it in the appropriate holes and use it to dial

Whats really nice is the way they ring - a distict and different
trrring-trringgg sound to it. A few days ago I was in a cabbie joint
on Devon, and one of the cabbies got a call on his cellphone...and
it rang that exact same way! He had apparently downloaded an
"old fashioned rotary phone tring-tring" ringtone onto his cellphone (the
kind you heard when you received a "trunk-call", as opposed to a
direct-dialling call) , I wish I had thought to ask where from Half the
patrons of the cabbie joint turned to him with amused expressions and
said it was a terrific idea, when it first rang

And yes, Burt Iam sure has a genuine rotary phone - he has plenty of
old-fashioned cool things at his place. Some of those radios I havent
seen in about 20 years, too. He can probably still catch the BBC on
Shortwave on em (I used to do that on my trusty Radio-Shack
SW radio a few years ago, before the Beeb put all their stuff on the
internet for much easier access

c8w

I just noticed that in comparing the pictures that Gary took of our lunch and the ones that Cathy2 posted (which were taken previous to our visit) the fries seem to have changed. Gary & I were served pre-frozen batter coated "spiced" fries, while Cathy2's pictures seem to be of regular frozen fries. Neither one is a favorite of mine, but at least it looks like they are working on changing the fries to something that matches the quality of the rest of the food.

BTW, That phone has an excellent dial tone!

Though I've yet to go to Depot (a gap in my experience I plan to fill in as early as this evening), it's worth noting for those coming from afar that a decent Mexican grocery is just west on Roosevelt (with Nuevo Mundo, one of my favorite "grocery store hot tables," inside) and maybe a mile west on Roosevelt is Nicky's, where one can dine on The Big Baby, the burger ReneG made famous. To the east is Vital Information-approved La Quebrada. (Though I realize you may not be all that hungry after eating at Depot).

Hammond

Fresh peas...in January?

Right now the're going for $5.90 a lb. (fyi...the same cost per pound as prime, bone-in rib eye) in the shell. A pound of peas in the shell yields what...maybe 3-4 ounces?

So...a fried catfish special that sells for $8.59 has roughly $5 to 6 cost just for the vegetable, in addition to the cost of the fish, breading, potato, cornbread, tartar sauce, etc...etc...not to mention the labor of shelling fresh peas...so let's just say 85 to 90% food cost on this item plus labor.


In January...?


The same place that serves frozen french fries...?

I'm more than a little sceptical about these peas.

Ronnie,

I am skeptical too, though I have to advise I was surprised by my friend's response. She took one bite of the peas, then exclaimed these are fresh peas. I had read the earlier post, but never had commented to anyone on the peas. Never really thought about it until her non-LTHforum influenced comments.

As for the peas, it is almost like believing in Santa Claus. You want to believe, you are given lots of reasons to believe and yet you are not quite so sure.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Ronnie,

I am skeptical too, though I have to advise I was surprised by my friend's response. She took one bite of the peas, then exclaimed these are fresh peas. I had read the earlier post, but never had commented to anyone on the peas. Never really thought about it until her non-LTHforum influenced comments.

As for the peas, it is almost like believing in Santa Claus. You want to believe, you are given lots of reasons to believe and yet you are not quite so sure.

Regards,

I suspect that Robert's claim was more likely "fresh-frozen," as opposed to "tinned." I had those same peas as part of a vegetable medley just a few days prior to your visit, and if they were fresh shelled peas, they were undoubtedly lost on me. The peas I had were good, don't get me wrong, but they certainly didn't appear to be of the fresh shelled variety.

Of all the poeple that should know the difference, Miss 4-H-State-Champion-Homemaker-Extraordinaire... Sheesh!

E.M.

Erik M. wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Ronnie,

I am skeptical too, though I have to advise I was surprised by my friend's response. She took one bite of the peas, then exclaimed these are fresh peas. I had read the earlier post, but never had commented to anyone on the peas. Never really thought about it until her non-LTHforum influenced comments.

As for the peas, it is almost like believing in Santa Claus. You want to believe, you are given lots of reasons to believe and yet you are not quite so sure.

Regards,

I suspect that Robert's claim was more likely "fresh-frozen," as opposed to "tinned." I had those same peas as part of a vegetable medley just a few days prior to your visit, and if they were fresh shelled peas, they were undoubtedly lost on me. The peas I had were good, don't get me wrong, but they certainly didn't appear to be of the fresh shelled variety.

E.M.

ditto

Of all the poeple that should know the difference, Miss 4-H-State-Champion-Homemaker-Extraordinaire... Sheesh!

I never claimed to have eaten them myself.

Regards,

Evil Ronnie wrote:Right now the're going for $5.90 a lb. (fyi...the same cost per pound as prime, bone-in rib eye)

Where??

Wholesale price per lb. for #109 primal cut, bone in rib, dry aged.

ER, can you buy a primal wholesale for me?

I also had the peas a part of the veggie medley. They were frozen but good. Way better than canned.

It was really tough to find anything in this place that hadn't been fully photo-documented already, but here it is....the private dining cubicle!



Customer Service Success Story: after dinner last night, mhl had asked to take home half his brisket sandwich, and the waiter accidentally tossed it...so he gave mhl a whole new one. Nice.

I knew the likelihood was high that I'd run into other LTHers here -- and sure enough, we ran into kl5, the "discoverer" of the Depot, and husband, who live in the area.

Hammond

Hammond is right, there's very little that hasn't photographed at The Depot, but hey... nobody's done arty black and white yet! Don't worry about the slightly forlorn look here, I snapped this during a brief lull between customers at that end of the counter.



We made the trek for breakfast and the first thing we asked about was biscuits and gravy, which Myles ordered. I had my doubts when I saw cut up pieces of link sausage in the gravy (as opposed to crumbled sausage) but all doubts were dispelled when I took a bite. A strong flavor of fresh rubbed sage and sausage drippings, a hint of hot sauce, these pretty much instantly became the best b&g in town that I know of. The biscuits seemed much improved over the descriptions (and Robert mentioned that he knew we'd grumbled a little over them), flaky and fluffy, even though with that gravy a lot of sins could have been easily covered. I am posting this on Saturday afternoon because you need to go have these tomorrow morning.



Liam, his palate used to exotic pancake creations from places like Over Easy, seemed confused at the prospect of plain pancakes, his little eyes looking up at me wondering, "What, no mascarpone-filled lemon zest?" In fact, the menu offers one variation, "apple pancakes," which turned out charmingly to be a horizontal slice of apple griddled for a bit, then pancake poured around it. He loved them, and the buttermilk scratch pancake batter was first-rate.



The other thing I had wanted to try after hearing about it was pie-- could this be that utter rarity, a restaurant in Chicago serving fresh-baked, homemade, non-Sysco-assembly-line pie? Yes it could, and is. This was cherry pie and it was top-notch all the way, flaky, perfectly formed crust, classic American-style cherry filling (more goopy and sweet than I like to make personally, but that's not a criticism, just a note of style variation). All the pies and cakes are made by either Robert or his partner, whom he said learned the good old ways of piemaking from his grandmother. Try the pie and you'll believe it.

We talked to Robert for a bit and he was happy to tell us about spotting the place, winning the landlord over, redoing the derelict interior and redeeming its reputation in the neighborhood. He said the first week or two, he had a lot of folks come in, order coffee, look around, and check out the bathroom (!) to see if it was true that the place had been cleaned up after its video-poker-and-derelict-hangout recent past. Then they'd come back a second time a few days later and actually order food. The good news is, besides being talked about here he's been in Dish, so he seems well on the way to a certain level of publicity and discovery.



As we prepared to leave he told us to sign the blackboard by the phone (no, not THAT phone). As Myles started to write his name we noticed "LTH" written there-- and I bet we know that Hannah, too.

I was talking at lunch yesterday with a couple of LTHers about seasonal cycles on LTHForum and I mentioned that it seems like every year around this time, because of cabin fever or something, we get a thread of sort of amusing negativity (the "sheeple" thread). But at the same time some new place opens which impresses everyone with its commitment to doing things freshly and well, which helps remind everybody, even in the dog days of winter, of the positive side of posting here. It seems funny to call Depot Diner this year's Spacca Napoli, but in that sense, that's exactly what it is.