Donut Shrimp & Huge Martinis at Town Club, Highland IN

Donut fried shrimp for over 50 years and huge martinis served with bigger smiles. How can you resist an ad like that?



After our mini-Johnsathon, Cathy2 and I checked another one off the NWI list, the Town Club in Highland.

I had anticipated a thick donut-like batter for the shrimp but it's knifework that turns them into donuts: butterflied shrimp have a slit cut in the center before they're breaded. You can order them by the piece ($1.75) or as a complete dinner ($18.95, $2 less on Wednesday). Of course the dinner starts with pickled beets, bean salad and cottage cheese. The shrimp were pretty good, with a light, barely seasoned, greaseless coating.



The martini was indeed huge, perhaps not a paragon of the cocktail arts, but quite a deal at $5. And, yes, it was served with a smile. Our waitress, a Town Club veteran, was fantastic. When she mentioned the Wednesday taco special I was uninterested but the more I found out the more intriguing it sounded. Reportedly they've been making these from the same recipe since 1963 and serve about 600 each Wednesday. Authenticity is too much to hope for but I'll give them a try one of these weeks.

Town House might be more a comfortable spot for its regulars to polish off those huge $5 martinis than a culinary destination. Still, I liked the old-fashioned feel of the place and look forward to a return visit. Has anyone tried Town Club's tacos or anything else on the menu?

The Town Club Restaurant and Lounge
2904 45th St
Highland IN
219-924-5227

Do you know if they are open for lunch on the weekend? My mother lives in Lansing and I'm always on the look out for lunch options nearby. Thanks.

Hi,

While I don't have the hours at hand presently. I can offer this much: they are closed on Sundays.

Regards,

Thanks. I just called them and they open at 11:00 on Saturday.

I've lived in Highland all my life and have never been there.

I can't pass up a huge $5 martini, though. I might try it this weekend.

Hi,

As I recall, Rene G's supersized martini came with a triplet of anchovy stuffed olives. The oil from the martini left a small oil slick on the surface. I recall he commented in his last sip there was a high concentration of anchovy debris that had fallen to the bottom.

The interior was more neighborhood joint feel than a supper club as the name implies.

Regards,

Through the years I've tried most everything on their standard menu, though I'll admit upfront I haven't been there in five years or so. But I doubt whether anything has changed in those five years...like so many NWI places, Town Club is stuck in a time warp. They advertise shrimp, but unless their customer base has drastically changed in five years, the locals go there for lake perch (Fridays only I believe) and steaks. I didn't know about the tacos, but then again, I can't ever remember being there on a Wednesday.

The food was good though hardly inspiring, but a fairly good value. IMO Freddy's in Hammond was better for shrimp and steak, and the Lansing KofC was better for Friday lake perch, so Town Club was removed from the rotation whenever I take my parents out to dinner. My parents like Town Club more than I do, and they still go there on occasion.

One problem I had at Town Club was the amount of cigarette smoke in the "non-smoking" area. If they have gone completely non-smoking like a few other restaurants in Highland and Munster have done recently, I'll make sure to try them out again.

Mark,

You won't be going to Town Club soon. The bar was heavy with smoke. While it looked very charming, in a bar sort of way, it was the smoke that blasted us into the non-smoking area.

Thanks for commenting the time-warp aspect. Is Freddy's also a time-warp?

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Thanks for commenting the time-warp aspect. Is Freddy's also a time-warp?

Freddy's is more like a Stargate.

Rene G wrote:I had anticipated a thick donut-like batter for the shrimp but it's knifework that turns them into donuts: butterflied shrimp have a slit cut in the center before they're breaded.

So they're slitted and joined by breading? I may make these for Xmas eve.

Excellent legwork, as always, ReneG and C2.

David Hammond wrote:So they're slitted and joined by breading?

Nope, but that's what I thought when I first saw them. The shrimp are first butterflied and opened like a book. Then the "spine" is slit all the way through but only in the middle, leaving both the head and tail ends still joined. Kind of a cool technique that I hadn't encountered before. If you try it let us know how it goes.

Here's a picture C2 took of a particularly fine specimen.

Rene G wrote:When she mentioned the Wednesday taco special I was uninterested but the more I found out the more intriguing it sounded. Reportedly they've been making these from the same recipe since 1963 and serve about 600 each Wednesday. Authenticity is too much to hope for but I'll give them a try one of these weeks.

Well, we visited on Taco Wednesday and the things were almost exactly what I expected a 1960s Indiana taco to be.



A somewhat uncommon crisp-fried flour tortilla came filled with chopped steak, plenty of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and some shredded cheddar. A couple of redeeming features were the big chunks of quality steak and the surprisingly good (and much needed) jalapeño-based salsa. I like Town Club more than I probably should but I won't go out of my way to visit again on a Wednesday. Still, the whole time warp experience, including people sitting at the bar smoking cigarettes, is appealing every now and then.

Hi,

We were clearly in the minority ordering one taco each because other tables were ordering 3-4 tacos per person. However the waitress treated us very favorably as if we were heavy hitters. We liked this friendly atmosphere, because they were just as kind when we ordered just a few donut shrimp.

The preparation of the meat is the day before. When our waitress arrives, she portions the meat into the soft flour tacos. Upon ordering the taco's are deep fat fried for 20-30 seconds to heat and lightly crisp. She indicated some people order their tacos extra crispy, which I might try someday. The jalapeno sauce is made on the premises, too. These tacos are very bland without that sauce, which even I applied gingerly to my taco.

The claim this taco as presented is the original recipe since the 1960's. Rene G and I got into this conversation about when was our first exposure to tacos. I know mine was sometime in the early 1970's. Some of our first meals came from those taco kits with the hard shells and taco seasoning to mix in with your ground meat. My first handmade taco was Christmas 1979 when I visited my Grandfather in South Africa. His Mexican wife had no choice but to make it herself in Capetown, because there was no Mexican foodstuffs available. I'll let Rene G tell his story, because it was quite interesting.

Afterwards, we ended up at Three Floyds for our second visit of the day. We almost ditched our quest for Wednesday tacos when the man next to us received his dinner. If we had not been so influenced, then we may have ordered another taco extra crisp and call it a day.

Yes, a cliff hanger.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,
However the waitress treated us very favorably as if we were heavy hitters.

as if?

Josephine wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,
However the waitress treated us very favorably as if we were heavy hitters.

as if?

I once had a waiter display his contempt for me, when I wanted to order dessert only at the 95th. I was 20 at the time treating my best friend who just turned 21. We already had dinner with her family, which somehow didn't seem special enough. She did get a diamond from her Dad, which was really very sweet. If I had the experience under my belt I do now, I would have gone to the bar area to order dessert. Instead we had the waiter angrily snapping menus closed after taking our orders.

I am somewhat aware both our visits to The Town Club were slightly less than average table income. I compliment them for simply going with our flow and not making us feel like cheapskates by pushing meals we didn't want. The 'professional' waiter at the 95th was far less than warm and absolutely made me feel I was not worthy of his time.

Regards,

I see what you mean, Cathy. Unfortunately, we have all had this experience, especially as young diners. I'm guessing the waiter or waitress you encountered knew how to recognize heavy hitters when he or she encountered the two of you, though it might have been the long arm of LTH. . .

Hi,

I think there is a genuine friendly atmosphere present there. Most people don't know LTH exists, I just hope they think we are just a bit eccentric.

Regards,

Josephine wrote:I'm guessing the waiter or waitress you encountered knew how to recognize heavy hitters when he or she encountered the two of you, though it might have been the long arm of LTH. . .

I more think it's the time-warp aspect of NW Indiana. Not only is the food and decor at Town Club out of the '60s, the service is as well...which in this case is a very, very good thing.

I guess I'm going to have to start using emoticons. Add ':wink:''s to my previous posts upthread.