John's Famous Stew- Indianapolis, IN

We loved the horse racetrack picture that took up nearly all of one wall:

You can get your stew mild, medium, or hot- we liked the mild:

For non-stew eaters, there are lighter options such as this Chef Salad:

Be sure to go to the coupon page of John's website. You can print coupons for money off or for free cobbler with the purchase of a bowl of stew and a beverage. We chose the peach cobbler:

Amazingly, it is the middle of September already so prime stew eating season is nigh upon us. After hearing about John's Famous Stew for years, we finally got there last week. We were afraid that the stew wouldn't live up to our expectations after so many years of reading about it but, it exceeded them.

We enjoyed the mild stew. It was a combination of beef, potatoes, carrots and celery in a wonderfully rich beef base. Mrs. WYA! isn't even a beef-eater and she loved the taste of it. The chuck of beef in the center was fork tender. Despite the name "mild", the savory brown sauce had a wonderful combination of spices that had a very warming effect. If you're a newbie, mild is the way to go because it can always be made hotter but the heat can't be taken out once it is in it. This huge bowl of stew came with a couple of large slices of white bread with butter available. This was not an appetizer stew, it was a meal stew (although Mr. WYA confessed that he would gladly eat a bucket of it if buckets were available). Per the menu, the "Hot Stew" is a traditional favorite, but we think we'll stick with the mild.

John's is tucked away downtown in an industrial area; probably completely out of your way but it's completely worth the trip.

1146 Kentucky Avenue

Indianapolis, IN 46221

317.636.6212

One note, it appeared that this is an "over 21" establishment. There were signs on the doors to that effect. We thought that maybe we just entered a bar side and there was family room side too but we didn't see one. You might want to call ahead and check if you have little ones.