Together on Tuesay: That Place With The WikiStix

When I made my big "lifestyle change" a few months ago, one of the biggest changes was my beer consumption.  The other big change?  Cut down on the Mexican food.  I'm living with it, but it took me awhile to get over myself and stop mourning.
I think what bugged me most about less beer was that some of my favorite restaurants are breweries and/or brewpubs.  There is NO WAY I could visit a brewery and NOT drink their beer. 

Today's Together on Tuesay topic:  What are your favorite restaurants?  Why?  Are they kid friendly?  Quiet?  Is the food great?  What gives? :)

(And on a sidenote, we have ANOTHER new blogger this week!!  Her name is Tish, but I've yet to procure her blog address.  I'll update here when I have it!!  Welcome, Tish!!)
I'm going to limit this to my top 5.  I could probably go up to 10 or 15, but we just don't go out that much anymore.  Five is actually pretty exhaustive for how much we go out.

Jayna playing WikiStix at Oaken Barrel last summer. 

1. Oaken Barrel Brewing Company.  We LOVE this place.  Their beer is fantastic and their food is just as good.  It is kid friendly (or NOT, depending on if you go to the restaurant or the brew room) and Jayna LOVES to go there.  She calls it "the place that has WikiStix."  WikiStix are like the Bendaroos they show in those commercials between cartoons to make parents buy stupid crap because of kid-vertising.  Anyhoo, there isn't just good food and great beer, there is such a sense of community there.  The brewery has been there for right around 15 years and there are plenty of regulars to chat with if you sit at the bar.  I even ran into our wedding photographer's cousin there!!  Our wedding photographer ran for Mayor of Greenwood last year.  You learn something new everyday!!  The menu has some standbys on it such as hamburgers and pizza, but also has a few more unique options also.  And many of their entrees aren't terribly bad for a diet.
2. Famous Dave's.  This gets number 2 because it is Jayna's favorite.  The kid would eat their homemade chips everyday of the week if we'd let her!!  Kid friendly, decently healthy menu options and you really can't beat the prices.  Good food at a great price.  What more could we ask for?  A better beer selection. :)
3. Fiesta Ranchera.  I am not linking this one because they don't have a website!!  They are a hole in the stripmall Mexican restaurant who lets us choose our table and doesn't even have to ask us what we want to eat.  This was a (atleast once) weekly lunch spot for us before our "lifestyle change."  I tried and tried to get Chris to go there for dinner last week, but he wouldn't give in.  Their food is delicious and they are the nicest group of guys you could ever imagine. 
4. BJ's.  I'm not sure we've ever taken Jayna to BJ's, but not because she wouldn't love it!!  Their in-house brewed beer is amazing and the avocado egg rolls are...I don't even have words!  I love them that much!!  They have an extensive menu ranging from "normal" food to other more unique things.  They have a "small bites" menu that is perfect when you're trying to eat light.  If you don't have kids with you, I suggest sitting at the bar.  The bartenders are super nice and helpful and you can taste their beers before you commit to paying the 6 bucks for one!!  Love it!
5. Fifth place is hard!!  I have about 10 places that are tied.  I'm going to go with Bob Evan's.  We go here for family breakfasts.  It's so nostalgic to get up, get dressed and head out to get an omelet and home fries.  We just sit and talk.  We go to the one in Greenwood and there is the same sense of community there as there is at Oaken Barrel.  Everyone knows everyone!!  The servers are always super nice and they seem to always remember us!  I think it's because of Jayna. :)

Even though 3 of the 5 places above are chain restaurants, Chris and I more and more prefer to eat at places that aren't chains.  Generally the food is better and the service is too.  I'm a big fan of supporting your local community and part of that is investing in local businesses.  That being said, we also like Jockamo a LOT.  While we don't eat pizza very often, they have other salad and sandwich options that are as tasty as their pizza.  Papa Roux has the best po boys and cajun food around.  We don't eat there often because they aren't on our side of town.  They now have a downtown location, but we'd have to call in our order because the line is always out the proverbial door!!  They do LOTS of business and there isn't one thing that I've had from there that wasn't delicious.  I also enjoy Bazbeaux with my girl friends once every couple of months.  We'd like to make that more often, but life happens.  Their spinach salad and quattro formaggio pizza are too good for words. 

I'm eager to find more independent restaurants.  If y'all know of any, let me know!!  I'd love to try them out and add them to my local business list!!

Also, I could make an entirely separate list for Bloomington.  When you live somewhere for that long, you tend to hang on to it. :)  Almost ALL of the places there were independent business.  College towns do well with that sort of thing.

So, friends...where do YOU like to eat?  Why?  Give me your lists!!

Now head on over to After 9 and Some Weekends, Purple Peaches, and The Dog Days of Life and see what Michelle, Nancy and Charlotte like to eat!!  I'll update with Tish's blog address when I get it!