Friday, December 11, 2015

SAHARA RESTAURANT BRINGS A BIT OF LEBANON HERE TO INDY

SAHARA  832 BROAD RIPPLE AVE
There are some pretty good Greek restaurants around town, that's for sure.  But the Sahara takes the Middle Eastern dishes you may be familiar with and puts a tasty Lebanese twist on them.  The place is beautifully decorated and very inviting.  You order at the counter and your meal is prepared freshly and brought out to your table.  The portions are substantial and priced between $8-15.  The falafel is probably the best I have ever tasted.  Smaller than I'm used to, but packed full of flavor.  Nice and crunchy on the outside and soft and yummy on the inside.  They offer several options of sandwiches and platters with different meat options, chicken, lamb, steak and ground beef.  Vegetarians will be happy that there are lots of options for them as well, including the above mentioned falafel!  Everyone that works there is over the top friendly.  I am told they will be staying open late nights on Friday and Saturday to tame the hungry Broad Ripple crawlers!

AMERI-MEX? CAN'T GO WRONG AT LA HACIENDA

6825 Graham Road location is my go to!
Are you in the mood for some outstanding American-Mexican fare?  Well who in their right mind isn't from time to time?  With a few locations scattered around town, La Hacienda is a pretty much guaranteed spot to get your taste buds firing.  The location at 71st and Binford is by far my favorite, with great service, spot on food and BEYOND AMAZING Texas Margaritas.  The complimentary chips are always warm and fresh.  The table salsa is good, but I like chunks of onion in cilantro in mine, and theirs is pretty smooth.  The menu is pretty standard with burritos, quesadillas, fajitas, tacos etc.  Nothing really out of the ordinary, but I can't say that I've had anything that wasn't top notch.  Some stand outs are the kind of hard to find on the menu fish tacos with a choice of soft flour or hard shells and, believe it or not, the chicken soup (pictured above).  WOW!  Big chunks of chicken and avocado in a nice tangy broth with some pico and cheese thrown in for good measure.  AND one of the least expensive items on the menu.  It is a must try.  A word of warning....THE PLACE IS ALWAYS BUSY!