Indy Tenderloin Tour – The Mug-n-Bun
(Third in a series of five appearing every Tuesday through May 22, 2012)
What could be better on warm spring evening than curb service at an iconic drive-in? Nothing! If only that was our evening at Mug-n-Bun, 5211 West 10th St. in Speedway. It was cool and rainy, but we persevered and ordered our breaded tenderloins, onion rings, french fries, and frosty mugs of root beer. Here is the view out of my window:
Even in the rain, that looks GOOD. And the rings, fries and root beer were good. Which brings us to the tenderloin. Our lovely and rain-soaked car hop Heather told me that the breaded tenderloins were really…fritters. It is acceptable to gasp. The meaty mecca of Robin Miller fame serves frozen fritters. All of you pork pros out there know that a truly good breaded tenderloin is hand-pounded and hand-breaded, never frozen. I was so saddened that I needed another root beer.
This is not to say that the visit was disappointing. The ambiance of a Speedway landmark combined with curb service and home-made root beer almost negated the fritter…but not quite. This is, after all, the Indy Tenderloin Tour. My advice: go. If the frozen fritter leaves you cold, order a foot-long coney. Be sure to order your root beer in the mug to drink there, and when you leave order a root beer to go in the large plastic souvenir cup. If you don’t like the in-car experience, you can always sit at a picnic table. It’s a drive-in. Just have fun.
My rating: A Checkered Flag for the ambiance and root beer and Green Flag/Yellow Flag for the fritter.
Ratings:
Checkered Flag: It’s a winner. Picture should be on the Pork-Warner Trophy.
Green Flag: It’s a go. Solid competitor with a chance to be a winner.
Yellow Flag: Warning. Something is not copacetic.
Black Flag: Get this pig off the track.
New Track Record 