Do You Want Pie With That?




Tipton Indiana

 

Whenever someone is planning a visit to a city, one often asks “where’s a good place to eat”; however, let me say that Lafayette does have some nice locally-owned restaurants with good food.  The nicer ones that come to mind are a bit high-priced.  These we save for special occasions.  However, many of the restaurants in West Lafayette/Lafayette are chain restaurants, with a lot of “fast food” places.  So, for us, we spend a good bit of time prowling the U.S. 52 bypass in hunter-gather mode in search of a place to eat, trying to avoid eating at one place more than once a week. 

Since I felt a bit blinded by old habits regarding restaurants and watering holes, I thought I would google a question about top ten places to eat in West Lafayette.  I’m inclined to think that the results say more about who completed the survey rather than the choices available.  Ones that were on the list included: Mexican fast food, a Wings sports bar, an Irish bar/pub; ice cream and frozen custard shops, Italian family style, sushi, Mediterranean, and a popular mid-western cafeteria chain (which placed FOURTH in popularity). 

Now, I have to admit that this cafeteria is a place where we dine, but it’s typically our last choice on the list of possibilities.  The hunt is not always an easy one and the choices are few unless we want to make a trip "across the river".  Anyway, the food at this cafeteria is pretty pedestrian, priced for the budget-minded, very popular among the elderly (no tipping), and, of course, a WIDE variety of pie!!  The place also does its best to provide personal fetch-it service to diners once they are seated; but my favorite is how the servers pitch the main courses.  If one is choosing roast beef, the servers are required to ask customers whether or not they want “au jus” with that?  Seriously?  Yup, I asked; they are required to use the phrase “au jus” and not beef broth or broth.  I could kinda “get it” if there were French entrées, but nothing comes close.  It’s basically what I would call a “meat and tater” kind of place, not a chateaubriand place.  One can choose salads/fruits, then an main course, vegetables, soup, rolls, and, of course, PIE.  I swear, there are two tiers of pie selections and plenty of pie advertisements/reminders at the tables, but not ala mode.  Whaaaa?? 

OK, so I’ve made a lot of references to pie since starting this blog.  What struck me slack-jawed was noticing that one could get pie (and eat pie) just about anywhere 24/7.  Pie is very popular around here but elsewhere also.  So popular that there’s a National Pie Day: January 23^rd.  Perhaps pie will become recognized as a fruit in the same way Congress now accepts pizza as a vegetable.  And why not, since many states have identified their own state pies!!  Whaaaa????   Seriously…  http://www.netstate.com/states/tables/state_food.htm