Hoosier Icehouse Is Bigger, and Better, Than the Storefront Lets On

The Story

We were driving home from Indianapolis and needed lunch. Hoosier Icehouse sits about three or four miles off I-275 in downtown Lawrenceburg, which the GPS called seven or eight minutes depending on how the lights fall. That is the whole detour. We took it, and we would take it again.

The building used to be a Studebaker dealership, and the place has embraced it. There is a red Studebaker bench in the entry, dealer and service decals on the walls, corrugated metal running the length of the wainscot. It could have been a theme. Instead it reads like a building that kept its own history and built a bar and restaurant around it.

The Vibe

From the sidewalk it looks like a small corner storefront with a patio strip attached. It is not. The room runs deep, and behind it is a turf yard with its own covered outdoor bar, shade sails, string lights, and enough umbrella tables to host a large outdoor crowd. Eighteen drafts, live music on weekends, and a patio that on a good-weather afternoon is the entire point.

There were already twenty people eating when we sat down at 11:15 on a Sunday, which tells you something about the local following. The room absorbed them like nothing. That is the size of this place in one number.

It also happens to sit in Lawrenceburg's historic downtown, next door to the event center and a stone's throw from the casinos, which makes it an easy answer if you are already coming into town for something.

The Food

We started with the fried mac and cheese bites. Mac and cheese bites are a staple in this house. We have ordered them in a lot of places, and these are the most distinctive version we have had, with a mild jalapeño pop that keeps them from going one-note. The menu calls the crust tortilla chip. It eats like a coarse breading, though if they are grinding the tortillas fine enough that is exactly what it would feel like. Either way it works.

I had the Whiskey City Smasher Wrap, and it is damn good. Packed full of everything. The jalapeño comes through as a straight raw jalapeño taste, which I like, and the pickle slices pull the heat back to a level anybody could sit with. That balance is the reason the thing works instead of just being loud. Smashed beef patties busted up, bacon, melted pepperjack, onion tanglers, and house smoky BBQ aioli. What a surprisingly good combination.

My wife's baked Italian hoagie came out heaping and she called it delicious. Her cucumber salad was the surprise of the table, sweet and refreshing, and the only side that was clearly doing more than it had to.

My daughter is a burger fan and said she wasn't that hungry, so she went with the Ten Buck Chuck. It is exactly what the name promises: two smashed patties, American, and your choice of sauce, which for her was mayo, for $10.99. She called it quite bland. Worth being precise about why. It is not under-seasoned, it is under-topped. It is the plain build on a menu where the other burgers arrive under aioli, jalapeños, and onion tanglers. At that price, that is the trade, and if you want the burger to do something, order one of the loaded ones.

Tots and waffle fries were fine. Cooked well, seasoned enough, nothing you will think about later. They serve the purpose.

The pattern across the table is worth naming. The two mid-priced plates came out stuffed. The cheapest one came out plain. This is a kitchen that gives you what you pay for, honestly, in both directions.

The Bottom Line

Worth a Short Detour. This is the exact situation the tier was built to describe, and why we don't do stars or some other numeric rating system. We were headed somewhere else, we got off the loop on purpose, drove a few minutes into town, ate well, and got back on. That is the whole test, and Hoosier Icehouse passed with flying colors. If you are already running the 275 loop past Lawrenceburg, there is no excuse at all.

Order the mac and cheese bites. Order something off the menu that has more than four words in the description. Sit outside if the weather gives you the option, because that patio is why this place works.