Fat Dan's recently re-opened near my house, which is a wonderful thing!!!
Since I am new to Indy I had only heard legend of Fat Dan's food....it wasn't until last week that I tried it. And tried it again. And tried it again. OK So I have been there three times. JUDGE ME.
Including what I have ordered and what my husband has ordered and my friends who have generously allowed (read: had no choice!) me to steal some bites of their food, here is what I have tried and LOVED:
The Wells St Fat burger.....OMG! I want another one right now. I can't even talk about it or I will salivate all over my laptop. Just go order it. This was the first thing I had and I was feeling kind so I shared it. Every time someone else took a bite, I cried a little because I wanted more. (Is that selfish?)
The hand made corn dog....I think it's called the "ugly" corn dog or something. Whatever it is, its juicy and amazing. Probably good for kids, but definitely adult-sized.
The Italian beef.....piled very very high and delicious. I only had one bite since *someone* who won't be named but that I am married to ate the whole thing on his own.
The Reuben....I have never had a reuben with smoked corn beef before, but let me tell you it is to die for.
The Pulled Pork.....this one was mine. All mine. And I ate it all. Smothered in BBQ sauce and simply amazing. I will get it again.
I had some of the brisket as well. It was -- like everything else -- amazing. I might have to avoid it if I want to keep my current pants size. Or I could start a new holiday where I fast for 2 days and then celebrate the end of my fast by going to Fat Dan's for the brisket. A sort of brisket lent for something.
The "best fries in the universe" really are the very best fries in the universe. They come out on butcher paper in a huge pile of all shapes and sizes (round, thin, fat, crispy, soft, salty, etc). As my friend said, "There's something for everyone in this pile!" Yum!
I don't give out a lot of 5-star reviews but this one was earned.
Chicago prices, Terre Haute value.
I suspect that the late night crowd must be okay with the prices. Â Maybe because they thought they saw $6 when it really is $9. Â When you are inebriated, maybe it doesn't matter.
Food quality is equivalent to a knock off of Chicago food.  You know it isn't real, but because you paid for it, you have to convince yourself it tastes like Chicago.  It  really tastes like Evanston.   Kind of close, but not the real deal..
Now I know how Dan got fat;the brisket.Memo to kitchen:Fat adds flavor while cooking but should be trimmed prior to serving;unless it's crisp.I would estimate 25% of the portion was fat.And where is the smoke ring?I appreciate the use of a dry rub but what do you use to smoke your beef?Do you even attempt to drain your fries?My buddy and I both had the brisket and they were both extremely fatty.Were we the exceptions or the rule?
Review Source:My bar for Italian Beef Sandwich is quite high, thanks to the awesomeness served at Al's Beef in Chicago. As soon as I realized that Fat Dan's had an Italian Beef Sandwich I was there to grab a bite. I was secretly hoping that it would be as good as Al's, but was realistic about what I might get.
Fat Dan's didn't disappoint. I had the Italian Beef sandwich and asked to have it "dipped". As I took the first bite, I realized how lucky I was to be in the midwest. There it was in front of me - this sandwich, soaking wet in awesome artery choking juices, loaded  with beef and topped with hot peppers. To complement the sandwich was this huge serving of fresh fries sprinkled with the right amount of salt (you know, just so your blood pressure does not feel left out). To "wash it all down", they had brews from Bellman's, Left Hand Brewing and 3 Floyds (gotta have a mouthful of hops, or it isn't a beverage). I hogged it all in a few minutes. Like a Boss. (Did I tell you that I was starving??)
The place is casual and the guys at the counter are friendly. You can see your food being made, and they have big rolls of brown paper towels for cleaning up the mess you make. They have weekday specials where you get one entree and a side of fries for $7. The specials last all day. I think Wednesday is Italian Beef day. I will confirm and update.
It was no Al's Beef, but I am glad that a good Italian Beef sandwich is just a block away from home :)
If you haven't already, go there and eat what you've been missing.
I love Italian Beefs; I miss Mr. J's.
(Fresco's(****)/South of Chicago(***)/Fat Dan's(1/2*) will now have to do).
I love Hot Dogs. Â I want to love this place. Â Nope. Â Never gonna happen.
Too-tough bread and chewy beef; coulda been an off day (or three). Â
Surly, couldn't-give-a-rat's-a$$, doing-me-a-favor (lack of) service;
chalked it up as imported "local color".
$5 for a hot dog. Â Not "Chicago-style/dragged-through-da-garden".
Not Hot Doug's Foie Gras Special. Â Just tube steak on a bun. Â
Really? Â Maybe that's how Fat Dan ended up here in Indy;
the good folks of Chicago would not suffer that kind of BS.
FU - with an encased meat product - Vienna Beef or otherwise.
I wrote my first review of this place when I first came to Indy. I missed Northwest Indiana's ripoffs of Chicago food, so this place's Italian Beef was comforting. The guy who was always in here (not Dan) rocked. And someone around here sold me booze when I was underage one time. All of these contributed to a somewhat rosy-eyed review of Fat Dan's.
After some time in Indy and becoming more world-weary, I can give a much better review of Fat Dan's.
First off, the food is still good, but it's not as good as I remember it. Specifically, I'm positive they've changed their Italian beef in some way. It is definitely not as good as it used to be, though it is a bit larger.
Despite that, the portions are still small. And the food is still really expensive. You can see that with their menu. 7.50$ for an Italian Beef that's pretty small. Just the sandwich mind you, no fries or drink or anything.
If you order ribs, you'll still be hungry. Reuben's not big either. Neither's the polish, but you probably wouldn't expect the Polish to be really big. I get the feeling they're major cheapskates.
Fat Dan himself is nice enough, but the guy checked my ID to make sure it matched up with my debit card. That's the kind of general uptightness that no sane human being worries about. I've said this in other reviews and I'll say it here, if you want an Italian Beef in Indianapolis, I highly recommend Big City Grill on 38th street.
P.S. They still get three stars, because at least this isn't a completely monotonous menu of like, the five things Indianapolis serves (Burger, tenderloin, some b.s. noodles and compay style pasta and a philly steak sandwich that's worse than a real philly steak sandwich but more expensive). So many menus just bore me intrinsically, Fat Dan's does not. Kudos for that.
Your near broad ripple and are hungry, make the trip into Fat Dan's. Â First off, the fires are outstanding and then from there I have had nothing but the best food there. Â The brisket is outstanding, Â the wings are some of favorites anywhere. Â Dan's smoke flavor is perfect, his food is delicious, and I love being able to grab an old style. Â Support your local places and they will be good to you. Â Go see Fat Dan and make sure you get the fries.
Review Source:Now this is good eats!!! Â I know that they tell you not to write a review if you have any connection to the owner. Â That is very hard not to have seeing as how he is there all the time and is an awesome guy. Â Dan has been in the store every time I have gone in there, he is part of the reason it is such a great place. Â No one is doing BBQ like he is doing and he also has the best burgers around. Â The price is right and you can watch the food being cooked. Â Highly encourage everyone to stop in there!!!
Review Source:If it was appropriate to roll around naked in meat juice, this would be the place to get your juice. Â The Italian beef sandwich is fantastic, especially DIPPED! The fries are perfection. Â There seems to be a "frites and aioli" Â trend hitting the Broad Ripple area with blunt force as of late, but at Dan's you get good ol' fries and plenty of malt vinegar. Practically melting in your mouth. Lunch is reasonably priced and there's always a special. Â Comfortable atmosphere and great people. Ok, I have to stop typing now because my mouth is watering and if you walk into Fat Dan's and get a swift smack in the face with the smell of slow cooked meat, yours will too. Â Happy Noming!
Review Source:The food:
Try the smoked brisket sandwich; the brisket is seasoned with a thick layer of salt, sugar and spices that caramelize after sitting in a smoker for 14 hours. Â The meat and fat just fall apart and melt together; stack about 1-2 pounds of this between two buns and that's your sandwich. Â The best part is peeling off and eating the caramelized pieces of brisket.
The fries are fresh cut and seasoned with a salt-sugar combo that balance each other out perfectly. Â If $8-$9 seems like a lot, it's not. Â I got way more than my money's worth.
The atmosphere:
Fat Dan's theme is Chicago. Â The interior has a lot of Cubs memorabilia, which kind of turned me off at first - not because it's the Cubs (I am a Cubs fan), but because it reminds me of Wrigleyville. Â Have you ever been to Wrigleyville during a Cubs game? Â The Cubs are about the ONLY thing I like. Â As for the bar and restaurant scene nearby, the drinks are usually overpriced; the food is usually on par (at best); you usually don't get much bang for your buck; it takes forever to get a drink (even longer if you're waiting for a waitress to get it for you)....overall, it's touristy. Â Anyway, this is what came to mind when I walked into Fat Dan's and - thankfully - I misjudged. Â
I do think their hot-dog and Polish can be pricier, but I'll forgive Fat Dan's because it's hard to find Vienna Beef outside Chicago. Â Besides, if the brisket and fries are any indication, you probably get plenty of bang for your buck if you're paying a little more.
Last note:
My wife and I came at 8:00pm on a Friday but according to our waiter (Freddy), the activity picks up from 10pm through 4am. Â Since this is my first time here, I don't know if I got a lot of brisket meat because that's the standard or because it was a slow period (we were the only ones there). Â Just fyi.
This is the kind of place where the vibe pretty much inhales you as you walk in the door: it's an inviting den of transplanted hometown comfort (Chicago, in this case) that feels at the same time like a local hole-in-the-wall fixture. Â One fellow working the joint, assorted ephemera blanketing the walls, a cool grunginess that only exists in the most independent of operations - that sort of thing.
My typical experience in such an establishment is this: Walk in, be charmed, order the special or whichever "best representative" offering can be wrangled from the do-all employee/owner, expound to my companion (or lacking such, to the D-AE/O while he's busy cooking my food) upon the absolutely darlingness of longstanding independent eateries like this one, receive the food, eat it, pretend/tell everyone in earshot it's like the great like thing ever, get the check, refuse to admit to myself that the quality/price ratio is not quite ideal, walk out in a wave of goodwill, never come back.
Because usually the story's awesome and the food's just all right.
Interestingly, Fat Dan's is exactly the opposite. It's hardly a fixture, having only been open a few years, and the food is fantastic. Everything except the smoked meats - ASIDE: Holy crap, the brisket. The brisket is phenomenal. I have rarely found beef fat so compelling. If you get anything from this horribly unfocused review, please let it be idea that you owe yourself a Fat Dan's brisket sandwich - is cooked to order. The burgers are pleasantly greasy and complimented by lovely melty toasted buttered buns (the sort of excellent simple offering that makes you wonder what the heck all the other places are doing wrong). The fries are hand-cut into various shapes, always hot from the deep fryer, and seasoned rather addictively.
I've not fully explored the menu, but I'm fairly confident just about everything is delicious and prepared from properly high-quality components. Yeah, and there's local beer on tap! Try getting that at Jason's Deli or wherever. Do it, really
Finally, looking at the menu the prices seem a buck or two higher than I want to be paying. But post-meal, I've never felt like I overpaid. And that's the key, ya? It's all approximately the opposite of what I've just written. Quality over quantity, or whatever.
This place seemed to me like a quantity-over-quality type of place. My sandwich was good but not awesome. It was huge. My fiance got the double burger and had to use a fork and knife to eat it. There was only one employee in the restaurant and she was cooking and taking care of customers. I had to ask her for a fork because there were none out. The smoke from the grill bothered me but, with allergies and sinus issues, I may be more sensitive to that than the average person. The fries were good -- one order is more than enough for two -- but not super duper. And it's petty, but there was some anti-democrat stuff on the walls. Is a restaurant really the place to make a statement? That wouldn't stop me from coming back but it was annoying.
Review Source:I was pumped when Fat Dan's moved in to Broad Ripple. Â Indy gets a lot of Chicago natives, but I don't feel like there are many places that really cater to that Chicago feel. Â Not only do they have the best Italian Beef I've had in Indy, but they also have Delirium Tremens and Old Style ON TAP! Â They started doing a daily special a while ago, so its nice to be "encouraged" to try something new. The special usually entails getting fries and a drink with your food at a cheaper rate.
The Italian Beef is spicy and will get soggy with the juices from the veggies it gets cooked with, but don't worry, they put all of your food on a big sheet of paper and dump the seasoned fries out for everyone on the table. Â The cheeseburger, while a little on the greasy side, is large and excellent. Â Also, the Italian sausage is usually really good. Â One bad thing I've had happen a couple of times is that they will be out of food because it goes so quickly!
The 5th star really goes to the atmosphere. Â It's really laid back and decked out in just stuff that the owner thinks is cool. Â Everyone that works there is friendly and chill. Â
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!
All you need to know is that they have Old Style on tap. Feels like home.
Accurately prepared Chicago dog. They will also dip your beef sandwich in au jus and have a counter where you can eat it standing up like you are supposed to.
The fries are homemade & delicious. Chris is a super helpful dude behind the counter with suggestions for those people not fortunate enough to be raised in the warm, loving embrace of Chicago comfort food.
The plain brisket sammich is by far the best smoked brisket that I have ever had.  However I have had it a few times when it was not so fresh, a little tough or too fatty.  But when it's right it's one of the best sammiches you will ever try.  The fries are a great compliment to anything on the menu.  Great service, great food (most of the time) and a great location.  The only other complaint that  I have is that the ran my credit card twice one night and after a few phone call I was never reimbursed.
Review Source:What better way to try out a new restaurant than a Groupon coupon! Â I local retailers who do Groupon! Â
The kids and I ventured to Broad Ripple, on a lovely Wednesday afternoon! Â My daughter ordered the grilled cheese (as usual), and my son ordered a hot dog plain (as usual). Â I ordered ribs and split them with the kids!
EVERYTHING WAS GOOD! Â The french fries were on fire! Â They were so good! Â We all loved them. Â Sometimes, we can never decide on one restaurant we all like - but this time we all found our favorites. Â We all shared and sampled each others food and found everything to be so tasty!
Everyone cannot cook ribs - that is a fact! Â But I will definitely be back for these fall of the bone ribs. Â I didn't even have to smother it in bar b que sauce to make it taste better.
It is somewhat pricey, but it was a great meal and definitely something out of the ordinary. Â We'll be back despite the Cubs motiff throughout the place. Â Go Cards!!
I have been to Fat Dan's a number of times. Â The fries are always great. Â The first time I was there I got the wings, straight out of the smoker. Â They just fall off the bone. Â At that time Dan's was very new and I was talking to him about putting Sun King beer on tap. Â At my last visit I noticed they have one handle of Sun King. Â The other beers on tap where a great selection as well. Â Founders Centennial IPA being one. Â The brisket is outrageous. Â I had it at a function that Dan worked at Sun King and it was dripping with goodness. Â My buddy had their burger and compared it to a thicker version of Workingmans Friend, which is a bold statement. Â This time I had the Chicago combo. Â An italian sausage and italian beef on the same roll with sweet peppers on the top. Â I have never had a good italian beef so I can not judge that, but I love italian sausage. Â This one was the best I have ever had. Â Extremely tender. Â The beef in the combo just got in the way. Â I would get one or the other next time. Â I recommend you give this place a chance the next time you are in Broadripple.
Review Source:So the food was really good. The Italian beef was sliced thin and packed into a dipped bun. Yummm. Also got to try the pulled pork and that was smoky deliciousness. The fries were really good too, and definitely homemade, as I saw the person working cutting the potatoes by hand. By hand, can you believe it? The only thing keeping it from getting all 5 stars is that it was a bit pricey for what you're getting, but the quality is definitely there.
Review Source:Get the fries! Â They are VERY tasty. Â Besides the fries we had the grilled ham & cheese sandwich, the turkey reuben & a side of cole slaw. Â The ham & cheese was the special of the day & came with fries. Â Most of the other items didn't. Â I didn't taste the ham & cheese but my boyfriend really liked it. Â The Turkey Reuben was very tasty. Â Cooked perfectly with just the right amount of cheese, sauce & kraut.
Fat Dan's also has Chicago style hot dogs, beef sandwiches, ribs and a number of other items. Â We'll be back for sure to try some other things.
Oh, the slaw was terrific! Â Some of the best I've had around here. Â YUM
The Italian beef was AMAZING! Â It's probably the best Italian beef in Indianapolis. Â I loved the Chicago sports decor (intermingled with Butler) and how laid back the atmosphere was. Â
The beer list wasn't extensive but it was all craft (plus Old Style) so that was pretty awesome. Â The only thing I wished I could have tried was the smoked wings but they had another hour to go (we got there right around noon).
This is a place that I get cravings for and if they had delivery I would eat it more often. Â It's a great place to get some good grub, a beer and do some people watching. Â It's got the Chicago deli feel and Dan is the man. Â The name's a little deceiving though because Dan's not really fat lol. Definitely try the beef brisket if you're a meat eater. Â Everybody I've taken there has gone back on their own.
Review Source:My boyfriend and I were looking for a new place to try. Â We reached to some friends who had tried it and they said it was good.
Fat Dan's is in the heart of BR, small restaurant, with good service and great food. Â I had the burger (fantastic) and my BF had the italian RB combo (w/italian sausage) ("Good"). Â The fries were home made and nice and crispy, w/a great seasoning. Â The prices were a bit high (7.95 for burger + 3.95 for fries and drink), for what it was, however I would pay again for the burger :)
Overall--it was a nice find and I will go back.
Visited Dan's for a quick bite with a friend planning on a small appetize before going on to Union Jack's for their Italian Beef. Didn't know what to expect.... decided to go ahead and order the Italian Beef.... hands down the BEST italian beef I've eaten. I love the Italian Beef at UJs but this blew it out of the water!! Â Fries were great, too.... served on a sheet of paper! Â And Dan was a great host for us. Can't wait to return!!
Review Source:
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