The Iron Skillet

I've been coming to Iron Skillet for Thanksgiving as long as I can remember. It's a family tradition. Their Thanksgiving meals are always delicious and the service is top notch.

How can I not give 5 stars to a place that has provided some of my happiest childhood holiday memories? Every time I get to come back here, it fills me with nostalgia. I really love this place and I hope it never changes.

Indianapolis has some really awesome, older gems that they need to preserve. As a former 18 year resident, I've seen too many of my childhood hot spots get turned into some modern spectacle. It would be nice to see this place maintain its appearance and tradition for years and years to come.

This is one of the quintessential Indianapolis establishments. Everyone talks about St. Elmo's, but this is the Midwestern family's place. It is an old house on the hillside above Coffin golf course. It feels as though it hasn't been touched in a century. Old doily tablecloths and baby blue curtains decorate the interior. It feels as if it were plucked from the old Indiana farmland and transplanted to the city.

The waitstaff gives you the same down home feeling too. Very friendly and welcoming. It usually feels like you're the only people there, which usually is because you are the only people there through the week.

I do not recommend taking fewer than four people here, because the sides alone will fill you up. I have been known to carry-out a fried chicken dinner for two before, but it's great to try a few of their entrees and share. The fried chicken has to be ordered when you make your reservations if you don't want to wait the half hour it takes to make it. To me, this makes it all the more endearing though. The sides are my favorite part though. They have my favorite iceberg wedge salad I've had because that dressing tastes centuries old and magically simple. They also have delightful pickled beets. The rest are just old standby's like mashed potatoes and chicken gravy and homemade biscuits.

I guess I shouldn't forget, you get to finish the meal with the timeless ice scream dessert. This is a personal favorite because of the old world charm and makes it a number one recommendation for a family meal.

The Iron Skillet is one of those time warp places I remember coming to for special occasions as a small child, then a teenager, then a hungry college student and now an adult.  Nothing has seemingly changed here the entire time.  The food is excellent, with interesting old school sides like beets, and that hard to find "secret recipe from the 30's" kind of salad dressing.  Family Style. Come hungry leave being rolled out the door.  

Recently came back here after a few years away expecting things to have changed- after all nothing good lasts forever- and it is exactly as it was with still very attentive professional service and excellent Hoosier fare.    

An Indy Institution that hopefully will last forever.