This is a restaurant from the past that has not kept up with the times. Decor has not been updated since the 50's. Â The food was awful. Â The soup was salty and obviously brought in. Â Their famous fried chicken was devoid of any seasoning at all, lacked any salt and flavor. The mashed potatoes where the true give away. Â If you are going to call yourself fine dining, and charge fine dining prices then you loose the right to serve instant potatoes.
Review Source:Best of the best...creme de la creme...step back into 1950's SUPPER CLUB elegance. Â White table cloths and classic service. Â The BEST fried chicken ever (equal to Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket and close to White Fence Farm's) and the best buttered perch I have ever eaten. Â GOD I miss Phil Scmidt's buttered perch, and they are victims of the economy but the soul of their buttered perch LIVES ON. Â Want frog legs? Â Want a designer cocktail or traditional drink at old school prices? Â They have relish trays! Â They make their own salad dressings...buttermilk, sour cream, and mayonnaise as a base...they make their own soup. Â The place is a MUST SEE, take your kids to see what a real restaurant should be. Â They have multiple dining rooms. Â The place is almost 100 years old and encompasses much of a CITY BLOCK in size. Â Christmas decorations are classic and amazing and every season in celebrated in their dining rooms and lounge. Â The White House could not have it any better and I sincerely mean that. Â Take your family or go for a romantic date, even if it is an hour or so drive...I promise it is worth it.
An American Classic...long live Teibel's. Â When your favorite restaurant goes out of business or changes style...you can count on Teibel's timeless elegance and amazingly prepared dishes to bring back memories of the best of home and family. Â Eat here once, I dare you to not agree, Â I am a world traveler and this is on my top ten list worldwide, along with Anthony's Pier 4, Bukhara, Rascal House, Rao's Italian, and others. Â By the way, I don't live near yet go every chance I get, several times per year. Â If I had a wedding reception or similar event I could think of no nicer place. Â Huge parking lot. Â Seemingly unlimited seating and timeless atmosphere. Â I consider myself lucky to be in driving distance of this culinary and cultural landmark.
Growing up in the toxic heart of the Region - I lived in The Harbor, Gary, and Tolleston during the first 3 years of my life - I was told by all my relatives that Teibels was the best local restaurant, a place you had to dress up for, and one reserved only for special occasions. Â Several of my cousins' wedding receptions were held there, as was my mom's remembrance service, an Orthodox tradition that follows the funeral by 90 days or so, and we sometimes went there for Easter Dinner or the like. Â Despite all that, I was never impressed by this place and, despite efforts to open up to it 55+ years after I first walked its funereal halls, I'm still not. Â (That's not presbyphobia, JY, just the facts.)
Good lake perch? Â Sorry, Phil Smidts closed several years ago, and I was among the very last to dine there; they'd lost their liquor license by then and were on their last [frog] legs: Â Teibels doesn't hold a candle to what good perch should be. Â Excellent fried chicken? Â The Cavalier in Hammond does a much finer job with that, as it does with most of the food it brings to the table, and even KFC or some of the local truck stops do better. Â But, surely the salads are wonderful! Â No, they're redolent of the canning process and nothing at all out of the ordinary, unless you've never tasted cold wax beans. Â
This place is just bland, and overpriced at that. Â For a decent meal, either scout out one of the several ethnic sleepers scattered about the Region from Hammond to Hebron, from Munster to Michigan City - several within a few miles of Teibels along US 30 and 41 - and find one you like, or get thee into Chicago. Â Sure, you'll be fleeced by the omnipresent parking meters and exorbitant city taxes, if not stopped by the CPD on some trumped-up moving violation with your IN plates, but you'll get much more variety, value for what you pay, and QUALITY than you will at Teibels. Â Or, better yet, head up into MI and try a Bill Knapp's or a Win Schuler's. Â Sorry to rip on the place, but I've been going there for far too long to allow another generation to either suffer its insults anew, or - worse - enshrine it as some sort of ur-hip, retro culinary institution, when it is absolutely nothing of the sort.
Went to this restaurant on a Groupon. Â Boy did this bring back memories of when I was little and people dressed up for a special dinner. Â Went for an early dinner, mainly geriatric crowd, but they do have a nice bar area with booths. Â Comfy chairs on rollers and friendly waitstaff. Â I love the combo meals. Â I had the fried chicken & perch. Â Glad I didn't order appetizers, because we were served warm Teibel rolls and their own cheese spread. Â The meal came with soup, salad and dessert (a small scoop of ice cream - 6 flavors to choose from). Â You can also purchase "moderate" dinners, which allow you to forgo some of the sides. Â My specialty martini ($5) was delicious and they have a nice selection of beers.
Review Source:Our group had lunch at Teibels on a bus trip. Â I didn't make the arrangements, but I can tell you that I experienced almost NONE of the positive things that people have mentioned in their positive reviews. Â I had to pay $19 for an extremely small portion lake perch with cheesy potatos and frozen mixed veggies. Â Although the food was good enough for maybe a 3 star rating from me, I was horrified by the amount of money I paid for it. After reading the reviews here and looking at the website, I have no idea why I was charged so much, but I was.
If you are scheduling for a group, I would NOT recommend this place. Â My husband refused to eat once we sat down and if I had to do it all over again, I would have done the same.
Great lake perch and chicken, homemade soups and rolls -- <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.examiner.com%2Frestaurant-in-chicago%2Fteibel-s-schererville-ind-has-great-fish-and-chicken-review&s=41112d7af309c8d89cc650d64a46592fbec5aafc7803f4b46c487f877818acc4" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.examiner.com/…</a>
Review Source:Decided to take my parents out for my mother's 80th  birthday.  My neighbor suggested Teibels due to the "older crowd" and the quietness of it.  I chose it because I wanted it to be good food, quiet, elegant atmosphere.  (getting to 80 should be something to celebrate).
What a mistake going there was! Â Three of us chose the moderate portion chicken. Â Moderate is an understatement. Â Thislittle,tiny oval plate came to each of us with this tiny, tiny chicken breast. that I've never even seen that tiny in the grocery store. Â I almost asked the waitress where the wing was, but then I saw it attached to the breast. Â So, right about then I almost started to giggle because this was the two pieces they were talking about. Â It was pitiful! They should be ashamed at what was served.
Let's get to my husband's meal. Â He ordered the "full" $23.95 meal of frog legs and supposedly their famous perch. Â He also got served the little, tiny oval plate (that most restaurants would serve a dessert on) with about 5 frog legs and about three , 3" long pieces of perch. Â
I''m telling you, we all kind of looked down at our plates and couldn't believe what we had gotten.
Based on taste, it was pretty crappy on the chicken. Â KFC is hands down spectacular to this overly cooked, hard crusted chicken. Â My husband enjoyed what little food that he had though.
The only thing I enjoyed was the chairs....I know, that sounds pretty pitiful, doesn't it. Â I just wanted the evening to be perfect for the mother and it wasn't . Â She even called me today to remind me of what a crappy meal it was. Â So, you won't see me ever in there again.
I think it's horrible and cruel to poke fun at an establishment as some Yelpers below have done just because a place caterers mainly to an older crowd in their opinion.
Have you Northwest Indiana people ever heard of age discrimination?  I would like to remind those Yelpers that our older citizens have been where you are going, if you are so lucky to make it.  I would remind you to hang onto your  tacky, misplaced comments for a day when you should be so lucky to make it to a good old mature age, those crude comments you direct towards your elders today will be applied to you one day.  Shame on you for your lack of respect....
As for Teibel's, it represents a time when individuality reigned supreme beckoning back to an era in American history when people took a risk, worked hard and openend their own business. Teibel's is not a chain or a cookiecutter place, such as those that have saturated Route 30 over the recent decades. Â It is an original, a work of art. Â It's an old time anchor and deserves the respect as a long surviving instituition that has weathered time and the latest generation and fads.
Teibel's represents a time when dining out meant dressing up, showing some manners and being civil with each other over a good meal. It's called class, maybe we have lost it. Â American class and culture you will not find at McDonald's or any number of the invasive chain restaurants that line Route 30 today.
I think Teibel's is a fine restaurant, I have dined here many times in the past. Â There is nothing wrong with Teibel's. Â
Have a good day!
.
I would have given it 5 stars, but I really think that they have changed the oil that the perch is cooked in. It used to be like eating buttered popcorn.  Now a days, it is still the same look and texture, and fish, but the oil is  bland. even asking for butter on the side doesn't help much, if it is butter they bring you.  Oil is everything.  Still, there is nowhere else in IN, MI, WI, or IL with a better lake perch dinner, or anywhere else in the entire country that I have found.  The chicken is very good and the sides are healthier than anything you'd get elsewhere.
Review Source:Completely over rated and over priced. People in  NWI rave about the Lake Perch served at this place. I guess it's my fault for not inquiring more into this traditional perch but it is basically fried pieces of fish that look like fish sticks---YUCK! Don't let people fool you into thinking this is "fine dining". Oh and the place looks like a funeral parlor with a clientele that is basically knocking on deaths door. WOW, I guess that's harsh but it is definitely true. Enter at your own risk!
Review Source:Sometimes it's better to NOT revisit the past. Teibel's is like an old girlfriend who you run into and wonder what you ever saw in her in the first place.
The trademark boned in butter perch is bland. The old school sides of coleslaw, and cottage cheese are straight out of a retirement home cafeteria. The mixed veggies are obviously out of a can.
Two stars for the nostalgia factor only. I knew I was in trouble when I saw the sign on the door that says: "Wheelchairs available inside". Teibel's is strictly for your grandparents (or parents, depending on your age.) Do yourself a favor and go have the lake perch at the Lighthouse Restaurant in Cedar Lake. WAY better.
This is a great old school place with formal dining rooms as well as a casual dining room. The pan fried perch boned in butter is out of this world. There is nothing like it. The cole slaw is unique to Teibel's and is great with the perch or chicken. The formal rooms are great for weddings or funerals. They seem to do a huge take out service as well. Get the food family style on platters. this place should remain open forever. The memories people have of it must be incredible.
Review Source:I can't believe some of the reviews on here....ok...I know they haven't updated this place in a while, but every time I go (whenever I'm home) the food is always incredibly delicious. I always get the turkey dinner and you have to get a relish plate (beets, cole slaw and cottage cheese). Â I hope this place is in business for a VERY long time...as what some other reviewers said..if it worked for 80+ years, why fix it? The crowd here is also a bit older, but who cares? If you really like good food then that shouldn't even matter. And remember to save room for the peppermint ice cream...
Review Source:Well, I'm of the age group you are all knocking. Â Can't change that and not really trying.
For you French snobs:
The raison d'etre for going there is the perch -- boned in butter. Â It is family style so there is porcine note. Â The excellent cold slaw cuts that nicely.
The chicken is also family style. Â The rest of the menu is something I've never bothered with. Â The perch are perfection.
Back in the olden days, sonny... Â There were a number of perch joints that passed as haute cuisine. Â French were the guys that couldn't fight.
My palette may have gotten more sophisticated over the years. Â But, the perch is still as good as it gets. Â Maybe it is my generations comfort food but it has a quality that is undeniable.
30 Second Restaurant Review - More like 3 1/2 stars. Went old school last night, took my Mom there for her 81st birthday. Sometimes it's comforting to go back, not to many places like this left. The family stuck with the basics - Fried Chicken, Perch, Frog Legs and Steak. I had the Walleye - thought it was better than the walleye that I had in Door County this summer. Steak was OK, stick with the Chicken, Frog Legs and Walleye. You get the whole meal for 1 price. Bread sticks with cheese spread, soup or tomato juice, salad or relishes, Teibel's rolls, and ice cream. The relishes were the cottage cheese, beets and cole slaw. Didn't ask for a B-day cake for Mom, but they brought one out when they heard it was her birthday. I like it when the owner is around, and Steve Teibel was there. Still love the Christmas decorations. Got to get back there more often since so close to home.
Review Source:Hello, FOOD SNOB HERE. Â Yes, this place does look a little like a funeral parlor. Â The place has not changed in years. Â Also the food has not changed and thats because it is good. Â For the price, it is good Perch and Fried chicken. Â I guess thats why they have a mostly older crowd. Â I firsted noticed only 2 1/2 stars, then realized its mostly younger people reviewing. Â After 70 years of success why change anything. Â
Sure you can go somewhere and get perch for $7 all you can eat. Â But most people can tell the difference. Â
I guess there are places for younger crowds, and places for older crowds. Â I hope this place remains a region favorite for many years to come.
This review is for the banquet dining. Â I've gone here for several banquets, and have never had a great meal -- standard bland banquet food at best. Â Please ladies -- stop having your bridal and wedding showers here -- you have options.
Sorry, the quality is just not there anymore. Â I think most people go here because of what it was, not what it is.
When I used to work at Mason's (a industrial chemical plant just down the street) they would bring in food from Tiebel's about once every 2 weeks. Fried chicken, fried perch, cole slaw, pickled beets, and rolls. Man, was it good too. That was a weird place to work. They never gave bonuses and were extrememly tight with raises but they would buy tons of this high quality food for everyone to eat on the dirty, chemical laden work site. But it was a family shop so what  you gonna do? The only way to get up in that company was kiss ass like crazy. I used to work with the grandson of the owner and he would literally do whatever the hell he felt like. He was this 20 something douche who bring a bag of budweisers to the job and sit in the supervisers seat and make phone calls to his baby mama. Hell, everyone was getting drunk and stoned behind the building whenever there was enough down time. So yeah, I'm guilty too. But this guy wouldn't even stay at the plant for his whole 8 hours he would just come in an hour late, drive the fork truck around and then leave 3 hours early.
Oh, and besides the family people it seemed like I was working mostly with ex-cons. The racial tension in my department was unnerving and so unnecessary. It seemed like some of the guys that worked there were just there because people were too afraid to fire them. I don't know how that place never exploded or got shut down or something.
So, anyway, Teibel's. I've lived pretty close to the place for most of my life but have only eaten inside twice. I don't know why nobody in my family ever thinks of going there. They have really nice decorations around Christmas time. Though, I would say there's definately something very "whitey" and old timey about the place.
But that's not a bad thing! That makes it unique. Don't worry, if you're a person of color, they're not going to turn you away or give you dirty looks or make you order from the "other menu".
Try it.
Disclaimer: That second star is there for the nostalgia factor only.
When I was a kid, I had to trust my elders (aka my grandparents and great-grandparents) when they taught me Teibel's was a great, fine-dining restaurant. Hey, they served Kiddie Cocktails and deep-fried fish and every meal ended with peppermint ice cream, so obviously I had no choice but to agree.
Alas, both I and my palate have matured since the early '70s, and the only reason I go to Teibel's now is when an elderly family member dies and the dinner is held here.
The food is exactly the same as it was 30-40 years ago (and beyond): hearty, unhealthy and pretty bland but strangely comforting. Sometimes the familiarity of an iceberg lettuce salad and lackluster fried perch is exactly what I need to be reminded of [insert name of old dead relative here]. This place is a holdover from the era of '30s-'50s art deco dinner clubs and banquet halls where guests gussied themselves up to the hilt for a large meal with family and friends, and I appreciate that about it.
That said, the exorbitant price you pay for the mediocre quality of the food simply isn't worth it in modern times. And don't even get me started on how pissed I was when I learned they replaced their fabulous old Googie neon sign with the ugly-as-hell red signs they share with Walgreens!
If you want to go to an old fashioned Euro restaurant then go here. Tiebels is as pure today as it was when it started years ago. Imagine a place where you can eat your Grandmas Polish/German/ Austrian cooking, this place has it all. Heart and soul cooking!
Everyone raves about their Fried Perch, but I am addicted to their pickles and slaw. Wow really tasty and not too salty either like most euro foods.
The staff are excellent including the bar staff who are so quick and know how to mix a mean drink. Is that a good thing?
Nice place to go to and chat to the older generation, this is a story telling place here for sure. Love it!
there's only one thing i get when i go to teibels - the fried lake perch! Â it's classic. Â it's a step up from casual dining and the crowd is usually older. Â while some may not go for that sort of thing, i do. Â i've never had screaming kids next to me, nor have i had a bad cup of coffee there. Â the service is always good and the food has never let been anything but good. Â
at Christmas-time, they always doll up the place to be a real festival of lights. Â lasting for decades, teibels continues to be a cornerstone of the community,
I went with my family last night for dinner. Â My mom had a $100 gift card and we'd never been there so we tried it. Â the selections were very few and there were 3 or 4 beef selections. Â Everything was WAY too pricey and tho the food was good, they skimp on it. Â My son had the turkey dinner that was $17, and we were saying how it was the EXACT size, style, taste, as the SAME dinner at The Steer for only $6!!! Â I had the steak and it was good, with a baked potato and soup. Â My brother had the pork chops which were very small and my mom had the beef burgundy. Â For that price, she didn't get much. Â We skipped dessert and the bill was close to $85. Â It's highly doubtful we won't be going back.
Review Source:Previous reviews were accurate and captured a visitors perception of the blue haired crowd, but oh, the perch, yes, yes the yellow lake perch, not the stuff outsiders think of as perch.  This is the reason they have been around for eons. Friday is all you can eat family style lake perch, fried or sauteed or broiled or all three. Who gets fried chicken when lake perch is unlimited, but only on Friday.  Yellow lake perch is $22 per pound at the Jewels when they even have it, and although it comes from Canada, it is superb. By the way, the only reason it comes from Canada is that the US won't let commercial fishermen on our side of the Great Lakes, so the Canadian fishermen sneak over at night to catch it and sell us our Lake Perch at inflated prices. The coleslaw and beets are a perfect complement. Their sweetness and acidity clean the palate better than any wine and makes each bite of  perfectly fried lightly battered perch melt in your mouth. A little salt and pepper are all that is needed as I am not a fan of  tartar sauce and lemon as they mask the sweet nuttiness (with a corn finish) of the fish. Phil Schmidts BONED AND BUTTERED was slightly better in my opinion though. When I want perch and it's Friday, 40 miles is never too far. Desert is the roasted apple with carmel sauce. Peppement ice cream is free. If you've eaten too much it is better topped with creme de mint to minimize the effects of gluttony. Don't eat the fillers. Wait for the fish.
Review Source:Family style dining Midwest style. When we first sat down we had cottage cheese, beets, and German style cole slaw waiting for us... How easily I forget how spoiled California has made me. The second course was some sort of vegetable soup containing okra. Then the main course. Fried chicken, fried perch, and mashed potatoes. That's right, two fried items and a starch. Dessert was peppermint ice-cream which did bring a smile to my face. I was surrounded by family so no matter what I was served it would have been a good meal. The whole dinner reminded me of my youth and made me miss my new home in San Francisco simultaneously.
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