Willie & Red's

Never been here before and for a local place I was pleasantly surprised!  Lots of Hoosier comfort foods!  A great way to end our trip to Indiana.  Very well done and the facility is obviously recently renovated and fresh.  I was nervous at the thought of a buffet-  having experienced the bovine preference for quantity over quality that usually accompanies such affairs.  This was a bit more genteel, the food was better, and I left satisfied rather than feeling I needed a shower.  Decor is a bit confused but real effort has been made.

My parents and I went to Willie & Red's last night for dinner.  I hadn't been there in a few years and was looking forward to it because I remember really enjoying myself last time.

First of all, their free cheeseball is so good. I love cheeseball and I love all you can eat cheeseball, so you know I was stopping by that station several times during dinner! They also give you complimentary taco dip and chips and veggies and dip.  I liked both of those, but wish there would've been more because we ate it in about 5 seconds.

My mom and I both ordered herb-crusted salmon with a house salad and a baked potato, and my dad ordered pork chops with a house salad and a baked potato.  Willie & Red's makes their own blue cheese and ranch dressing in-house, so I suggest getting that because it was deeelicious.

Unfortunately, my salmon didn't live up to my expectations. It came with two dipping sauces, a dill sauce and a wasabi sauce, and I'm really glad it did because it was very, very dry and a bit tasteless.  The baked potato however was really good - it had a bunch of salt on the outside which I love.

Overall, Willie & Red's was good. I like the atmosphere, our waitress was good, I like all the complimentary appetizers.  I wish though that the salmon would've been better, but I would definitely go back and try something else. Perhaps the fried chicken?

Willie and Red's is the former Welliver's Smorgasbord which was known regionally for its 5-star American cuisine for over 40 years.  Since the death of the original owner, the restaurant has changed hands several times.  Even though the menu seems the same, it lacks Welliver's flair.

The cajun shimp, my personal favorite was edible.  The rice pilaf, however, was cold and over-cooked.  The accompanied salad was a watered down version of the Smorgasbord's house salad; the greens not quite crisp, bottled dressing, no homemade croutons.  

Each entree is served with the Potpourri platter, an assortment of appetizers.  While the taco meat dip was tasty, the chips were few and bottom of the bag quality.  Curry dip - again, tasted good but small amount of veggies and  watery.  The bread assortment is "homemade cinnamon bread, orange cake, and yeast rolls."  Cinnamon bread was stale, perhaps 1-2 days old and yeast rolls never made it to the table.

I give Willie and Red's 2 stars for effort.  But effort is not the same as success.  The good thing is that the days of waiting in line for 40+ minutes for a seat isn't an issue now.