Bar Bingo Night at the Elks

We were really looking forward to an evening of bingo and drinking at the local Elks lodge all for a good cause. Proceeds went to their Home Services program, a very nice cause.

Before bingo started, we ordered some dinner to go with our drinks. Our waitress Michelle introduced herself and asked us our names, which was a nice touch. She also apologized for not getting to us sooner as the place was rather busy with other members eating their dinner, too. I can always let that slide a bit. I waitressed for 3 weeks in college and that gave me a healthy respect for the profession.

They have their standard menu which ranges from bar appetizers, pizza, sandwiches, salads and wings. Then they have their special dinner menu where they showcase more substantial fare such as steak, seafood, etc.

I was in more of a traditional mood, so I went with the wings with habanero sauce. I loved that the fact the menu suggested you could order your wings extra crispy, so that's what I did. I also ordered a side salad for my starter.

The salad was nice. It definitely was hand-torn iceberg and not the typical salad-in-a-sack you get at other places. They threw in some tomato, cucumber, red onion, green pepper and red pepper. Everything was fresh. They also served a tasty, almost croissant-like dinner roll with butter with the salad.

My wings arrived shortly after I finished my salad. It looked as though the sauce was baked in, so I kindly asked Michelle for some extra sauce on the side for dipping. The wings themselves were HUGE--just as you would expect in any bar in the Indiana area. However, that's where the compliments end. They were far from extra crispy. There's nothing more icky (for lack of a better word) than soft chicken skin. What I think they did was pre-cooked them, sauced them then blasted them in the oven. Not exactly the formula for successful wings. What's worse is I was expecting some sinus-clearing, lip-burning heat from the habanero sauce. That didn't happen either.

My husband ordered a country fried chicken meal off of the special dinner menu. Now, his dinner was a 360-degree turn from mine. The only minor shortcoming was the use of frozen vegetables. The fried chicken breasts were crispy and moist as promised with a nice side of gravy. These were served with homemade loaded potato bites which smelled divine (I was very jealous at this point) and apparently tasted as good as they smelled.

There are two other items from the menu I can provide a small review on from this visit to the Elks. Later in the evening we ordered a simple pepperoni pizza to split between my family who had trickled in throughout the night. The crust was crunchy, but a little too heavy. The sauce, cheese and pepperoni were good -- just a little crispness on the edges of the pepperoni, which I can always appreciate.

Earlier that night, my dad had ordered a fish sandwich. This thing was HUGE! Definitely not frozen fish they fried on demand. These were hand-breaded and the tartar sauce looked homemade. Two thumbs up from my dad on this one.

Will we go back? Most definitely as my husband is a member. I just know now to avoid the wings. I can't wait to go back and try some of their special dinners! Membership has its privileges...