Sandwich #13! I was bragging about being on schedule with completing our goal of all 46 sandwiches in a year’s time and now we are behind the schedule. Don’t worry, this is a long term mission and I am sure we can catch up! There are some places close to us that we can grab during the week if needed. Man, I am willing to sacrifice soo much for the list – I’m willing to eat out several times a week!
Sandwich 13 is an icon of Indianapolis burgers…Working Man’s Friend Double Cheeseburger. I would say that this burger is one of the most “blogged” about burgers in Indianapolis. It continually gets picked as best burger in contest after contest. Now, the Working Man’s Friend is a dive. A greasy spoon, hole in the wall, smoky, bar with a dang good burger. Walking into the joint I did a quick stop at the door because I thought I just went through a strange space time continuum into 1970. The first thing you notice is a huge glass block bar and an antique cash register that doesn’t appear to be an antique in the surroundings that it resides in. There are also a couple of antique cigarette machines which I quickly asked if they would sell one of them. The waitress quickly said “no, I don’t think so. If I sold them, people wouldn’t have anything to take a picture of or talk about.” I had to agree with her. I watched another couple enter who immediately commented about the machines.
Think of Steak & Shake with fresher ingredients. The burger is a thin burger with crispy edges but nice and moist. The double cheeseburger, which we both ordered, is two patties separated by a bottom bun so that would be three pieces of bread for those keeping count. As long as we are counting, there are cheese slices on both burgers – a huge plus in my book. The burger is minimally dressed; mine was just pickles, since ketchup and mustard are on the table. Kathie used the word “money” to describe the burger no less than four times…”man, this burger is money” which is not a common saying from her. I think this burger caused her to channel Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. It was a good burger. A really good friend of mine owns rental property and a long time ago he was driving a friend around to his various investments some are in good areas of town and some are not. He made the statement once as he rolled out of the Broad Ripple neighborhood heading to the near north side “I’m going to show you the properties that I actually make money on but first roll up the windows, lock the door and shove anything of value under the seats!”
