Your Favorite Local Area Restaurants

What are the favorite local restaurants in our area?

Kaspar Media asked you on January 15th the following question on our Clinton County Daily News Facebook Page.  We received 341 comments, hundreds of suggestions and names of over 50 favorite local restaurants.  

Restaurants were ranked by number of votes or mentions from the comment section of our original post.  We also included honorable mentions of favorite restaurants outside our local area.

Here is the question we asked:

After hours spent counting, transcribing and totaling your results, Kaspar Media can give you this report.

This survey is “unofficial” and makes no claim to be accurate.  We did our best to tally every reference and include your comments.  We disregarded any spoof, joke or sarcastic entries or comments of course.

We asked for LOCAL entries, since we wanted to spotlight restaurants in “Clinton, Carroll and Boone Counties”.   We created an “Honorable Mention” list of restaurants OUTSIDE our Kaspar Media area in Clinton, Boone and Carroll County.

Since this list is “unofficial” and done mostly for fun and readership interest, we will reach out better to Carroll and Boone County if we do this again.  We are certain this did not pick up all the great restaurants in Clinton, Carroll and Boone County.

Our goal is to champion and spotlight local businesses and help make life better for all of us.

While WILO radio and Kaspar Media makes no claim that the top vote getters are absolutely the most popular restaurants, the biggest vote getters on our list are definitely making waves in our area. Check out what your neighbors are saying.

Let’s support all our local area restaurants and show them we appreciate them by stopping by.  This list may give you some new ideas for dining in the near future.

Kaspar Media invites area restaurants to talk with us about putting certificates on YesWeLoveBigDeals.com so new faces can check out YOUR restaurant. You can call us weekdays at 765-659-3338 and ask for Cindy.

Here is what you told us.  Your favorite restaurants and number of mentions/votes are followed by highlights of the comments we received from you.

#1  Vintage Cafe   42 votes

• Food is delicious, the service is great and wait times for a table and food is quick
• Hands down favorite
• Affordable and tasty diner fare. Never had a bad item from there and never broke the bank on a meal for my wife and I.
• Best Breakfast
• Breakfast…all the staff is great!  Food is yummy and they remember our order
• Delicious breakfast and the staff is amazing
• Nan is a great cook
• Hands down. Never disappoints
• Breakfast bagel sandwich or cinnamon roll french toast

#2 Angry Donkey in Michigantown  34 votes

• Great Food
• Best without a doubt
• Local Fine Dining
• Angry Donkey is good. Some misses but I’ll go back. They have some tasty things.
• Great Service, Drinks and Food!
• Hands down the Angry Donkey knocks it out of the park every time
• That place is an absolute GEM in our community
• Best Food and Service
• Hands down for food and service
• Prime Rib Shrimp for the Win

#3 Treeces in Rossville  31 votes

• Love Treeces. Food and service is always good!  Everyone is friendly
• Catfish and clams…so good!
• Service is good, restaurant is clean and staff is friendly
• Best fish and Steak
• Smelt, catfish, breaded tenderloin top the list

#4  Bookers in Kirklin  29 Votes

• Great food and atmosphere
• Try the cheese curds
• In my hometown and remember when the whole restaurant were other stores when I grew up
• Great food, great employees and always see themselves as family
• They have great food and have proven to care about the community and people
• Reliable
• Delicious perfected cook per request steaks
• All you can eat Fish Friday Nights
• Great food and service.  They have nightly specials…great group of workers
• Great Food. Great Staff. Wonderful menu
• Their mushrooms are absolutely the best
• Best “hands down”
• The fish is always perfect and has good texture and taste.  Waitresses are so friendly.
• Ribs!
• Great food and good people

#5  Downtown Diner in Frankfort   24 votes

• Great Staff
• Good Food
• Great Service, good prices and homey feel
• My Go-to.  Love the people and prices are good for the food you get
• The food is just average but the service and servers are the best around
• Best biscuits and gravy
• Best “especially breakfast”
• Great Food, friendly service. Best breakfast in town
• My go-to place. Prices are great and staff is amazing

#6 Tie: Bruno’s  in Frankfort   22 votes

• Old enough to remember going with my parents to pick up a carryout order at the old west washington Street location.  Good Pizza and memories
• Pizza and salad
• Family favorite for 45+ years. My daughter in ‘20s even thinks it the #1 place to go in Clinton County.
• Good Food and Memories
• So many great and sad memories have happened there.
• Food is amazing
• Favorite “for Pizza”
• Many memories when they were downtown.  It was fun to watch them spin the dough in the window.  Sausage is my favorite
• Best for lunch Service is great and pizza is yummie
• Best Pizza

#6 Tie: Arni’s in Frankfort  22 votes

• Friendly atmosphere
• Good food
• Always great service and food
• Staff is amazing and polite
• Very clean.
• Glad we have Arni’s for sure
• Local Flair in decorating. Never had a bad meal there.
• Can go often in the week and have a different meal every time and it will be delicious
• Great service and everyone is so friendly
• Best food and service
• Great Place to take friends visiting from out of town
• Always good and fresh
• Arni’s Jr. and inside decor

#6 Tie:  Oasis 39 south Frankfort   22 votes

• Top notch food, super friendly
• for fast food type eats and old school treats.  The bacon cheeseburger is made in a classic way.
• Wife loves the peanut butter burger
• Can be spendy for a burger and fries but good stuff can cost sometimes
• Best Burger in Frankfort.  Tenderloins too.
• Cheeseburgers
• Best burgers ever.  Always fresh. Great service.  Stroll down memory lane by the decor and extras on the counter.
• Tenderloin basket
• Best comfort food

#9 Pizza King in Colfax  20 votes

• More items outside a normal Pizza King menu you think of
• Best service and great food you wouldn’t expect
• Great service, great food, best employees
• Hospitality and wide variety of food, ribs, catfish, porkchops
• Top notch food, super friendly
• Fish dinners or anything from Quincy’s grill
• Great service, great food
• delicious offerings outside of Pizza
• How many can say they had a delicious Catfish diner or ribs at a tiny Pizza Place?
• 27 different milk shake flavors
• Delicious extras on weekends
• Check out the Facebook Page
• Great Customer service, awesome Ice Cream
• Best customer service. They make you feel like you’re the most important customer.
• Menu fit for a king

#10  La Mixteca Frankfort (N. Columbia)  14 votes

• Favorite Mexican
• Best Mexican
• Likes “Mixteca Food Truck

#11   Southfork   Mulberry   13 votes

• Good people there
• Best catfish and tenderloin are amazing
• Catfish and onion rings equal to the old Colfax restaurant (Miller’s)
• Ribeye Steak, breaded tenderloin

#12   Roscommon  Frankfort  8 votes

• Food is amazing and inexpensive
• Best Tenderloin
• Tenderloin bites
• Best Tenderloin and Nachos

#13  Tie:   Pepe’s in Frankfort   7 votes

• Amazing Service
• Chips with Ranch Dressing

#13  Tie:  Los Compadres (Frankfort at Jog)  7 votes

• Burritos as big a your head, friendly waitresses and fast food
• Food is fantastic, prices very reasonable, friendly staff
• Great food everytime
• Awesome staff
• Best tacos and tortas

#15 Tie:  Juanita’s Restaurant 56 W. Washington Frankfort  5 votes

• Absolutely best authentic Mexican around
• The Pupusas

#15 Tie:  Everything OK Ruler food plaza  5 votes

• Our Go-to

#17 Tie: Hot Rod’s Family Diner/C&R  5 votes

• Great food, reasonable prices and friendly people

#17 Tie:  Stookey’s Thorntown   5 votes

• Catfish and Onion Rings

#17 Tie:  Mi Hacienda Bar and Restaurant 28 and McKinley 5 votes

• Very clean
• Very good food

#20 Tie:  Milky Way Frankfort 4 votes

• Tacos, Diet Vanilla Cokes
• Ice Cream
• Tacos and Vanilla Coke!

#20 Tie:  Main Event Bar & Grill  4 votes

• Sara takes great care of us and my hubby loves the pulled pork nachos

Other Favorites:

• Prep N Go Michigantown—Really good Pizza and Garlic Knots!
• Great China Buffet—Good Food, Nice Family
• El Jaripeo Frankfort
• Greeks- Different food choices and friendly service. Best Breadsticks
• Roadhouse 39-Great food.  Good lunch
• Slabby’s Catering
• Rossville Water
• Boathouse in Burlington- Catfish
• Lebanon Pizza Hut- “Is the bomb!”
• Dock Pittsburg- “Absolutely wonderful”
• Rise and Brew in Kirklin- Very good lunches
• Culvers- Cheeseburger and Onion Rings
• Applebee’s- Delicious small brownie dessert with ice cream
• The Fox Den- has outdoor seating
• Klooz Brewz Brewery House Lebanon
• American Porkers
• Danny J’s Thorntown- Best Pizza, salads and subs around
• Gem City Junction – Frankfort
• 1830 Chophouse- Lebanon
• Parky’s
• Mitchell’s in Delphi
• Borgata Restaurant in Rossville
• Burlington Boathouse
• Takoyaki Japanese Sushi and Hibachi at the Frankfort jog-yummy lunch
• Snow Biz in Burlington
• Los Amigos Burlington Ave, Frankfort
• Burlington Pizza King
• On the Go Catering-Great tasting catering, frozen meals, soups. They deliver. Have not raised prices for 4 years. Mechanicsburg
• The Sandwich Shop- Delphi
• Breeze-In Pub Kempton
• One More Cup- Burlington
• Rossville Pizza King

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Honorable Mentions OUTSIDE our local area:

• Beef House in Covington
• Mountain Jack’s Lafayette
• Longhorn Steakhouse Lafayette
• Texas Roadhouse, Lafayette
• Panda Express
• Cheddars
• Olive Garden
• The Riverside
• Coopers Hawk Winery and Restaurant-Avon
• Benihana’s Keystone, Indy
• Cheese Cake Factory
• PF Chang
• Out Back
• Golden Coral
• Oak Dale Inn, Montecello
• Jim Dandy
• El Rodeo
• Cracker Barrel
• IHOP
• Emporium 109 Ladoga
• Pasterific-Kokomo
• Trisha’s Red Bird Dayton
• Fazolis