Squealers Barbeque (Indianapolis)
5515 W. 86th StreetOur big work day in Indianapolis was going to be long one…but we were going to get a late start.
I was up around 8:30 after a decent night’s sleep in another hotel. I actually wanted to run downtown to do some things on my own before I clocked in for the day and I figured I had enough time to do so.
I got back to my hotel in northwest Indianapolis right around 11:00. As I’ve mentioned in my previous two blog posts, there were a ton of food options around where we were staying. There was also a place claiming to be the best BBQ in Indianapolis. I had to see for myself if it is as good as they say it is.
Squealers Barbeque has two Indianapolis locations. The one closest to me was the location on West 86th on Indianapolis’ northwest side. The restaurant was the second Squealers location, opened in 2004, after the original was opened in Mooresville in 2001. This building is a stand alone restaurant on 86th near Zionsville Road east of the I-465 interchange.
I couldn’t really get a good feel if the place was counter or full service from the website so I decided to be safe and order online. I was starting to get pretty crunched for time. My co-worker wanted to leave for downtown around noon and I was placing this order for an 11:15 pick up so I didn’t have much time to spare.
I made the right choice with an online order pickup. Turns out, they are a full service restaurant.
There’s a host stand right inside the door. There was no one there when I walked in but a short time later, a woman came out of the kitchen and asked if I was the carry-out order. She said it was almost done then went back to the kitchen to wait for it.
Right next to the host stand is an impressive display of all the trophies they have won over the years. They call their BBQ “award winning” and they have the hardware to back it up.
The restaurant has two large dining rooms. One is the family dining room away from the full service bar. BBQ places tend to have a “look” and this one adheres to that. Wood slat walls and corrugated tin chair rails. There’s no way you could mistake Squealers for anything other than a BBQ restaurant.
The second dining room is similar but because it’s where the bar is located, it also a little bit darker. Same layout and same theme there just isn’t as much natural light being let in.
I put in an order for the “Texas Style” Beef Brisket Smokin’ Pit Sandwich and an order of fries. The cost was a little over $15 and it was pretty much ready exactly when I asked for it to be ready.
When I got back to the hotel, I started with the fries. I had asked for the Smokin Hot BBQ sauce on the side. If the brisket is cooked right, I don’t like sauce on top of it. I ripped off a little piece to confirm the brisket didn’t need the sauce and proceeded to dunk my fries in instead. The fries are pretty simple frozen steak fries. There is an upcharge of $1.50 for the fries and it’s probably worth it in the end. They’re more filling than chips but they really did need the BBQ sauce to be more than “meh.”
The beef brisket was loaded on to a pretty simple sesame seed bun. The meat was super tender and super delicious. Texas style brisket’s hallmark is the saltiness of the meat and that came through in this sandwich. The meat was falling apart with each bite I took. I kept trying to pick it up and put it back on the sandwich but the tenderness of the made it much more efficient to just shove it my mouth.
Squealers Barbeque was good. I can’t weigh in on the best in Indy because I think this is the only BBQ I’ve had in Indy, but it was good. I’d definitely go back and maybe enjoy a few beers with it. It’s always a bummer that I’m in such a hurry when I’m traveling for work but it is great that I get to find places like this that weren’t even on my radar when the trip began.
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