One day I was riding in the car downtown with my husband and stopped at the light on the corner of Ohio and Delaware streets.
I looked to my left and saw a red and white sign that said, “Punch.” The word was sandwiched between a bun and what looked like a hamburger so I concluded Punch was a burger joint. I was correct.
I have recently made an effort to eat healthier, but I always had in the back of my mind “I want a good burger.” I decided to give myself a much-deserved break and go to Punch Burger.
Many people are intimidated by downtown Indy, but I found getting to Punch Burger and parking to be a breeze. I entered the restaurant and loved how modern the eatery was. The color palate was cheerful and the dining area was contemporarily simple.
But I came to eat, not look around! I decided to focus my attention on the massive menu (which was the entire wall) to choose my meal. My first mind said, “get the build your own burger” but then I realized that wasn’t very fun. Why go to a new restaurant you’ve been eyeing for weeks and get something you can get anywhere?
I decided to really look at the menu and get something out of the box. While reading, I discovered the diner only uses grass-fed Angus beef and Black Forest ham from Fischer Farms, right here in Indiana. They also have all natural ground turkey burgers and vegan veggie patties. Their bacon is from Smoking Goose meatery. They truly keep it local!
They also have seven kinds of cheeses (choose two and get a grilled cheese made to order!) and oodles of toppings and sauces such as creamy dijon, Sriracha, and sweet chili. Don’t worry, they have ketchup, mustard and mayo too.
Since I wanted my experience to be exciting, I decided to focus on the specialty burger portion of the menu and happily chose the Blue, a beef patty with grilled onion, bleu cheese and mayo. The Texan sounded good too; a burger with grilled onion, cheddar cheese and barbecue sauce.
I will say I may try the Burnt Cheeseburger next time I visit. Yes, it’s a ring of burnt cheese around the meat. What? I’m curious.
Today, however, I was satisfied with the Blue burger.
When getting a hamburger, you absolutely have to complete your meal with fries and a drink. My first mind was to go with waffle fries, but I saw sweet potato tots on the menu and quickly ordered those. I asked the gentleman taking my order what sauce goes best with the tots and he suggested the spicy aioli.
After getting my food, I tore into that burger like nobody’s business. The heat of the burger made the bleu cheese melt a bit and it had the perfect consistency to go along with the mayo. The tots were unbelievably good and the aioli sauce paired perfectly with the sweet potato. This might be my new favorite food obsession.
Punch burger does offer beer (local of course) and wine, but I chose a vanilla root beer to drink. My meal was about $11. Before you say “that’s a lot of money,” let me remind you that your food is fresh, hormone free and delicious. In my mind, $11 is worth every penny.
Punch has great hours and an awesome staff. Give them a try and see what a good burger should really taste like.
For more information, call (317) 426-5280 or visit Punchburger.com.
