With the arrival of the Lenten season, many people will be making healthier choices as they work to stay within specific dietary guidelines.
Many restaurants serve great food, but may not necessarily be the best places to go if you’re trying to resist the temptation to eat a slab of meat, a bucket of fries or a hunk of cake.
If you need an affordable, fun place to enjoy healthy but satisfactory selections, then Ripple Bagel & Deli is the answer.
Established by Ken and Susan Richman in 2003, the deli is located in the city’s Broad Ripple area and has built a growing base of loyal customers who keep coming back for its signature steamed sandwiches.
The Richmans say their establishment is one of a few – if not the only – place in the area that provides steamed sandwiches, a concept they borrowed from the popular Bagel & Deli at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Advocates of the approach maintain that steaming the bagel and its toppings, as opposed to typical over cooking, melds together the different flavors without sacrificing any richness of their taste.
As far as the food is concerned, it is virtually impossible not to find something you wouldn’t like. Picky eaters can definitely find fulfillment here.
Ripple Bagel & Deli specializes in sandwiches that are made out of large bagels that can be topped with an impressive variety of choices. You will notice a seemingly endless number of sandwich combinations.
First, patrons can select the type of bagel they would like (with options ranging from blueberry and cinnamon raisin, to garlic and sun-dried tomato), as well as cream cheese, which can range from anything from strawberry and chipolte to hummus and spinach.
Then customers can choose the kind of meat they would like to have, if any at all, including turkey, bacon, ham, roast beef, corned beef, chicken, tuna, pepperoni and salami. Your meat choice can be combined with vegetables and condiments such as lettuce, tomato, a cream cheese spread and regular cheese.
Popular signature selections include the Indy 500 breakfast sandwich with ham, a scrambled egg, jalapeños and pepper jack cheese; the Trojan Horse with roast beef, smoked cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion and horseradish; and the David Letterman, which has salami, cream cheese, lettuce and tomato on a sesame bagel.
Also available are other special treats such as an authentic Chicago hot dog, fresh cut salads, a variety of homemade soups, biscuits and gravy for breakfast and 40 different types of beverages.
For those who must maintain a sensible and strict diet for Lent, more than a dozen fulfilling vegetable options are available. Among them are Mary’s Veggie Pizza sandwich (you have to see it to believe it), the Earth Day, with veggie cream cheese, cucumber, tomato, lettuce and sprouts on a sunflower bagel and the Greek, with cream cheese, feta, onions, cucumbers and black olives on an onion bagel.
We can use this entire section of the paper to print what Ripple Bagel & Deli has to offer, but it would be better to check it out for yourself. No matter what season you’re in or what your taste may be, get prepared for a culinary experience like you’ve never had before.
