Oaken Barrel

With only a few hours to spare until the next Takeover, I welcome back all of our faithful followers. This is the newest of the Takeoverers, Blake, speaking. Seeing that I only made my season debut last week, I have minimal points of comparison; however, I truly enjoyed my restaurant pick, Oaken Barrel. The Oaken Barrel is a relaxing restaurant and brewery with a wide menu selection located in Greenwood.

The dinner began with a strike of destiny. All five vehicles pulled into the parking lot at the same time. Nick, single and always looking to impress, highlighted the group with a pair of suave glasses and a classy sweater. Unfortunately for the group, neither Aaron nor Laura could make the dinner due to prior commitments.

The atmosphere inside of the restaurant was relaxing and very enjoyable. We sat in the bar area where, despite the score, we were able to watch the Cubs' game. Dinner began much like any family get-together as Laura was the butt of most (if not all) jokes. Luke, never afraid to bash on Laura, lead with way with 6 Laura jokes on the night. The relaxing environment of the restaurant catered well to our group.

The deciding factor in the choice for the week was that Oaken Barrel brews its own beer. Although I am not 21 and cannot indulge in such practices, those who got beer certainly enjoyed their choices. Luke really enjoyed the Alabaster which is a Belgian Wheat Ale.

The menu at Oaken Barrel offers a very wide variety of options from pastas to sandwiches to steaks to seafood. We began the meal with a few appetizers including Dynamite Shrimp, Boneless Wings, and Bavarian Pretzels. While I would not ordinarily order pretzels, they were very enjoyable. Their horseradish sauce and jalapeno cheese sauce were incredible.

The mealtime decision was mentally draining. There were simply too many options. My decision, as well as Nick's, was the Cajun Jambalaya Pasta. This certainly did not disappoint in the slightest. As Nick can surely attest, the Jambalaya Pasta was phenomenal. The only disappointing part of the pasta was that I left my carry out box on the table. The rest of the crew enjoyed their meals also. Ashley and Sarah both got the Buffalo Sandwiches, which upon trying were delicious. Possibly the best part of their meals were the beer battered french fries. Despite contributing to the ballooning of the youth, these fries were some of the best that I have tasted. The remaining crew enjoyed other sandwiches and pastas including the Bar-B-Q Sandwich featuring their Famous sauce, the Steak Sandwich, and the Mediterranean Pasta. The meals, our waitress, and the beer were excellent and left everyone satisfied.

All in all, I would definitely recommend the Oaken Barrel restaurant in Greenwood. Its relaxing and casual environment was great for sitting back and appreciating life. At dinner we discussed a new rating system. The scholars in us decided to make it on a 4.0 scale. So, I would give the Oaken Barrel 3.8/4.0.

After a two-week streak to start my career as a Takoverer, I will have to temporarily say goodbye to the crew for the next three months. From May 19th to August 15th, I will be visiting/traveling/studying in Europe. I wish everyone good luck, and will see the crew at the Rory/Sarah wedding in August. God Bless...

C.R. Heroes

They are Heroes.

Lars speaking. Although I epically failed in my choice last week because it was no longer in operation, I knew I would make up for it by choosing our next restaurant, C.R. Heroes. I was not let down. C.R. Heroes is a great family friendly restaurant in business since 2002. The walls are lined with many pictures of superheroes with a small arcade for the kids. With a connecting bar, there is also entertainment for all ages. C.R. Heroes even has free dinner for children on Tuesday nights along with balloon art and face paint for their entertainment. Our waiter was on the ball and his smile went well with the staff’s brightly colored shirts.

The menu consists of a wide variety of sandwiches, burgers, and wraps. This restaurant is known for their appetizers. We began out dinner with complimentary pretzels with cheese and fried pickles that C.R. Heroes offers. TNT has not yet visited a restaurant with pretzels as an appetizer, and I really like this idea. To add, I’ve never had such a soft gooey pretzel. Let’s just say I could have eaten the whole basket, but I was forced to share.

When it came to mealtime, the crew diversified our selections this week. Aaron and I had a fabulous wrap, the Texas Chicken BBQ Wrap. I am not normally the type to order a wrap, but I decided it was time to expand my horizons. I was not disappointed. I also ordered a salad as my side and to my pleasant surprise I received a whole loaf of bread along with it. I was too hungry to share this with the table. Luke (about to be an official member of the family on October 23rd) ordered the Buffalo Chicken Wrap, Sars (middle sister) chose the Wild West BBQ Chicken Sandwich, while Heath and Ashley went for the Chicken Pesto Melt. Finally, Beth (oldest sister) and Wyatt ordered the most notable item on the menu, Hoosier Daddy. Perfect name for this hand breaded pork tenderloin delicacy.

Everyone loved their meals and enjoyed their time. Just a forewarning to followers that @L will not be in attendance at the TNT dinners between May 12 and June 8 because I will be traveling to Australia. Don’t worry, I will return in full force and hungry. Also, we look forward to next week when we will have another cousin winding down from finals at IU joining dinner. Stay tuned…

Elbow Room

This blog comes a week late, but hey, better late than never...

My choice for TNT Final Four week edition was The Elbow Room. The Elbow Room has a pub-like laid back atmosphere. At the Elbow Room they want all of their customers to be like friends. TNT can definitely get down with this kind of attitude. We at TNT live by one simple rule....ELE....Everybody Loves Everybody.

Usually we start off our meals by digging into some appetizers, but at the Elbow Room they throw down with Elbow-tizers! Some of the elbow-tizers we ordered were pub sticks (fried bread sticks, filled with mozzarella), beer battered onion rings and jumbo pretzels.

Every Tuesday night is special because we get to enjoy each others company. This Tuesday was exceptionally special because we had another cuz join the festivities. Evan (froshy) Shanahan is his name and throwing frisbee is his game. No clue how he got the nickname froshy, I just saw it on Facebook. We really enjoyed having Evan at dinner and hope he can join us more often.

The buffalo chicken wrap was the hottest item on the menu for the TNT crew. I am pretty sure four people settled for it, Heath, Luke, Sarah and Ashley (maybe). Luke settled for a buffalo chicken wrap, but was disappointed because he wanted a beef boat. The Larsinator & Evan, Beth & Aaron teamed up with each other to share two separate dinners. Teams LE shared a breaded tenderloin and some steak and shrimp. Team BA joined forces for a good ole fashioned pub burger and Reuben. As for muah, I took on the bison burger and onion rings and came home with a W.


Instead of gaining two more pounds and ordering desert we decided to shed two pounds and get some cardiovascular. We rolled across the street to the beautiful park and tossed some frisbee (if anybody knows the name of the park feel free to comment). This was probably the most disappointing event of the evening for me because I threw the frisbee like Manute Bol plays hockey....terrible.