Gray Brothers Cafeteria and a Little Pizza and Pastrami to Boot

It's been about a year since the legendary Gray Brothers Cafeteria in Mooresville, IN closed for good. I'd heard about it for years but had never visited because there was always "next time", but after learning of the imminent closure I made a specific plan to visit in March, 2025.

My wife and I left Wisconsin on a Friday night with the intention of making it as far as Bloomington-Normal, IL. Why B-N? Because it's the home of Tobin's Pizza, which has been around since 1963.

Would you like some pizza to go with that cheese?

Because it was the Lenten season I wasn't able to have any sausage or pepperoni on my half, so I opted for green olives. My wife hates them so I knew she'd be sticking to her side of what turned out to be a very good pizza. Maybe someday when I'm not trying to save myself from eternal damnation I'll stop in again.

The next morning we were on the road and made it to Gray Bros. in time to meet a couple of Hoosier friends for lunch.

The stone building is gorgeous and I hope it never falls victim to the wrecking ball.

After getting our trays and going through the line (y'all know how a cafeteria works, right?) we found a table and got to work. My sights were set firmly on the fried chicken I'd heard about for years. Interestingly, the gravy was brown/beef and not chicken; no matter, it was just as good as the potatoes and the green beans.

My standard "Sunday dinner" chicken plate: dark meat, MP&G and green beans.

I've learned that Indiana likes "& noodle" dishes (beef & noodles, chicken & noodles, toenail scrapings & noodles, etc.) so I wasn't about to pass one up. GB's version had very dumplingy noodles and was just as good as the rest of the meal.

Does the word "entrails" come to mind?

Oh, there's mac & cheese as well? My wife wisely added some to her plate and it was pretty good, although being from Wisconsin I judge other states' cheese dishes rather harshly. And no squash for me, thanks.

If you offer me squash I'll likely punch you in the face and then set fire to your car. I'm not a fan.

There was no way we were going to drive 350 miles one way for lunch only to turn around and head home. Our hotel was near the airport and also not far from a park/natural area, which provided an opportunity to get in a post-lunch hike. Which was a good opportunity because...

...of this place. The famous (I was going to say "legendary" but I've already used that adjective and I'm not a Neil Patrick Harris character) Shapiro's Delicatessen on Indianapolis' south side.

The angle of the sun determined this shot.

Shapiro's is another place I'd heard about for years and there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to visit. No. Freakin'. Way.

I guess I could've titled this post "Indianapolis Cafeteria Weekend." Once again we grabbed our trays and went down the line, specifying to the purveyors our culinary selections.

Plenty of tables and plenty of room, and you can see the food line at right. As it was about 5pm I was a little surprised it wasn't more crowded.

I'd researched Shapiro's menu to death (no surprise to those who know me) and knew exactly what I wanted: the "corn-ami" with Swiss on house rye. C'mon, it's a Jewish deli!

Is this sandwich a thing of beauty or what? I thought for sure that after the lunch I had I'd only be able to get through half of it, but it was so good I just kept eating until it was gone. And I didn't regret it one bit.

Sodium content? What sodium content?

My wife went a slightly different route with the PLT: a BLT with the bacon replaced by pastrami that's been crisped on the flattop. She pronounced it quite good and the pastrami as a nice change of pace.

I guess the L and the T make this "healthy".

It was a good weekend. Good to see friends and good to enjoy some food, although knowing that Gray Bros. was calling it a day was a little bit of a downer. I wish now I'd stopped there sooner and more than once, although Gray's wasn't the first and won't be the last place I've said that about.