The blog is called "The Tenderloin and the Town", but before this one I have not featured any towns, only cities. This also is not just a town, but my hometown. I don't live here now, but for most of the first 18 years of my life (and a few summers after that) I lived in Highland which is in the northwest corner of the state. Some of you may use the R-word, but I hate the R-word, no one calls it that here. So, I'll just refer to this "region" of Indiana as "The Corner". I didn't think people in The Corner ate fried pork tenderloins. I never had one until I moved out to north central part of the state. But there are bound to be good ones here. So when I visit a town in The Corner not only will I find a great juicy fried pork tenderloin, I'll also introduce (or re-introduce) you to another specialty that is primarily found up here tucked in The Corner.
The Tenderloin:
First place I thought of that might have a fried pork Tenderloin was Miner-Dunn right off Indianapolis Blvd. My instincts correct on this one. Miner-Dunn started off in the city to the north, Hammond, in 1932. They opened up a couple more restaurants to form a local chain. Now in 2021, there is only one left. The sign has "hamburgers" in large capitol letters, even bigger than their own name, informing travelers of their specialty. While the rest of my party ordered up the nice, juicy, tasty, burgers, I got myself a tenderloin. Well, they might as well put "tenderloins" in giant capitol letters in their sign too, because this is one of the best tenderloins I've had in all of Indiana. It came out fried fresh with crispy seasoned breading. The meat was thick and was cooked to a perfect temperature. All I had was a bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce, but it paired perfectly to give each bite an extra "bite". Kind of makes me wish I had one of those time machines so I can go back and tell my younger self to order up the tenderloin next time at Miner-Dunn, I would have discovered them years ago. Fries, too, are awesome. Perfectly crispy and prepared just like on of those old-time restaurants. And also just like the old places, they serve you up a cup of orange sherbet at the end of your meal to top off your enjoyable experience. Lots of websites have Tenderloin Trails. People should not ignore The Corner. You can put this tenderloin against any other one from the heartland of Indiana.
The Town:
When you live in and visit a town for 40 years, you see many stores come and go. Gone from downtown is the Custard Shop, Highland Department Store, and Highland Convenience Store. Even the Bank of Highland building has switched companies and changed the exterior. The Town Theater was torn down as well as the namesake of one of my softball teams, Steffie & Joes. I was happy to fine one of the stores in the downtown area still open, Miles Books. They are moved from the up front Highway Ave to the less traveled Jewett Ave, but still have a prominent space in downtown. I remember going to Miles Books as a kid and was more than happy to walk in here today to add to my own collection. There are a lot of collectibles in here, more than you would find in a typical bookstore. It's more like going into an old bookstore in the middle of a city, then going to your chain used bookstore by the mall. I also enjoyed talking White Sox baseball with the people in there. It's a friendly, local, small business and an enjoyable stop to anyone walking around town. I picked up a 120 year old book about the assassination of Lincoln, a autobiography of baseball player Thurman Munson, and a couple of old Hardy Boys books. So what would your unique eclectic book purchase look like when shopping there?
A large part of Corner culture is bowling. I bowl and my dad and grandpa bowled in leagues up here. With all the mills in the area, people would get of work at all hours of the day and they were open for 24 hours. One of the best places to hang out was Plaza Lanes right off Kennedy Ave. Many birthday parties and dates were hosted at Plaza. For a month, my eighth grade gym class bussed over here to learn how to roll and keep score. They used to have an event right before school started called "Quarterfest" where games, shoe rental, hotdogs (and probably beers) were only a quarter. We would bowl and bowl to our heart's desire multiple days that week. One time when I came home from college I was blown away as it was the first place I ever saw the computer monitors and automatic scoring. After all this time and even with the decline in bowling all over the country, Plaza still goes strong. I was able to take my kids here and we enjoyed a couple of games.
The most iconic symbol of Highland is the Gazebo in Main Square Park. The original one was built in the early 80's after they tore down the school. They did rebuild a larger one in 2007, but still has the original gazebo feel to it. It is the center of Highland for concerts, fairs, weddings, and school outings. You even can find it on their "Welcome to Highland" sign. I went to school right across the street from it and remember staring at it for countless hours while the nuns made us memorize the multiplication tables. It is the centerpiece for the town and can be enjoyed either during a large event, or just visiting a deserted Main Square park like I did this weekend.
In the intro I teased a introduction to another food specialty that is legendary to The Corner. One of the best things you can get served to you in any corner bar or fancy restaurant is lake perch. Not to be confused with (regular) perch, lake perch is smaller and sweeter. Served either fried or (if you are lucky enough) sauteed in butter it is one of the best meals you will find. With The Corner's proximity to Lake Michigan and historically large Catholic immigrant population, lake perch is famous for Friday dinners. Like pork tenderloin, each town in The Corner has their own favorite place for lake perch and stands by their preparation. So, when I visit a town in this area, I will also feature a restaurant and highlight their lake perch.
The Town Club on 45th street has been around since 1947. The town of Highland was only established in 1910. They have been serving up food in the last two thirds time of the town's existence. It has even been around before the high-school was built in the 50's. Ordering lake perch can sometimes come at a high price, but at The Town Club every penny spent is well worth the money. The filets came out golden brown with a light breading. These aren't deep fried with a hard coating, they are soft to the mouth. The sweetness of the perch is tantamount to the freshness of the fish as its prepared. Butter need not be added as it drips off of each bite. I've eaten a lot of lake perch, but this is definitely at the top of my list. I'm impressed with the dinner, not just the food itself, but the neighborhood corner bar/restaurant in which this can be found. The Town Club has been around for a long time and with dishes served like this it should be here for many years after.
It has been interesting writing this bog about Highland. The other four editions have been about cities I have either visited for the first time, or have only been there a couple of times. This was less about discovery and more about remembrance. Highland was a great town to grow up in, and is still a great town to live in now. It will be enjoyed by countless generations of residents and visitors. It also contains a pretty darn good pork tenderloin.
Here is your Miner-Dunn orange sherbet at the end of your article to top off your enjoyable experience
by Michael Tomko
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I grew up in Highland too. Left for Purdue and then points elsewhere. While I do visit, I haven’t lived in Highland full time, since 1981. Thank you for the virtual visits. Occasionally there is a food truck here in Oregon that serves up a pretty fair tenderloin. -Jerry Curry, Salem, Oregon