The Tenderloin and the Town: Marion, IN
- mikegtomko
- Jul 3
- 6 min read
Episode 59: A New Hope
Hello there! It took me a while to get to Marion, mostly since I couldn't really find a signature tenderloin restaurant. Some find my lack of faith disturbing so I reached out to a Facebook group and they were more than happy to passionately suggest way too many places that I could visit in a day’s time. So I gathered an Airbnb and headed out on a Friday with my son to see what adventures we could encounter in Marion
The Tenderloin(s)
The most referred place to get a fresh tenderloin in the city was at a grocery store – Horner’s Butcher Block. One of the best tenderloins I have ever eaten was at a gas station so I wasn’t too surprised on the recommendation. So, I sat there and watched the guy drop the loin in the fryer – and guess what? It was floppy – no pre-cooked frozen tenderloin here. 5 minutes later he wrapped it in some foil, wrote $6 on it, and I was paying for it at the check-out. There was no complimentary hot sauce, - but we were in a grocery store, so I picked up a bottle. For those that read the blog on a regular basis you know I get the tenderloin plain with only hot sauce… It is the way. There were no interior tables inside the establishment to sit down and enjoy, so we took it to the parking lot and had a trunk tenderloin (or as my son called it a trunkerloin). It was so good… The breading was a bit dark – but had that flaky crunch to it on every bite. The loin itself was juicy and thick, even with the darker part of the meat on this one was tender. Every grocery store in Indiana should have a tenderloin like at Horner’s. The parking lots across the state would be full of people enjoying Trunkerloins.
You may have thought I would stop there, but… There is another
Doing my own research for a tenderloin in the city, the J & L Breakfast House caught my eye. There was enough positive response from the Facebook group that I had to try one here too. There couldn’t have been a better place to contrast two tenderloins in the same city – the only common feature they had were how good they tasted. J & L ‘s came out thin, but huge! It covered both buns and the plate. The breading was crunchy, but not too thin as to overpower the pounded down tenderloin. It is breaded and fried fresh which you can taste the difference as there was no soggy breading and no dried out loin. For those that like the thinner ones, I would highly suggest the one here at J & L’s. A lot of places try to cook the thin tenderloin properly, but do or do not, there is no try – and J & L definitely “do”. It is located right off of the commercial district on county Road 15 and it would make a welcome place to get in a lunch instead of from the chain places.
Another great part about these tenderloins in Marion – the J & L was $9 and the one at Horner’s was only $6. That $15 for both combined. A lot of places come close to the 15 dollar mark for only one, and there is no guarantee that it won’t end up mushy precooked frozen one.
The Town
In the last blog, my son and I went to Tipton to watch the new Star Wars movie at their local downtown theater. When doing some research on Marion I came across a Star Wars themed restaurant downtown called Obi’s Barbeque, so we had to come out and check it out. A stormtrooper greets you at the front door with other life-sized replicas of Chewbacca and Darth Vader. Behind is a Clone Wars mural that states, Fire, Smoke, Eat, Repeat. Yoda, with his green lightsaber, is there to meet you at the bar to order up some… I don’t know… blue milk? I half expected the band at the Mos Eisley Cantina to be playing the theme as we ordered up our food. Although Kowakian monkey-lizard wasn’t on the menu, you could get all of your other earth-native meats like chicken, pulled pork, and brisket. I went with the smoked wings and rib combo with the cornbread and some mac and cheese. I know this is a tenderloin blog, but second best would be going to a bbq place. It is worth a stop even if you are more of a fan of Spock.
While walking around downtown, you may get a craving for some ice cream – and this is where the fun begins! You can wander into Ashley’s Ice Cream Café in the old stand-alone brick building across from the courthouse. Like a coffee shop, you can sit in the comfortable tables and booths in the back and hang out with games or books. If it is more “food stuff” you are wanting, they also offer sandwiches and soup. I picked up a double scoop of chocolate coffee and cake batter in a dish. It offered a nice treat on a warm evening.
Axe throwing has had a small following in small town America. It doesn’t have the history like bowling, nor is the set-up simple enough to have in every bar in America like darts, but sometimes on the ESPN 8 Channel “The Ocho”, you can find televised championships. While walking along touristy areas, or (like in this case) small downtowns, you can find a place to throw. Five Points Axe Throwing is one of these places. Situated in the Boston Hill Center, this axe throwing is unique as it has computer projections over the targets. With a click of a mouse you can record the position of your throws and produce automatic scoring. Not only can you play the traditional axe throwing, but you can do things like connect four, prevent a zombie attack, and crush Christmas ornaments on a tree for points. It has done to axe throwing what automatic scoring did for bowling a couple decades ago, make it easier and better accessible to new and casual throwers - every single one of them. And not just the men, but the women and the children, too!
You can find the 9th Street Café on… well… 9th Street. Hidden within a residential area, this little breakfast and lunch place looks like a small brick house on the outside, but inside you can find some of the hungriest Marion-ites waiting to get a home cooked meal before the start of the day. I took my son and my scruffy-looking self and arrived in the early hours to have our fill. I got myself a bacon egg and cheese grilled sandwich, my son got the over easy eggs. It was the perfect place to begin our visit and get that all important coffee fix to end the scruffiness.
Matter Park is the signature outdoor recreational area (or more simply – a park) within the city limits. It was created all the way back in 1893 and was no longer a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Over the years it has contained major attractions like a swimming pond, amusement park, and a zoo. Today though, it is a bit on the quieter side (except for maybe the pickleball courts). The Gardens is a signature feature of the area these days. Stroll around the walkways and see all kinds of different species of flowers and other plants interspersed with water features like a koi pond and fountains. We took a quick stroll through the gardens. I was a nice place to burn off an hour before dinnertime. We didn’t break out the frisbee’s to check out their golf course, nor did we grab our pickleball paddles - but maybe next time.
One last note about our visit to Marion. I could tell that a lot of work has been put into redoing the downtown. Marion has lost around 30% of its population in the last 50 years. Driving around you can see a lot of empty spaces where houses used to be and old boarded up commercial buildings on some throughways. But there is a nice revival happening in the city center. I knew there wasn’t a lot to see when I started this blog a little over five years ago, and I’m happy to see where it is today and I can’t wait to come back in the future.
Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things
by Michael Tomko
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