Grindstone Charley's   

3443 State Road 26 E
Lafayette, IN 47905
765-449-8692
www.grindstonecharleys.com

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It's difficult to get excited about a chain restaurant, with clones in every nearby burg, and Grindstone Charley's does have that raided- antiques-store look that gets -- pardon the pun -- old pretty quickly. But there are lots of tempting things on its menu -- barbecued pork ribs, Cajun chicken fettuccine, smothered prime rib sandwiches, Brit-style fish-and-chips and the like. But surprisingly, the real standouts here are the soups and salads, usually throwaway menu items in moderately priced casual restaurants like Charley's. Here, the soups and salads are as large and carefully prepared as any main dish. The superlative French onion soup is a permanent fixture on the menu, a rich, salty broth full of sweet onions and soft croutons, half-hidden under a thick blanket of slowly melting cheese. And the salads? Well, it's almost insulting to call them starters.