Chef Dan’s Indy

One word: AH-​MAZING! The service, the food, the atmosphere was all spot on. Allow me to elaborate because I gladly will. First off, the gal working behind the counter clearly loves her job AND the food. It was apparent she was intimately familiar with all of their food/​desserts and could speak about them in detail. She was insightful, incredibly polite, and gorgeous (not that, that matters but i hope she reads this and knows she’s awesome and a looker). All of the staff were friendly and the environment is causal and laid back which is perfect for stuffing your face and that’s ALL you’re going to want to do here. The mac n cheese, oh the mac n cheese, I cannot describe how delicious it was but DO NOT MISS IT. Your plate/​bowl will be clean when you’re done because there is just enough grease in it to ensure you can lick it clean. The desserts were out of this world, sweet potato pecan pie and warm bread pudding is all we got to try but DEAR GOD IT WAS good. EVERYONE should eat here because if they go out of business, i will cry. This place is so good that you’ll wanna bring your out of town friends/​family to this Irvington gem. Believe the hype, they’re so worth it. Amazing selection of comfort and southern/​cajun cuisine. I’m officially hooked. Seriously, I always have something for improvement but they leave me at a loss. You can even bring out your inner kiddo or entertain your real kiddo with the crayons and white paper colorable sheets covering the tables. So embrace your inner Picasso and draw a masterpiece while you stuff your face with the best food in town. WAY TO GO CHEF DAN’s!

I had the «half and half» from the truck. That’s a half-​order of chicken sausage jambalaya and a half-​order of red beans and rice. The young lady working the window was friendly. Much to the dismay of fellow patrons waiting for their orders which likely included fried items, my order was delivered promptly. Their system of releasing orders based on prep times vs. when the order was received was generating a lot of editorials in the crowd of people waiting who felt slighted that orders were not being sent out first come-​first served. As far as the food, the portion bordered on more than you need and was piping hot. From a flavor standpoint, it was OK. The jambalaya lacked much in the way of trinity (green pepper, onion, celery) and the entire dish seemed completely overwhelmed by the seasoning which I believe to have been Emeril’s Essence or an analogous substitute. I’m on the fence regarding whether I’d try Chef Dan’s again.

On days when I can do a lot of amazing fried food, I go straight to Chef Dan’s. I am a fan of the alligator poboy, as well as their catfish. The macaroni and cheese is great too. And THE CAJUN FRIES. I’m not kidding, though, do not be afraid of the alligator! You will be okay! It’s good! Do it!

Good Olé Chef Dan’s…I have written a review for them before, but I absolutely love their food. It smells good, it looks good, and tastes great!!! Seriously, every time they are here with their food truck, I’m out there to support. I haven’t found anyone who has better Cajun/​Creole food than Chef Dan’s. I haven’t my food just yet, but trust me, this Shrimp Po’boy is about to be devoured. Seasoned French fries and the best item on their menu… Swamp Water… I can’t…I’m literally speechless. I just can’t wait till I eat. I’ll take a photo and upload it. I LOVE CHEF DAN’S!!!

You have to eat here! I’ve lived in Louisiana & Mississippi & this place is the real deal. Red beans & rice with sausage is perfect. Desserts are wonderful & the burger is massive. I will be trying everything on the menu soon!

I stopped in at Chef Dan’s Indy because of a special that he had on Instagram. I had the chicken parm red beans and rice fried okra. The fried okra was amazing cooked to perfection. The chicken parm was better than most restaurants in the city. In the red beans and rice didn’t need salt or pepper. Good atmosphere, decent prices

Chef dans is the truth. I had the shrimp po boy seriously good flavor on it… done right. The fried corn is some of the best ive had outside my grandmother’s kitchen. I also stole a piece of my grandfather’s meatloaf which was good as well. I will definitely be back everything tasted amazing! and sitting watching other people get their order made me want to order everything I saw lol. Only downside to my visit was the restaurant was really cold. they had little heaters blowing but that didn’t work. Hopefully that’s a short term issue also my waitress disappeared for a nice bit of time and the restaurant wasnt to busy… makes me think what it will be like if the place is packed. either way I’ll be back for some quality southern food!

Consistently good food and service!
They are a great addition to the Irvington neighborhood. I love their collard greens and pulled pork!

Staff is amazing and so friendly!!! The food is so amazing!!! Just yum. Best collard greens I have ever had!!! I do not like bananas or banana anything and I love the FREE banana pudding they gave me! I will be back again and again!

This review is for the food truck; I’ve not been to the restaurant (yet). I ordered the Mississippi Pulled Pork, with a side of mac and cheese. I was initially skeptical about paying $ 9 for a sandwich from a food truck, but now I’m really glad I did: The pulled pork had no fat on it whatsoever, and had an interesting seasoning to it that would have made it taste good even without any barbecue sauce. It seems like they mixed up the meat with cole slaw before piling it on the bun, then added the sauce on top of that, which made for a really good texture and flavor. The mac and cheese was also very good: Creamy, without being rubbery or overly rich. The people working there were nice and upbeat, and the food came out quickly.

Best southern comfort food I have ever had! Awesome environment and an excellently friendly staff. Definitely worth stopping in and checking them out.

Chef Dan, stay in the kitchen
Chef Dan to Beautiful Girl: «Be Careful the Red Beans & Rice are hot»
Food: My red beans were very cold. The lady I let place her order In Front of me received a warning for the hot beans.
* Mac N Cheese Tasty ³⁄₅
* Jumbo Shrimp was ok: ²⁄₅
* Rice: ²⁄₅
Service: Very quick carry out
Overall:
Chef Dan, stay in the kitchen.
Offending your customers won’t take you far. Your staff however is very nice & friendly.

I remember when they had a food truck. They had one of the better po boys around. I couldn’t wait to try their restaurant. I wasnt disappointed. The portions are huge and everything tastes homemade. My wife got the special of the day, chicken parm. It was a huge pieces of checked breast with a marinara parmesan topping. The creamy sauce tasted like a marinara etouffe. The mashed potatoes were very good too. I got the crawfish po boy. I love crawfish, but I was a little disappointed in this one. The meat was under seasoned and it tastes like the oil they used probably needed to be changed. As a side I got the red beans and rice. I honestly could make a entire meal out of those. They were perfectly seasoned and delicious. I don’t know if they sell sides by the gallon, but if they I would buy an entire gallon of those.

This review is for the food truck, not the restaurant.
A week ago I tried this for the first time and I seriously can’t wait until I can try something else.
I had the chicken sandwich with fries and a bottle of xxx root beer. It was wonderful. The shrimp po boy caught my attention, but the price was a bit higher and I was still unsure about the overall quality of the food. I’m good now. I want to try everything.
The chicken was big, fried and flakey with a subtle, spicy kick. The fries were crispy and well seasoned.
I could have eaten another right after I finished. It was so good.

The place is on E. Washington street and was a little difficult to find but well worth it. The jambalaya was as good if not better than Yats and I love Yats. All the meals were fresh and very tasty. My wife loved the waitress she was friendly and helpful. Chef came out and talked to the group. We will definitely go back. The shrimp poboys were also large and tasty.

Chef’s dan is so good the staff is always friendly food is always amazing alligator po boy is the best. Ill always support them.

I just came from here! Best food ever! My dad is from Louisiana and it was right on point! The server we had was ok but I don’t know if she knew to talk to people, I really like to be able to have a more personable service when I go somewhere. Other than that the owner himself came out and he talked with us and made my daughter feel welcome too. Great food, wouldn’t change a thing!

Good food but waaay slower than Papa Roux.
This is a restaurant that began as a food truck. The menu is limited to their core products. My first trip was for jumbalaya. My second trip last Friday was for a PO’ Boy. The menu is similar to their original food truck. This is not food you expect to take long to prepare. 10 – 15 minutes as an absolute max for walk in and take out.
Last Friday, we visited and were told they were swamped in the kitchen and the wait would be up to 35 minutes. The seating was about 75% full (read: not 100%). We waited 1 hour 10 minutes and asked for a refund. They were nice enough to provide a free drink.
I like the food and like the owners. I really like Irvington. But I wasted an evening and its just hard to get over that. I’ll probably come back on my own sometime if their wait times improve, but without my family.

This place is the closest you’re gonna get to New Orleans in the Midwest. So good, they’re gonna put papa roux out of business.

I was really scared to try Chef Dan’s because I know a lot of these places use that obey seasoning I hate that stuff. But by my surprise they didn’t use it on my fish. Thank God. My Catfish, red beans and rice and yams were delicious. Keep up the good work. Very clean and pleasant place.

Chef Dan’s opened their storefront a few days ago and will be rolling out their full menu this Tuesday if everything goes according to plan. Right now they’re operating out of their food truck, but the restaurant is open for dining in. They’ve taken up Roll With It Bakery’s old spot (which will be relocating down in the Coal Factory this summer) and the neighboring storefront. They’ve mardi gras’d up the whole space and it looks great!
We’ve never been to Chef Dan’s food truck before but now that they’re permanently residing in Irvington we thought we’d give them a shot. We ordered the pulled pork sandwich with fries and fried chicken sandwich with mac and cheese. The chicken was pounded thin and had a great breading to it. The pulled pork was actually pulled and had body to it. It didn’t look like it had come from a cafeteria which a lot of places are guilty of. The one issue I took with both sandwiches were that the bun could have been a bit higher quality, but the meat’s the star, so it’s definitely not a deal breaker. Both sandwiches were fantastic and they were appropriately sized for the price ($ 9 with one side).
We’ll be back to try out the full menu. Yet another great addition to Irvington!

Very tasty! One of the tastier lunch trucks in the greater Indy area. I highly suggest the Catfish Po’ Boy and Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya. Both had outstanding flavor. I’ve been disappointed a couple of times by the fries, they tasted like they’d been sitting out for a while and were cold and soggy by the time I got to them. Still, the main entrees are quite good. Might be a little pricey to pay $ 12 for a sandwich, but I think it’s worth it for something that is both unique and tasty!

I ordered to go from Chef Dan’s tonight due to unusual circumstances. My home is currently under renovation, rendering me without a kitchen, and I lost my debit card today. Meanwhile, I’m five months pregnant and had no access to any funds. During my freakout, the owner commented on a Facebook post that they would feed me. Well, I got my card situation handled, bit decided that I’d go ahead and give them my patronage (and money) anyway because I was blown away by their kindness.
So now for the not so gushy stuff (sorry. Hormones.)
The food is absolutely amazing. I ordered the Cajun chicken pasta. It has great flavor, a rich, creamy sauce, and just a hint of heat. The portion was good enough to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow, and it is well-​priced. The menu offers great Cajun selections such as po’boys, ettouffee, jambalaya, red beans and rice, and collard greens. They also have some traditional American children’s entrees that will keep the youngster happy. I was interested in the crawfish ettouffee, and I will try that next time… which will be soon. I just can’t wait until the restaurant opens!

I tried Chef Dam’s today for the first time and I was blown away. The rib tips were wonderful along with the mashed potatoes and Mac n cheese. We also ordered the jambalaya and it had a kick to it but was probably the best I have ever eaten. This place is by far the best southern style cooking in Indianapolis. I highly recommend trying them. I cannot wait to go back and try more!

I have to take my week long strep throat-​attack into consideration for this and two other reviews!!! My body is weary and my taste buds are obliterated by DayQuil, NyQuil, lemons, antibiotics, and general malaise for the world. I am possibly holding everything, but my bladder in contempt. I can’t go wrong with southern cooking. HIT ME! I am determined to eat something that will slap me back to life with flavors of joy, sauciness, and tenderness.
So when I looked half zombie, creeping up to the Lupus Walk across from the state building, immediately I was excited to see a row of food trucks with their deepest fried options available.
After waiting in a small line of other rally goers, I handed over my phone to a cute young lady with a bright smile! The $ 1 off Po’Boy Unilocal reward on the screen was a lil confusing on how it should be rang up at first, but she quickly put my naked catfish order in.
*This just in* I like catfish (sorry not sorry) especially when it’s fresh, and unfortunately this one was frozen. It was also really tiny, which was ok because I got the meal without bread so my loss for not loading up on carbs right?!
The taste of the food is ok! However, I will definitely try more on the menu to get an idea of the flavor components they work with. It’s always tough to truly enjoy a place when everything tastes the same, and I’m sure they have a specific blend down to science. I know it’s Cajun, and those types of spices are like little divas overpowering everything on the plate so my flavor verdict isn’t out yet.
The spicy remoulade is delicious, and I’m probably going to eat it with more fries later– lest– I lose the last of my taste buds from all my ails tonight. The sauce itself is just so good. I will probably eat it anyway, spread over notebook paper, cuz that’s what taters are tasting like today.
Chef Dan’s, overall, is a nice truck with a few gems on the menu I have to try. For now, I’m going to go lay down and mentally prepare for work with smelling salts, and answer all my phone calls with a terrible southern drawl. Thanks Chef Dan’s… I do declare, I feeeel betta aalready.

Holy **** (use whatever you’d like) Chef Dan and his team can cook!
The food truck stopped by Angie’s List for our weekly food truck dose. We were supposed to have some pretzel wagon, but they had some technical difficulties. I was largely disappointed because the food listed on the pretzel wagons website looked great.
None-​the-​less I figured I’d make due with whatever I could find at Chef Dans truck. Well… screw the pretzel people, bring on Chef Dan! They specialize in cajun flavored food. I don’t generally eat much cajun food as I don’t eat seafood. But i figured i’d give the Mississippi BBQ pork sandwich a try along with some of their cajun fries.
I had low expectations as I’m a bbq snob. But their pulled pork was on point. It wasn’t super smokey, but it was cooked very well and pulled almost perfectly. The flavor was lacking just a little bit as it could have used a bit more flavor infused into it. They top it with a bit of sauce and put it on a nice bed of slaw. I usually don’t like slaw but just was mild and done just right. Overall, I was definitely eat it again!
The fries… ohhhhhhh the fries. They were awesome. They have a bit of kick and a nice saltiness to them. I rarely use salt as I just don’t care for it. But when use salt I use it on fries and corn. They were just the way I like them, crispy. One of my co-​workers said they were too salty. maybe she had the bottom of the batch or is just un-​american who knows.
Chef Dan. judging by the line of unsuspecting A-​Listers, I’d say you did pretty well. Can you figure out a way to stay in our normal rotation so I don’t have to track you down every so often?

Over the last 4 years, the number of food trucks in Indianapolis has grown by leaps and bounds, and I’m one happy camper about this! More trucks mean better choices and opportunities to find one close to me — wherever I am in the city. Many have teamed up together to form daily «clustertrucks» offering a wider range of food choices to their devoted followers.
Speaking of following food trucks, I love the cult-​like following that some trucks attract. Those in the know who are «tapped in» to the whereabouts of the trucks via Twitter and other social media outlets can instantly become the office hero who says, «Hey, there’s a food truck nearby today. Who’s up for something different (and better) than one of those fast food chain places?» People like cool things, and food trucks are pretty darn cool.
Chef Dan’s rolled up to my office by the Pyramids recently, offering curbside take away of some pretty awesome grub. I had my eye on the Shrimp Po Boy Sandwich, and after seeing a $ 1 off special via the handy dandy Unilocal app, my mind was made up. Shrimp Po Boy and Cole Slaw for me pretty please.
The Shrimp Po Boy was huge, and there was no way I could attempt to eat it like a sandwich. Instead, I cut the shrimp with a knife and ate it with just the sauce on top. Perfectly prepared, and the sauce they squeezed over the top of it was out of this world. A little bit of a tangy, savory bite that went great with the shrimp. The same sauce (I think) was on a friend’s chicken entrée, and she commented on how good it was on there too.
There’s a reason food trucks like Chef Dan’s is in high demand around the city, and why the lines at events sometimes get quite large. The ingredients are high quality, the food top notch, and the variety is out of this world and the business is local. Sounds like a win-​win to me!

As far as food trucks go, this is definitely the best I’ve had based on taste and value. $ 7.50 gets you a sandwich (pulled pork in my case) and Cajun fries. That’s a win in my book.
The pulled pork was standard, good, but didn’t stand out from any other restaurant. The BBQ was spicy, which is how I prefer it. The fries, oh the fries. I’m going out on a limb to say they were the best fries I’ve ever had. Not from a food truck. Best overall fries.
I’ve been to Louisiana, I’ve had Cajun food. This is it. I will be back for the crawfish poboy, which was sadly sold out today.