A restaurant on Evansville’s west side
that – based on the name on the sign out front – offers potatoes and “stuff”
began with the purchase of a cookbook. Proprietor Jason Dicken received the
book as a gift from his then-girlfriend, and armed with recipes and an
entrepreneurial drive, opened a chocolate shop in Washington Square Mall. After
some time, the Mall lost its luster for the ambitious young Dicken, and through
a conversation with another professional in the industry, an idea was hatched –
to sell baked potatoes. And so it went for roughly a year, a
chocolate-turned-potato eatery in the Mall on South Green River Road.
An available property came to Dicken’s attention on the
far west side, at 5225 Pearl Drive.
He bought it, set up shop as Spudz-N-Stuff, and now, in the relative blink of
an eye, the smallish shotgun-style building has become a great success.
How does one go about creating a successful restaurant
using potatoes as the main ingredient? By working hard to give customers
quality choices – and lots of them – at prices no one who eats out with any
regularity can argue with.
Dicken, an Evansville
native not yet in his 30s, says of his menu, “It’s [gone] over well. I thought
it would be unique; you don’t really go in anywhere and see just a baked potato
shop.”
The toppings are what make it. Over 40 different
combinations are available, so no matter your particular taste – carnivore,
vegetarian, or omnivore – chances are pretty good they’ll have something on the
menu that you’ll enjoy.
Asked if there was a particular method behind finding the
right kinds of toppings to make available on his spuds, Dicken says, “I always
felt it should be like a home-cooked meal you can get at Grandma’s. We’ve made
them up, with combinations I think in my head would taste good.”
Home-cooked. Grandma’s. It makes sense, really. Huge
tubers stuffed with nearly every imaginable combination of quality meats,
vegetables, cheeses, sauces and condiments. Each spud is basically a meal unto
itself, packaged neatly (or not-so-neatly as is often the case) in a hot,
fluffy envelope of starchy goodness.
The “Original Hungry Man” and “Homestyle Hungry Man”
perhaps best represent what you might be in for. The Original features a big
spud topped with barbeque pulled pork, white meat chicken, bacon, Cheddar
cheese, sour cream and green onions. The Homestyle version is perfect for
sharing or saving or simply glutton-izing: It includes steak, ham, pulled pork,
mozzarella cheese, sour cream and green onions.
More straight-up-the-middle combinations offer ham,
steak, chicken and all-vegetarian options.
To what does the “N-Stuff” in Spudz-N-Stuff refer? Pitas
and subs in abundance. My favorite is the Gyro, a lamb-stuffed pita with plenty
of the requisite toppings and sides. The B.L.T. is available either as a pita
or a sub and has enough bacon (did you think there was even such a thing as enough bacon?). Salads come in a variety
of offerings, from the relatively healthful Garden Salad to hearty choices
including Steak Fajita Salad and a monster Chef’s Salad.
Homemade brownies in all sorts of flavors are available
as well, rounding out a menu that’s both traditional and unique enough to be cool.
Catering is offered as an extra service too, as is
delivery within a certain area. And in keeping with the times, Spudz-N-Stuff
offers the convenience and control of online ordering, powered by
Click4AMeal.com. Visit their site at SpudsNStuff.com. There you can browse the
entire menu, select exactly what you’d like and even arrange for a pickup time
that suits you. So if you’re Jonesing for a Hungry Man at noon, you can, with a
few clicks, ensure that it’ll be ready for you when you get off work.
Despite the proximity to the University of Southern
Indiana, Dicken estimates that the majority of his customers are local west
siders, although he does figure that roughly 40% are indeed students. And in an
effort to branch out to more people, and spread the gospel of the Spud, he has
as a goal to expand to the north and east sides of town, so be on the lookout
for an invasion of awesome spuds (and stuff, to be sure) in you neighborhood.
In the meantime, visit them or check out the website and
see all they have to offer. You can also get in touch with them the old
fashioned way by calling 812-402-8287.
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Several clarifications and corrections to last
month’s article on Fred’s Bar & Grill: Fred Willman is co-proprietor along
with his wife, Barb. While Fred’s accepts cash only, they do have an ATM inside
for you convenience. And the hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3
a.m., not Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. as was written. I
apologize for these errors.
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PHOTO CREDIT | MARK McCOY
