The Legend Classic Irvington Cafe
5614 East Washington
Indianapolis, In







The very best thing about The Legend Classic Irvington Cafe is... Irvington.  This small suburb just east of Indianapolis is easily my favorite of all the burbs that maypole Indy.  It has the best architecture, the best festivals and a lot of really spooky stuff. Herman Webster Mudgett a.k.a. Dr. Henry Howard Holmes rented a house there for some time while he was wanted by the police for up to 200 murders at the hotel he built for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.  Abe Lincoln's funeral train passed directly through Irvington and it is said that every year on the anniversary of that fateful day, the air grows stale and well.... you get the idea.  Then there's the Klan guy who bit a woman to death.

     If you desire to render Irvington down to its very best and most basic elements, stop in at The Legend.  The Legend is everything that Applebees isn't.  Small. Independent. Stylish. It’s a place of quiet conversations about things of substance. Like literature, the absolute best location to base camp on Everest and amateur dentistry. They have real cloth table linens for crying out loud! They won't set a bus tub on your table or use a sweeper under your feet or go out back for breaks and then come in and breathe their hot smoky breath down your neck. I just gave myself carmel.

     I have been visiting The Legend for several years and have yet to have a bad experience.  One of the reasons for this is their servers.  Even though the place has gone through a couple of expansions, they have managed to retain the original servers and have actually augmented their staff with clones. Smiling blonde women who undoubtedly share genetic material.

      The Tammy and I stopped in there for dinner with another couple last Saturday evening.  One of the blondes who had slipped  from her pod more recently waited on us as if she had been bred for that very purpose.  She was graceful, polite and efficient.  One of our dining companions noticed a tattoo on her arm. I also had noticed it but intentionally didn't read it because those things often give me the heebie geebies. The tat read "So It Goes."  The clone informed us that the ink is a tribute to her favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut.  We spoke briefly about Slaughterhouse Five from which the phrase was lifted.  She even made reference to some lesser known Vonnegut essays and short stories. Her conversation was a far cry from the usual "you guys want more biscuits" that you get at many restaurants.

     The dinner was just right... not to mention the food.  We shared a shrimp cocktail appetizer. The sauce rivaled St. Elmo's in intensity and flavor. We saved what remained to embellish out entree.  Meet loaf. It was the perfect complement to ummmmm... meat loaf.  Moist, tender and now flavorful.  Did I mention that they also have a small bar serving Sun King WeeMac on tap?

     On a scale of one to five tee shirts, The Legend earns 4 shirts for style, comfort, service and location.