Windmill Donuts & Pizza: The menu is not the healthiest, the pizza toppings are limited, but we are so enamored with the concept: donuts and pizza in the same restaurant. Right inside this Northeast Side joint is a display case of confectionery creations ready to entice with sugary splendor, and the clientele tends to mosey in. Windmill, lodged in the former Huddle House, is a place to linger, and why not? The menu is a guilty pleasure, and the ample donut size isn’t for scarfing down (the chocolate-topped honey bun takes at least 20 minutes to eat). Don’t think calories; think fun.
Truffles Eatery & Catering: With a warm yellow façade and striking black roof, this restaurant, a former Dairy Queen on State Road 261 in Newburgh, has several changes that are beyond cosmetic. Owner Ralph Wilson overhauled the interior with a mix-and-match of rehabbed wood pieces. One new important contribution is the menu — a heart-warming selection of poetic-sounding breakfast items such as the cremini mushroom and pepper omelet, the house-made granola with cranberry-infused yogurt, and the sweet Weisenberger white grits with spiced apples. Topped with sautéed apples spiced with clove, star anise, and cinnamon, these stone-ground grits from Kentucky are slow-cooked with butter, cream, and sugar.
Five Guys Burgers and Fries: The Washington, D.C.-based restaurant has a Facebook page with nearly 500,000 fans — a sure sign the burger joint is well-liked. Further proof is inside the East Side location where Five Guys press clippings from across the United States line the walls. The open kitchen is a sea of red and white as uniform-clad workers hustle to fill orders for a busy lunch crowd. The assembly-line process is a chaotic masterpiece for making big, juicy hamburgers with an exhausting list of free toppings: mayo, relish, onions, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, ketchup, mustard, jalapenos, green peppers, steak sauce, and barbecue sauce. The fries — so large that they border on potato wedge big — overflow from the carton. That’s extra bang for your buck, but this is no value meal.
