World Famous Hotboys North Indy — Restaurant in Carmel

Stopped in after church today for some lunch. Got a Sando meal and a tender Sando meal. These are pretty large sandwiches, and the meal comes with a single side, but no drink. Got mild spice which has just a touch of heat, and it was very nice. Breading was great, nice and crunchy, while chicken was soft and juicy. We did not think it was greasy. Chicken had great flavor, and the Sandos are filling (and I have a strong appetite). We both preferred the regular Sando (which is dark meat instead of white).

Staff was super friendly, the owner's family spent some time talking to us about the restaurant (we have no relationship to them).

The atmosphere is fun, and definitely trying to have a Venice Beach vibe. However, we didn't get a pretentious Cali feel (which might have been a show stopper for us).

We think this place is better (and higher quality) than Raising Cain's (which I see people comparing it to), although as others say, it is more expensive. As far as the cost goes, I would have knocked a star off, but then I see I could have just gotten the Sando without the sides for a few dollars less. That puts the price in an acceptable range for me. As others have said, the sides are not super amazing, and the sandwiches are filling, so I dont think the meal is worth it. Get the Sando alone.

Secondly, I see people complain about the bread being soggy. Here's the thing- the Sando comes with slaw on it. It tastes great. But it's adding moisture. So either ask for the slaw on the side, and add it when you're gonna eat, or just dine in. The Sando is not really fast food, and it's not going to transport like that. Dont treat the Sando as a grab-and-go like McD.

This is not a health food restaurant, so assume you're eating heavy. You probably already know that if you're reading this. That said, my wife doesn't like fried food and was relegated to eating my étouffée side, which she though was ok, but with too much rice.

They include their special sauce on the side, without you having to ask for it, however we took it home, since the Sandos were good enough without any help.

My only suggestions would be: -Offer slaw on the side (ask customers) and explain why (reducing moisture), especially to take out customers -Knock the prices down $1 per item (in general) to increase the customer base AND/OR include a drink with the food cost -Maybe offer some healthier option (and no, not some soy chicken pseudo meat)? Not sure how many people want healthy food in a place like this, though

We WILL be back...

The website seems to do more explaining than any of the staff does. I had high hopes after seeing the order online menu, but when I got there it was a mixed experience.

The restaurant is divided into two sections. We were told if we wanted full service we needed to sit in the area that I would classify as a bar. Thought it was odd since we had kids with us but if they don't care I guess I don't. Server/bartender comes over asks us if we wanted something to drink and hands us the menu. Again since I'm seeing all this promising food from the online to go order system I'm pumped, but a lot of it is missing from the two side menu we got, and no sign of kids meals. I ask the server for a kids menu, and he seemed like he didn't know if there was one or not. He did manage to find them however. One thing we were looking for was the mac and cheese baked potato, but it was nowhere to be found on any of the menus we had. We later saw it on the wall on a sheet of paper at the door that we didn't walk in through. Sad. We ordered our food.

The next weird part is that it seemed like it did take an unusual amount of time for our food to come out. The table next to us with three kids sat down 10 min after we did, ordered after we did, got their food, and ours still took another 15 min. We were one of three tables eating there, so it was not entirely busy so was confused by that one. Also while we were waiting for food we ran out of water with no check in. Thats not the worse part though while we were not getting service, the waiter/bartender was over taking shots of alcohol with his coworker, and also messing with the playlist that is blaring loud, which of course included eminem with all the sparkling language. Nothing against eminem, but with kids in the restaurant, blasting it across the room seems a little out of touch.

We finally got our food, and I will say the waffle was to die for, the mac and cheese fritters were good, everything else was just plain. The service alone though would make me not...

Chicken & Waffles. Pretty underwhelming experience unfortunately. I had been to the downtown location a few times and think it’s one of the best experiences in the fried chicken game. The vibe there is incredible and the food’s always hot. The food here came out quick. As a former restaurant guy I know that’s not necessarily the best thing for fried food. Usually it means whatever you ordered was sitting in the hot bin. They’re definitely not busy like the one downtown so maybe I shouldn’t expect fresh hot fried food. I did togo but I live less than 10 mins away and the tenders were small, or maybe normal size and but not what I have come to expect from the Hotboys brand, especially compared to the downtown spot where they’re massive. They were not hot on the inside. The waffles were soggy and one was only basically 3/4 of a waffle. Honestly they were terrible and some of the worst waffles I have ever had and I have eaten a lot of hotel waffles. Who wants a soggy and not at all crispy waffle? This place is fine but there’s no vibe. I guess that’s what to expect when you bring a trendy spot to Zionsville. I’ll wait until I’m downtown for my next Hotboys trip, this ain’t it. $20 is way too much for...