Trailyard by Shady Creek Winery — Restaurant in Indiana

Update March 2023

We returned to Trailyard to give it another try and see if they had made adjustments to the execution of their menu which had previously been bland, under seasoned, and underwhelming. I am happy to report it's a totally new experience of flavorful food from the menu filled with creative spins on classics.

The menu was very similar to our last visit, with a few updates or subtle changes, still plenty of enticing options, and we love it when menus change seasonally. We stuck to the shareable menu so we could try a number of dishes, ordering the Scotch Egg, Smoked Brussels Sprouts, Vegan Chorizo Tacos, and Mac & Bleu short rib mac & cheese. Every dish was full of flavor and on the heavy side of well-seasoned. We asked for a salt shaker before we even tasted the food, just in case, but it was definitely not needed. Hallelujah!

Another welcome improvement was the QR code menu, which lists beer style and ABV, and it is always on hand in case you want to order more food or drinks. Also we love the pay by QR code option and only wish orders could be placed this way as well.

Also worth mentioning is the cleanliness of the dining space and the restrooms are always excellent, which says a lot about operator quality and management's attention to detail. Thank you.

With a table filled with delicious food and tasty beverages enjoyed while listening to a live local singer/guitar player, we had a truly enjoyable dining experience.

Well done chef! We appreciate the attention to delivering impactful flavors, will be back again soon and will add Trailyard into our regular restaurant rotation.

Original review: The facility design and decor is really well done. The menu is also well designed, with plenty of options that includes both familiar standbys and some more creative choices. A number of vegetarian and even vegan options alongside meaty items which is thoughtful and smart for a modern restaurant.

I have dined here four times now and I have found the unfortunate downfall for them is the flavors. Dishes are mostly under seasoned, one-note, and bland. The vegan tacos however are too acidic, apparently they are using marinated hearts of Palm instead of the plain ones which makes them overpowering with acidity.

The cocktail menu and preparation is really nice but it would be great if the beer list indicated the beer styles and a short description, ABV, and even IBUs.

Service is good overall but there is a lot of opportunity for this restaurant to become a fantastic go-to for a lot of us who use the trails there. The opening was much anticipated but already people are choosing to go into town after a ride because the food just isn’t as good as other spots in town.

I hope they take the feedback on the food and sort out their BOH execution to deliver on the promise of their yummy sounding menu and spectacular facility. I will definitely give them another try in the future to see if they turn it around. For now I say is is a meh...

We’ll start on a positive note because my girlfriend and I were very excited to take her mom and stepdad out for lunch because we’ve heard great things of this place. Pulling in the lot the building is very appealing and sits in a beautiful setting. Our waitress was knowledgeable and friendly. Now on to our visit : walking in the door we felt as if we were walking into a cafeteria. The menu was very plain and boring. At this point if me and my girlfriend would’ve been alone we would have left. Onto our food order: for the table to share we ordered the white ridge macaroni and cheese and the hush puppies. The macaroni and cheese had a nice flavor but was lacking definitely in seasonings, alittle salt would’ve been nice it’s a great invention, we also ordered the hush puppies they were good but nothing special very typical. Mom ordered conchinitas tacos she said they were very dry but good. Dad ordered The brisket taco same as Me, it was lacking in all areas ( i eat brisket atleast 3x a month somewhere in this country) anyway so i ordered a side of hush puppy sauce to liven it up and after dad tried a bite of mine he stole my hush Puppy sauce so i ordered another. My girlfriend got The short rib melt after her first bite she said it was missing something and asked me to taste it it was very bland and dry I told her to put some hush puppy sauce on it or take it home and kill it with barbecue sauce she opted for choice #2. Desert : this is something that I don’t eat but the other 3 agreed that the two cheesecakes were the best things there. the cookie was ok but the raspberry cheesecake was absolutely delicious. To say the least we won’t be going back although mom did say we should give it another try. Dad said he’s good so it looks like mom will be giving it another try by her self……Final thought: I believe anyone who likes the food here has either has a mom, a wife ,a girlfiend or they themselves dont know how to cook and then at that point this place would be great………….. I didn’t get a picture of the macaroni and cheese or mom‘s tacos I felt it would be rude to stand up and lean over the table to take...

It was our first time here and the atmosphere was beautiful! I think they still are getting used to new ownership and workflows. The service at the door was very confusing. We had to ask a few different staff members how to navigate the place. Staff did not point us to the host or anything like that.

The wine is really good. It's the best wine in this whole area. I am happy they order grapes from California. The Albarino wine was incredible!

The food service was a little disappointing and disjointed. I had to get from my seat and search for someone to help us. Lot of missing items, like silverware, napkins, utensils with rollout with the food. We had to ask at each serving why and where something was missing.

They did not announce to us ahead of time that the lunch menu changes to dinner and that we need to hurry on our selection if wanted items from the lunch menu. They told us it was too late to order from the lunch menu since the dinner menu was active and we had to re-order again. That's fine, but they should of told us in advance.

The food looked very promising on the menu. Just a bit misleading. The clam chowder soup was not what we thought. Nothing like the creamy soup filled with clams. Our soup look more like a tomato-based minestrone soup with no seafood at all. I had no clams in mine what-so-ever.

I was looking forward to the Wagyu burger and we thought the meat was not seasoned very well. It looked nice, just wasn't what we thought.

The menu looked promising but we were just underwhelmed with the ingredients.

Their staff was courteous and friendly. Their main manager took care of us. I think they could do a better job just organizing how the staff engages customers. It was very disjointed, and frustrating. But, we understand that some folks may be new, and the ownership is new so adjustments are taking place.

We will be back for sure for the wine and the bar. The food was just not what we thought.

We do appreciate this lovely place and are happy to have it in our community. I know things will get better with them and...