24-25_Challenge_win11_Beer_John_V1_Fall05.qxd 10/31/11 8:06 AM Page 25
On my most recent visit, the movie “Wolverine” played quietly on the lone television perched above the bar, while a B.B. King satellite radio station piped blues rhythms throughout the dining room. But somehow, it all worked and added to the cozy ambiance. At the Come Back Inn, the easiest place to start when working with a $10 budget is the sandwich menu. Meat is the star of the Come Back Inn sandwich show — there’s meatball, Italian beef, grilled pork loin and chicken, just to name a few. There’s even an Italian take on the Hot Brown, a dish straight out of our fair city. For $10, a customer can also sift through appetizers (ranging from $3.75 to $6.50) and salads (from $5 to $8.75) to create an Italian sampler-style meal. Chicken fingers and breaded ravioli are on offer for those who like to begin their meals with something battered and fried. But it’s more interesting to veer toward the lighter dishes such as Crostini Florentine, toasted Italian bread with sautéed spinach, tomato and mozzarella cheese, or the Caponata, a Sicilian salsa made of tomato, eggplant and olives. And the salad menu will help you earn your daily serving of vegetables, with options such as the Insalata Caprese with baby field greens, sun-dried tomato vinaigrette, sliced tomatoes, mozzarella and basil pesto. It’s too bad the pasta entrée selections, many of which are more than $10, don’t include salads. Perhaps I’ve grown wrongly accustomed at the larger Italian chain restaurants to receiving a salad that is included in the price of the entrée. The simple house salad with mixed greens, red onion, tomato, black olives and cheese would be a great way to start an Italian dinner if it didn’t add to the bill. On my latest visit to the Come Back Inn with my husband, I decided to cautiously creep above my $10 limit, no salad and all, to enjoy a pasta dish as opposed to a sandwich. It’s refreshing to see they don’t soak all their pasta dishes in marinara and instead provide a nice selection of sauces, such as garlic cream, basil pesto, white wine or a simple herbed olive oil. I could enjoy any of the delicious-sounding pastas. Some standouts include the Greco, which features spinach, Kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, red onion and feta, or the Amatriciana with pancetta, mushrooms, diced tomatoes, red pepper flakes and Chianti. All pasta dishes are served with linguine; substitutions cost a dollar or two more. After some heated internal debate, I selected the Puttanesca ($11.50), a dish of linguine tossed with chicken, capers, black olives, Roma tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil and white wine. My couple of extra dollars was a worthy investment. When in the Come Back Inn, you must order the pasta. It took less than 10 minutes for our waitress to bring me a huge, piping hot bowl of pasta with a breadstick resting on top. The bowl was large enough to serve as a makeshift hat if the situation ever arose (fortunately, I can think of no such situation). Capers and olives were plentiful throughout the linguine, while the onion and tomato provided nice color to the dish. After a quick stir to evenly disperse all of the ingredients, my first bite was a quiet taste of heaven. The white wine sauce was subtle and let the saltiness of the olives and capers command the dish. Each noodle was perfectly al dente and coated in sauce, but the linguine wasn’t swimming in it. The dish managed to taste very light while still being filling. This meal will give you a lot of pasta with little regret when you contemplate the empty bowl at the end of your meal. And your bowl will indeed be empty, whether you complete you dish at the restaurant or take the remainder home. I would usually be a bit disgruntled for failing to meet my $10 limit. But I have no regrets after a night at the Come Back Inn. Dishes are plentiful, simple and tasty, and that’s really all you need to have a great meal. The atmosphere is comfortable and familiar, like a warm sweater. And I had a fun evening with my husband. Not a bad night for $11.50. The Bottom Line: Puttanesca with linguine: $11.50 Water: $0 Total (after tax, before tip): $12.19 Dinner exceeded my $10 budget by $2.19, but was easily worth it.
COME BACK INN 909 SWAN STREET | LOUISVILLE, KY | (502) 627-1777 415 SPRING STREET | JEFFERSONVILLE, IN | (812) 285-1777 www.facebook.com/foodanddine Winter 201 1 25