Syd’s Bar in Noblesville is one of those places that seems to be legendary in Central Indiana. Located on the town square, their classic neon sign proudly proclaims “fine foods” and they’re known far and wide as a favorite eatery.
They’ve got two rooms, a classic bar room, complete with shuffleboard, bar, booths, and juke box, and they also have a “family dining” room in the back. However, I do believe that even the family dining side is 21 and over, since it’s not seperated from the smoking area.
The service is fast and friendly, and I must give our servers kudos for being attentive to detail, keeping our drinks refilled, and being friendly and cordial.
Syd’s menu has a pretty wide selection of appetizers, the centerpiece being their signature fried pickles. There are a few places around town that serve fried pickles, and these are tops. Lightly breaded and served with remoulade sauce, they’re a great way to start the meal.
Of course, I made the trip up here to sample their breaded tenderloin. Syd’s tenderloin has been reviewed many times before on various sites…Yelp, Yahoo, and most recently by my friends at wouldibuyitagain.com. Locals seem to think that Syd’s is almost the Mecca of breaded tenderloins. If this is your opinion….maybe you should stop reading now.
As you can see by the picture, this tenderloin is huge. But, that’s a bit deceptive, because it’s pounded out paper thin, and there’s not much meat here at all. I got several bites that were nothing but breading..no meat to be found in that part of the sandwich.
The meat that I did get was………there’s no other way to put it. It was really, really bad. I don’t recall EVER having a piece of meat that was as dry as this one was. It was almost like chewing sand it was so dry. Not only was it dry, but it was tough and stringy, and filled with gristle.
The breading wasn’t much better. The menu claims it’s “seasoned”, but it was just bland and tasteless. To top it off, there was FAR too much of it.
The bun was toasted, and the condiments were brought as requested, however, that’s not enough to redeem this sandwich.
I’ve thought overnight about how to rate this sandwich. In the past, I’ve giving some sandwiches a “1” rating, reflecting that they’re “edible, but that’s about it”.
This sandwich wasn’t even edible. I covered part of it with my napkin and simply let them discard it. That’s how bad it was. Syd’s breaded tenderloin, (which sells for $6.95) gets a 0 out of 5 bites.
That said, the onion rings were excellent, and Holly chose their special for the evening, a smothered chopped sirloin, and that was quite good. I wouldn’t hesitate to go back to Syd’s…I like the atmosphere and the service, but there’s no way I’d order their tenderloin again.
Syd’s is located at 808 Logan Street in Noblesville, Indiana.
All tenderloins, all the time. 
I’m sad to read this, but I have had this problem at Syd’s periodically too. I’ve had their tenderloin about twenty-five times, but there have been a handful or less times that it showed up exactly as you described and I was quite upset. I don’t know what it is, but they can be unpredictable at times but I guess that is the chance that we take at what is essentially a dive bar. I’ve had so many good ones here though that I’m willing to put aside my disappointment at the occasional bad one that I get.
It’s been years since I had one here, and I remember it as being quite good. I’m sad that the one I had today was far lacking.
0 out of 5, wow. Indianapolis Eater did our review, so I can’t comment on Syd’s, but too bad.
yeah, too bad indeed. 😦
I went to Syd’s long, long ago when minors could go in with a parent. Thanks for the flashback 🙂
It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also get knowledge, from these type of blog, nice entry. Thanks
Syd’s just changed ownership. Give it a little time and look for improvements.
I was working at Syd’s at the time you wrote this. I heard so much about the breaded tenderloin and tried one one night. I was totally unimpressed. they’re too thin and hard. There’s literally no seasoning in it. Just a thawed pre-frozen pork chop with flour mashed in cracker meal. I tried to make the ones I had to make a little thicker, but they weren’t having it.
I owned Syd’s for nearly 20 years and sold it 1986. Every food
item was made from scratch. I take pride in saying that we were know for the best tenderloins (and seasoned) any where, as well as was our entire menu. Maybe you older folks can
remember. It is sad to hear of today’s problem.
Maybe I can get a job there and bring back our reputation.
I grew up in Noblesville in the 50s. At that time you could a breaded tenderloin sandwich made by a guy called Bob (?) I think the name is correct…it was a long time ago. He was located near the bowling alley. I still think about those sandwichs from 50+ years ago. The next time I’m in Noblesville I’ll try Syd’s.
I just ate at the Cornerstone restaurant in Stilesville on US 40 west. I didn’t order the breaded tenderloin because I don’t like the thin meat that everyone is so fond of. My mistake. My wife did order it. The best I have ever tasted and I’ve tasted many of them. Better than Odon café or Newberry IN. and that’s hard to top. They gave us a sample of onion rings, which I never order (rather have fries). I was impressed. They were excellent. You really should try this place, it’s the only place in town, located at the traffic light. Can’t miss it. (New owners)
Stopped in occasionally at Syd’s over past 40 years & never had any good food there. Just have a drink & mebbe you’ll luck out & run into a real juicy Noblesville Tenderloin, one of the local lovely ladies