This past weekend found us in Monticello, Indiana, enjoying the scenery of the lakes and surrounding area.
Lunchtime came, and we couldn’t decide what we wanted. We drove past several chain restaurants, saw a sign for Anglers Restaurant, and decided to give it a try.
The decor in Anglers is….well, interesting is the only word I can think of. Being in an area surrounded by lakes, there is a lot of fisherman/lake/seashore decor…pelicans, fish nets, driftwood,
and the like.
But there’s a lot of other, unrelated stuff, from all different cultures. Oriental jade elephants. Mexican burros. Japanese lanterns. Starving artists art.
It’s kind of like a flea market, except, this all works and meshes together well. It’s an interesting place to sit and just look around at all the different knick knacks.
As I’ve often said, decor doesn’t make the experience, the food does. I saw a breaded tenderloin on the menu, and asked our very capable waitress if it was made on site, or a frozen fritter.
To her credit, she admitted she didn’t know, and promptly went back to the kitchen to find out. She told me that they did, indeed, hand bread them, so that’s what I ordered.
And, oh my, it was good! This is not quite traditional tenderloin breading. Holly said it reminded her somewhat of tempura batter, but not quite. I’m not sure what exactly it was, but it was VERY good. Nice, crisp, and flaky. There was a bit of an undefinable flavor in the breading, but it was good. Not what I’m used to tasting in a tenderloin, but quite good indeed.
The meat itself is right up there at the top with any I’ve ever had. Nice and tender, moist, and really, really tasty.
The bun was toasted, and the sandwich was served with exactly the condiments I ordered. The attention to detail in this restaurant is outstanding.
Angler’s breaded tenderloin sells for $6.95 and that includes your choice of side. I chose fries, and they were good. Not outstanding, but a good addition to the sandwich.
I’ve struggled a bit with what to rate this sandwich. I was tempted to give it the 5 out of 5 rating…but it’s just different enough I’m going to give it a 4.5. It’s a VERY good tenderloin and it’s well worth driving for…I highly recommend a stop here when you’re in the Monticello area.
Holly had a Gyro and said it was quite good. I’m not a huge fan of Gyros…but I tried a bite of Holly’s, and it was, indeed, VERY good to my inexperienced taste.
We were both quite impressed with Angler’s. The atmosphere, service, and food put this at the top of our places to re-visit when we’re back in the Monticello area.
Anglers is located at 1828 N Francis Street in Monticello, Indiana
All tenderloins, all the time. 
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this is the best restaurant i’ve ever been to!
This place is going down hill fast, we had 3 bad meals in a row. Thw steaks were tough & one of us had all you can eat fish but only got one plate of fish, even after asking several times for more.
We waited an hour for our food & they werent even busy. After waiting 15 min for the manager to come over she offered a $10 coupon but we wont be going back. Its really a shame because this town doesnt have many good places to eat, so dont waste
Your money on this one.
The atmosphere, service, and food put this at the top of our places to re-visit when we’re back in the Monticello area.
well i went to anglers and all i have to say is that it is horrible. the service is slow. the steak is just a frozen slab of fat thrown on a platter and served as a fancy steak. the fish looks like what i feed my cat in the mornings. the prices are to high. their prices are comparibale to longhorn steakhouse in merrillville. Longhorn is far more authentic and better tasting. anglers is just not good at all. its one of the worst restaraunts ive ever been to in my entire life.