Nicole S.
Yelp
The stars aligned and I was finally able to visit Workingman's Friend. It's open odd hours (11 to 2:45 most days, closed Sunday and Monday), it's cash only, and kids are not allowed. I'm never in this area of Indy at those times, I never carry cash, and I have children. So although I've lived in Indy almost eight years, this is the first time I've been.
We were told by many and even by the servers themselves that Workingman's Friend is known for their burgers. So, of course, we had to get a burger. I got a cheeseburger with everything on it (raw onions, lettuce, tomato and pickles), but they also sell a double cheeseburger that has a bun in the middle, kind of like a Big Mac.
The burger was good, but what overshadows that experience in my mind is this: Why did no one tell me that if I visited Workingman's Friend, I would leave smelling like Workingman's Friend all day? Despite washing my hands three times, my fingers smelled like burger. My clothes and hair smelled like diner grease. Even my car smelled like Workingman's Friend. When I picked up my youngest child from school, he asked, "Why did you eat in the car? It stinks in here." And I said, "I didn't! This is just from me sitting in the car after eating inside a restaurant!" I felt like I was reliving the Seinfeld episode where Jerry couldn't get the B.O. smell out of his car and off his body.
So I guess the question is: Is the lingering smell of Workingman's Friend worth it in order to eat their food again? My answer is: Meh, not really. Indy has an abundance of great burger places, and this is one of them, but to be honest, it's not the best and not worth the odor and the hassle, for me.
It's also not particularly cheap, considering their target demographic, which is apparently working-class people. And our service was incredibly slow: It took more than an hour, from start to finish, to order and eat two burgers and fries. This working woman needed to get back to work, dang it. I don't have time to spend 70 minutes at a diner for a burger lunch. I could see if I was ordering something unusual that took a lot of time, but I ordered two burgers. If I come back, I would probably try to sit at the bar, because it seemed like the people at the bar got their food quicker: Two different parties came in after us and got served their food before we, who were sitting at a table, did.
I'll end with this: the tater tots are great and cooked perfectly. Crispy and golden, yet soft inside. I could eat a basket of those by themselves.