Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Sidebars reviews and rates eateries lawyers may enjoy visiting when working at courthouses throughout Indiana. Jenny offers this issue’s review of Olga’s Place.
This article may be more for criminal practitioners who may find themselves visiting clients at the Westville Correctional Facility. However, for those civil practitioners with family, friends or former law partners incarcerated, hope they get sent to this facility so you can treat yourself to lunch at Olga’s Place in Westville, Ind. The pizzeria and restaurant took all the gloom and doom of spending time (visiting) at the prison. It seriously was some of the best pizza and the best calzone I have ever had. Yes, in Westville, Ind., and no, we were not consuming intoxicants.
Olga’s parents escaped the civil war in former Yugoslavia and left their beautiful home in Pula, Croatia, and ended up in Valparaiso. Having finished culinary school in Croatia, Olga’s mother fulfilled her dream of opening a restaurant and named it after her daughter, which is why they fled in the first place – to give Olga a better life. Olga is now grown and working with her mother at the unsuspectingly delicious place in the middle of Westville and about three miles from the prison.
After leaving the prison, Jim Voyles and I needed sustenance other than from standard fast food. The unanimous recommendation was Olga’s right in the heart of downtown. A welcoming smell wafted from Olga’s as we found a very inviting, family-like atmosphere. Olga fetched our drinks as we perused the menu where we found a very diverse selection of appetizers, salads, main courses and brick-oven pizzas and calzones.
Jim opted for a pizza and went with traditional toppings despite the selections offered. For example, the Roma pizza has Urbani truffle oil, prosciutto di parma, pistachios and mozzarella cheese. Another selection was the Athens pizza donning ricotta cheese, baby spinach, mushrooms, garlic and parmesan cheese. Finally, ordering the Berlin pizza will get you bacon, fresh onions and mushrooms. Of course, all these and more toppings are available if you want to customize your pizza, which is served piping hot out of a brick oven.
I ordered a brick-oven baked calzone that was seriously out of this world and to say Italian-inspired would be an understatement. Like the pizza, a variety of choices are available for stuffing. I stuffed my face with one made with prosciutto, mushrooms and onions. The daily homemade dough was evident as it was perfectly crispy and perfectly shaped. What I didn’t notice was the menu declares it serves two to three people. I am glad I did not notice that until after I practically ate the entire calzone. The cheese oozed with just some greasiness but not nearly enough to soften the shell of the calzone. I could write on and on about this calzone, but I should tell you about some of the other selections.
Olga’s offers butternut squash soup ever day with appetizers such as breadsticks or homemade toasted bread with mozzarella, marinara, spinach, garlic and olive oil. You can also start with the Gypsy Platter, which is pork mini wild, Feta cheese and roasted peppers. There are a variety of salads, from traditional to the Pacific Crab Avocado salad (wild-harvest crab, avocado, baby spinach, tomatoes, celery, olives, mayo and balsamic dressing). The diverse menu includes whitefish filets to garlic sautéed shrimp over fettuccine to crab cakes to spaghetti with Olga’s homemade meatballs. However, Jim and I would resoundingly recommend the oven-baked items.
Despite our indulgences, we just had to try the crepes stuffed with hazelnut and chocolate cream. We shared this tasty treat with vanilla ice cream on the side. Perfect is all I have to say about that.
I know it is an out of the way destination, but if you are within a 25-mile radius, take a detour to go to Olga’s located at 454 Main St., Westville, or find them online at www.olgasplace.com. The rating of four gavels is rarely departed on our finds, but Olga’s absolutely earned this highest rating.•
__________
Fred Vaiana and Jennifer Lukemeyer practice at Voyles Zahn & Paul in Indianapolis, focusing on criminal defense. Both enjoy a good meal with colleagues and friends. The opinions expressed in this column are those of the authors.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.