St. Elmo Steak House is the oldest steak house in Indiana and known worldwide for being one of the best, too - with numerous awards like a James Beard Classics to their name.



"Founded by Joe Stahr, the restaurant was named after the patron saint of sailors, St. Elmo. Starting out with a beautiful tiger-oak back-bar purchased in Chicago, the restaurant was simply a small tavern with a basic menu. Through the years, its classic turn-of-the-century Chicago saloon decor has changed very little, beyond the inevitable expansions," according to the website.



The old-school steakhouse is dimly lit and classic. White table cloths, red table lamps, cloth napkins, and wooden board & batten on the walls. It's a vibe.



And, while they're of course known for their steaks (which they serve with navy bean soup or tomato juice), the steak house may be best known for its "world famous" shrimp cocktail with its spicy signature sauce.



The shrimp cocktail is only four shrimp mixed with the cocktail sauce in an iced vessel. I was very thankful for that ice cold temperature, because as soon as I had a giant dollop of the cocktail sauce on a bite of shrimp, my entire sinus cavity warmed up. Horseradish is a special kind of heat that you feel on the backend, whereas many hot pepper flavors light up your tongue. I actually prefer the horseradish sting.



My eyes welled up with tears on a few different bites, but I kept coming back for more because the flavor was delicious. I even ended up using some of the cocktail sauce to go with the bread basket I was snacking on.



The bread was quite tasty in its own right, with a cheese cracker, soft white bread, and a ramekin of butter that I slathered all over each bite.



I finished with a spinach salad: Oranges, candied walnuts, Indiana goat cheese locally sourced from Caprini Creamery, crispy fried onions, Dijon-bacon vinaigrette. Light, with bold flavors made for the perfect palate cleanser.



Grade: A