A few years ago, a friend introduced me to Hellas Cafe at 8501 Westfield Blvd. It's a small, cozy Greek restaurant that, not surprisingly, didn't make the "Greek Heroes" dining guide on the indy.com front page. For me, it's refreshing to see a restaurant put everything into their food and service first, then worry about the aesthetics after. Don't get me wrong, Hellas is a clean, warm, inviting place. But it has a slightly lived in feeling and is not overdone on the Greek imagery. A couple of the booths are saggy, which only goes to prove that the people from the neighborhood are always willing to come in and sit down for a meal, which is usually a couple of bucks cheaper than other Greek restaurants in the area. Athens on 86th may be slightly closer to my home and my job, but Hellas had me at hello. I've never had a bad meal there.

Can you even have a "secret" restaurant in Broad Ripple? Perk Up is nice little coffee shop kind of tucked away at 6536 Cornell, but it's so close to the Monon you couldn't even say it's off the beaten path.

If it's that close to the Mon, isn't it quite literally "off the beaten path"?

The Butler Inn on East Washington Street, in Irvington. It is a nice little neighborhood bar, with lots of nice people. Good prices on drinks, too!

Definitely Ralph's Great Divide on New York Street, next to 65/70. Good lunch... great soup... and at dinner time, all of their entrees come with "home made" dessert. They also have a nice selection of beer!