Watch for the barbecue flags that line a country road in rural Porter County.
Trulley’s Smoke Shack, a barbecue trailer that’s built a following at fairs and festivals, now has a permanent home outside Hebron.
Ryan Trulley opened the barbecue shack in the driveway in his home at 497 S 800 W in Hebron. It smokes a variety of meats, including brisket, pulled pork, baby back ribs, turkey legs and pulled chicken. It smokes its meats low and slow on racks, including apple juice and apple vinegar to caramelize the outside of the ribs.
“A lot of heart and soul goes into everything we make,” he said.
Trulley’s Smoke Shack makes its own sweet and spicy barbecue sauces, which it serves on the side.
“We do nothing to cover up the meat,” he said. “We just use salt and pepper, so I guess you could say it’s Texas-style. We tried rubs at first but they’re really costly and customers asked us to stick to salt and pepper. We haven’t gotten any complaints. Our brisket is fire. Our ribs are fall of the bone.”
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Homemade sides include spoon bread, mac and cheese, cowboy beans, grape salad, broccoli salad, cucumber salad and barbecue bacon coleslaw.
“It’s good homecooked food,” Trulley said. “Nothing is dumped out of a can. The beans don’t come from a can. They have three different bacons, brown sugar and other ingredients. There are a lot of steps and procedures to follow.”
Trulley smokes the brisket for 24 hours, the pork for 12 hours and the ribs three to four hours.
He’s been barbecuing his whole life and decided to buy his neighbor’s food truck, Alice’s Barbecue, which he renamed Trulley’s Smoke Shack.
“I saw it at the Touch of Dutch Festival in DeMotte and the line was like a mile long,” he said. “They had some money coming into their pouch. They’ve had this trailer for 15 years but it was time to retire.”
Trulley has been running the food truck for a year and a half and recently got a permit to open the business at his home. He still plans to do events like the Hanna Festival, a back to school event in Hebron and the Pork Fest in Kouts.
People can follow the smoke shack’s whereabouts on social media.
“It’s convenient to have a permanent location right here,” he said. “Our long-term goal is to open a pole barn here on the property. We’re a hidden gem not too many people know about. It’s all homemade. Nothing’s out of a can. There’s a lot of prep and a lot of steps. I’ve been cooking for everybody my whole life. I’m the one who runs the grill. I’m always cooking the food. You should come get this food.”
Trulley’s Smoke Shack is open 12-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday when it doesn’t have an event going on. The hope is to eventually expand to weekdays as well, likely Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
For more information, visit trulleyssmokeshack.com, call 219-252-4413 or email trulleyessmokeshack@gmail.com.
Open
Ashley Hayer long struggled with obesity and related conditions like hypothyroidism, depression and anxiety.
She tried multiple ways to lose weight, but nothing stuck. Then she discovered Herbalife, lost more than 100 pounds and shrunk several sizes.
Now she’s looking to promote health and wellness for others.
She opened Oh Nutrition, a Herbalife café, at 2154 45th St. in Porte Deleau Plaza in Highland. It had a grand opening Saturday.
“I lost 100 pounds and want to help the community with weight loss,” she said. “This worked for me while others didn’t because you don’t have to stick to a specific diet. You can have fun with it and have shakes and foods that taste good.”
Oh Nutrition serves protein shakes, energizing tea refreshers and chicken meatballs it calls protein balls. Popular flavors include the caramel crunch shake and the dragonfruit, passionfruit, tropical and lemon refreshers.
“They contain 10 milligrams of caffeine and offer a healthy, clean energy without a crash,” she said. “It’s clean, healthy snacks without the grogginess.”
Herbalife is popular with people seeking weight loss but also for people generally looking to take care of their health.
“People come because they have diabetes or are vegan,” she said. “It’s a healthier option that’s tasty but without the sugar.”
The 1,200-square-foot health food restaurant seats about 15-20 people but caters to a to-go business. It offers fit camp classes with high-intensity interval training.
“It’s a smorgasbord of cardio and strength training,’ she said. “Eventually we want to expand to a full fitness center.”
Oh Nutrition is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.
For more information, call 219-702-2635 or find Oh Nutrition on Facebook or Instagram.
Open
Wild Wood’s, A Gathering Place is expanding in a 115-year-old building is downtown Hobart.
The banquet hall and special events venue at 619 E 3rd St, Hobart just added a new courtyard after opening the The Palazzo Room earlier this year.
Toni and John Chitwood opened the quaint events venue in a historic building with century-old maple hardwood floors that Alwin Wild built as a mercantile store in 1910. It can host up to 100 people for weddings, funerals, baby showers, bridal showers, graduations, birthday parties, business meetings, retirement parties, military sendoffs and homecomings and other gatherings. It offers catering for such events, as well as Hobart Chamber of Commerce meetings and other business meetings.
Wild Wood’s, whose name is a mashup of the founder Wild and the current owners’ surname, hosted its first wedding Friday at the new 2,000-square-foot courtyard. It can be rented out and also will host live entertainment and other public events like ticketed dinner parties, tea parties and brunches.
“We’ll have nice elegant private dinners parties out there and wonderful musicians playing live music,’ Toni Chitwood said.
It can host up to 50 people for events and up to 30 people for dinner parties.
“It has a European feel to it,” she said. “It’s beautiful. The neighboring buildings are also a century old. It’s a beautiful backdrop. It’s very European with plants, potted trees and of course string lights. There’s comfortable seating, bistro seats and a built-in bar. We used every part of the space as best we could to maximize the seating while maintaining the nature and ambiance.”
Wild Wood’s, A Gathering Place first opened three and a half years ago and has grown organically through word of mouth. It only recently hired a marketing professional to have more of a presence on social media.
“We have a 115-year-old setting that can’t really be replicated. It’s a hidden gem,” she said. “Even the FedEx man making a delivery said he wanted to hang out here because it had a calming and relaxing atmosphere.”
The building first opened as a general store in 1910, was later Epperson’s Furnishings and was most recently Like New Furnishings.
It added the The Palazzo Room for more intimate events of up to 40 people. The Italian space, which features natural light and elegant trappings, will host pop-up events for the public such as with guest chefs.
“Right now we host a lot of weddings, showers meetings. We have a wedding every weekend this month. Our couples can add the courtyard on,” she said. “We like being here in the historic district of downtown Hobart.’
For more information, visit wildwoodshobart.com or find the business on Facebook or Instagram.
Coming soon
Shopping at the Jewel-Osco in Dyer will soon be a lot more like shopping at Target.
Anyone picking through produce or picking up milk and cereal for their kids can grab a Frappuccino, cold brew or pumpkin spice latte.
The supermarket at 805 Joliet St. in the Dyer Town Center is adding a Starbucks by the main entrance. The nation’s most ubiquitous coffee shop chain will have a few seats and will supply caffeine to shoppers while they’re buying groceries or out-and-about running errands.
Reopen
The Starbucks in Dyer underwent a major renovation, converting to a takeout-only concept.
The coffee shop at 871 Joliet Street in Dyer got rid of all its indoor seating. It now only has a counter for to-go and online orders.
The Starbucks does a robust drive-through business given its location just off U.S. 30. Anyone looking to meet up over coffee, to study, read or get some work done in a café setting can head to the recently opened Daily Drip coffee shop, which is catty-corner on the intersection of U.S. 30 and Calumet Avenue and has plenty of inside seating as well as Wi-Fi.
Open
Discount Dash recently opened in the former PetSmart in Lansing.
The discount retailer opened at 17525 Torrence Ave., where it caters to bargain hunters. It sells overstock and returned items for deep discounts.
It stocks a miscellany of foods like furniture, pet supplies, kitchenware, electronics, hardware, toiletries and toys. People sort through bins to stumble upon random finds.
The merchandise costs $10 or Fridays and Saturdays, $7 on Sundays, $5 on Mondays, $3 on Tuesdays and $1 on Wednesdays, at which point it’s been thoroughly picked through.
Discount Dash is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday through Saturday.
For more information, visit discountdash.com.
New concept
The Dunes Pavilion Restaurant and Grill in the historic Dunes Pavilion 1600 N 25 E, Chesterton revamped its lower-level concept.
After a multi-million renovation of the Art Deco landmark, the first-floor restaurant was originally open for lunch and dinner with sweeping views of Lake Michigan. It originally served a menu with lobster rolls, shrimp tacos, steak sliders, truffle fries and other elevated beach fare.
Now the Beach Cafe is only open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and only offers a limited selection of premade sandwiches and salads. The table service and freshly prepared food are gone.
The rooftop bar still offers a limited food menu of tacos, nachos, a fajitas salad and a green chili burger. It also has thematically apt cocktails like the Beach Smash, The Octave, the Gate Fee, Save the Mojito, the Boardwalk, the Alice Gray, the Park Ranger and the Dune-A-Rita. The Sand Castle for instance mixes Tito’s Vodka with cranberry juice, lime and ginger beer.
Planning to return
Langel’s Pizza hopes to return to Crown Point, where it long operated out of Buddy and Pal’s Place.
The sports bar at 1206 E. Summit St. replaced Langel’s with Old Mill Pizza, a local favorite from Merrillville. Langel’s has been looking to find a new location in Crown Point but one spot fell through.
Langel’s was founded in 1979 and it’s grown into a Region institution in Highland and Schererville. It serves square-cut tavern style pizza, sandwiches, wings and salads. Its downtown Highland location is an especially popular spot for watching the game, hanging out or having gatherings.
“I have been actively looking at a few locations and trying to figure out costs to reopen,” owner Brian Radzinski said.
If you would like your business to be included in a future column, email joseph.pete@nwi.com.