Wolfie's Grill Review

Date: 03/21/25

Restaurant Name: Wolfie's Grill

Address: 1162 Keystone Wy, Carmel, IN 46032

Phone Number: 317-844-9070

Email Address: wolfiesgrill.com

About: The Wolf Family has been bringing family, customers, community, and staff together providing family recipes and entertainment for over a decade. Opening their first Wolfie's location in 2004, Scott and Nyla Wolf set on a path to create a restaurant designed for the seeker in all things sports, nature, and food. Their vision of creating a northern woods atmosphere dropped them on a lakefront view overlooking Morse Reservoir, allowing them to build on their principles and create a small community. With the support of the growing family and staff, Scott and Nyla have expanded to locations throughout Indiana including the one we visited in Carmel.

Authenticity: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️★

The patty melt was served on sourdough bread, with provolone cheese, caramelized onions, and "boom boom" sauce, which added a bit of spice to the meal. While it was not a traditional patty melt, it innovated in a good way to create something original yet familiar.

Taste: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️★

The patty itself was high quality, and the sauce added some spiciness to the sandwich. It tasted quite good, though not necessarily like your traditional patty melt.

Value: ⭐️⭐️⭐️★★

The price was $16, which also included a side. It was about the right price for a patty melt of this quality, but it was not a bargain price.

Ambiance: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️★

Wolfie's Grill was a busy place, with customers waiting to be seated when we left. It also had the wolf pack theme for the decor, fittingly for the name. The location where we went also had a good view of Carmel, and we came at the right time to see the sun start to set.

Total Experience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️★

The service was good, the food was tasty, and the ambiance was pleasant. There really wasn't much else that could have made this experience better.

Summary: Wolfie's patty melt may not be traditional, but they understand the composition of the patty melt and have made the recipe their own. Wolfie's Grill is a fine choice for a patty melt with a bit more spice to it.

Leadership Lessons: The last several times that Josh and I have been out for dinner, there were mix-ups in our order. Recently, Josh and I each had burgers, but each of us ordered a different type of burger. He likes his cooked medium well, while I like mine medium. But what came out was his burger cooked the way I like mine and my burger the way he prefers his. So I was pleased that our order at Wolfie’s came out perfect, despite the fact that it was a busy night. I observed the Wolfie’s team employed a technique popularized by Toyota and now a staple of Lean Manufacturing called "poka-yoke," which means "mistake-proofing" or "error prevention." At Wolfie’s this means there is a code used by the kitchen and servers to clearly distinguish the way a burger has been cooked using special toothpicks that decorate the burger. I applaud the team for this inexpensive, but effective approach to mistake-proofing our order.