For 62 years, Steer-In restaurant has been an east-side Indy tradition
For the past 62 years, Steer-In restaurant has been a staple on the east side of Indianapolis.
The restaurant at 10th Street and Emerson Avenue has been serving classic diner fare since 1960.
The establishment first opened in the 1950s as Northway Drive-in, later became Laughner's Steer-In in 1960, then Harold's Steer-In from 1964 to 2007, and finally, Charlie and Barbara Kehrer coined it Indy's Historic Steer-In when their family took over in 2007.
The restaurant did away with curb service in 1985 in order to expand the building for more dine-in space, but the drive-in awning on the building's east side remains and the interior is still reminiscent of a 60s diner.
"That's what people come here for, they remember the nostalgia of coming here when we were little kids," said Casey Kehrer, Barbara's son who co-owns and operates the restaurant with her now.
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"A lot of people don't live around here anymore and they come back, they want to come back to the same thing."
The restaurants serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and often features home-cooked specials.
The coleslaw, coconut cream pie and Twin Steer burger, stacked with two patties, lettuce, pickles, cheese, steer-in sauce and a double decker bun, have been made with the same recipes since the 1960s.
Barbara says when her family bought the restaurant from Harold Phillips, he told them that the secret to the coleslaw is the machine the restaurant used to chop up fresh heads of cabbage.
She said Steer-In still uses the original machine despite it being nearly impossible to maintain and repair since the model was discontinued long ago.
"I bought shredded cabbage once and people threw a fit," Barbara said, laughing.
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The Kehrer family is made up of lifelong east-siders.
One wall at Steer-In displays Scecina Memorial High School memorabilia, a nod to their three generations of Crusader graduates, and another wall features Howe and Arsenal Technical relics.
"I've been coming here since I was a little kid so it was kind of surreal buying it," Casey said. "It was quite an experience for the first couple years, quite a learning experience."
Diners have run the gamut, from everyday regulars to politicians and professional athletes, but Casey says business really spiked after Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" featured Steer-In in 2011.
"The first week after that aired was crazy," Casey said. "There's not a day that goes by that someone doesn't come in from that show."
Located a mile and a half south of I-70, Steer-In often draws out-of-town visitors––conventions-goers, Indianapolis 500 fans, cross-country travelers––and there's a United States map clustered with pushpins and sticky notes to show for it.
Barbara says the Steer-In staff is like family and they keep business running smoothly no matter what challenges arise.
"That's what keeps us going, they're our rocks," Barbara said. "We couldn't do it with 'em, that's for sure."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: For 62 years, Steer-In restaurant has been an east-side tradition
