What's cooking: Grains and Grill
Mia Walsh
Updated on April 04, 2026
I am excited about this week’s What's Cooking restaurant, because I only found out about it because it is one of the restaurants featured in this year’s Sunrise Cookbook. Grains and Grill is locat...
I am excited about this week’s What's Cooking restaurant, because I only found out about it because it is one of the restaurants featured in this year’s Sunrise Cookbook.
Grains and Grill is located in Fairmount, Indiana. That's about an hour north of Indianapolis, and an hour south of Fort Wayne. So really, as the locals themselves will tell you, in the middle of nowhere! But that is why Grains and Grill is exactly what this farming community of only about 2,500 people really needed.
Joanie Howard and her husband Barry, both lifelong residents of Fairmount, opened Grains and Grill in February.
"We drive out of county all the time to eat, or we used to. We just felt if we did it right, and figured out what people wanted to eat, then people would come, and they have. They are coming from Indy and Fort Wayne," said Joanie.
It has a lot to do with the fact there are few upscale restaurants in the area, but also a great deal to do with the quality of the food that chef Kevin Grider is putting out on a daily basis.
"I’ve tried really hard to put on the menu stuff I couldn't get here when I was growing up in area as a kid. Everything from sourcing really nice cuts of meat for the steaks. Or fish that was overnighted so it would be fresh here in the middle of nowhere," said Grider.
Right now, Grains and Grill is only open for dinner service, but on my visit, people were already trying to get into the place a half hour before it opened. I'd say that's a pretty good sign there is demand for what they are doing here.
The food is top quality. Grider prepared a couple of his more popular dishes for me while I visited with him in the kitchen.
For one, he likes to come up with his own creations, like the sweet potato hash he served with the his chili lime Mahi Mahi.
"We put green bell peppers, red bell peppers, Vidalia onion, kind of a staple in these parts, everyone likes a sweet onion, mixed with the sweet potato," he said.
The fresh fish is then topped with Grider's homemade chili lime vinaigrette, that I am not kidding, I could have put on everything. Delicious.
You also know you are getting a good value at Grains and Grill. Far outside the boundaries of Indy steak house prices, you'll find a 2.5 pound Reserve Ribeye called the Tomahawk as a special for $50. (Best for sharing BTW) Try and get that in or around Indy, it will cost you well over $100.
Good value, good food, and a good time. That's what I found on my trip up north to the hometown of James Dean - where, believe it or not, I met the cousin of the late iconic actor, enjoying his own steak, right at the bar. Now that you won't find just anywhere.
