Guide to Greater Lafayette
As a (Computer Science) Ph.D. student at Purdue University, I want to build up information on how to thrive in West Lafayette, both from a tourist/entertainment perspective and from a residential perspective. The guide will be mostly useful to other people in similar life circumstances, especially Purdue grad students.
Geography
Knowing cardinal directions is very useful when navigating the area. The Greater Lafayette area can be thought of a large square cut in half by the Wabash river and connected be a pedestrian bridge and two bridges which can be driven on. The west side is West Lafayette, and the east side is Lafayette. West Lafayette is almost entirely dedicated to Purdue and its students, and Lafayette more of a blue-collar industrial city. It has a historic downtown, and some industry further east. Running north to south (in order from west to east), West Lafayette has Northwestern Avenue, Salisbury, and River Road, with some minor roads connecting them. Running west to east,(in order from north to south), there are Sagamore Parkway, Stadium Avenue, Wiggins Avenue, and State Street. The bus runs 6 days a week from 6 to 22 at 30 minute frequencies. Purdue is on the southwest corner of West Lafayette. It is bounded on the east by Northwestern Avenue and on the north by Stadium Avenue. Most undergrad students live within walking distance of campus, and graduate students further away, either north near Sagamore Parkway, or across the river close to downtown Lafayette, although some live closer.
Things to Do
Museums
Haan Museum of Indiana Art
Art Museum of Greater Lafayette
Imagination Station
Fire Station Museum
Historic Sites
Samara (Frank Lloyd Wright Home)
Ouiatenon Preserve
Morris Schoolhouse
Caretaker’s Cottage
Adams Mill
Delphi Opera House
Tippecanoe County Courthouse
Wabash & Erie Canal Park
St. Boniface Church
Arts & Architecture
Downtown Architectural Brochure
Lafayette Houses of Worship Tour
Disconnect Mural
Art Gallery Alley / Alleypalooza Murals
Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette
Gallery Walk (monthly downtown art event)
Public Art Trail (125+ pieces around the community)
Historic Neighborhoods Tour (Terra Cotta architecture brochure)
John T. Myers Pedestrian Bridge
Neighborhoods
Ninth Street Hill
Centennial Neighborhood
Highland Park
Columbian Park Neighborhood
Hills and Dales
New Chauncey
Chauncey Village / Chauncey–Stadium Avenues Historic District
Happy Hollow Heights
Parks & Hikes
Columbian Park Zoo
Columbian Park
Tapawingo Park
Happy Hollow Park
Celery Bog Nature Area
Cason Family Park
Clegg Memorial Garden
Martell Forest
Prophetstown State Park
Wabash Heritage Trail (18 miles along the river)
West Lafayette Trail Network (27+ miles paved, plus bike lanes)
Bike from Lafayette to Indianapolis
Shopping
Downtown Lafayette (Arts & Market District)
Chauncey Village
Green Leaf Botanicals
Artists’ Own Gallery
Boutique by Michele
Retail Therapy
Inspired Fire Glass Studio and Gallery
Food
McCord Candies
Triple XXX Family Restaurant
Smittybread Bakery
Scones & Doilies
Sweet Revolution Bake Shop
Farmer’s Market
This Old Butcher Shop + Central Pork Coffee Shop
Yatagarasu (Japanese Food)
Sakanaya (Japanese Food)
Strings Ramen Shop
Bahn Mi
Rice Cafe (Korean Food)
Red Seven Kitchen and Cocktail
Nine Irish
Aura Craft Bar + Kitchen
Ice Cream
Ice cream is evaluated on four metrics:
- Appearance
- Is the ice cream glossy or matte?
Ice cream should be glossy, as that indicates that it is well-emulsified.
- Texture
- Is the ice cream smooth, gritty, or icy? How fast does it melt in the mouth and on the plate?
Ice cream should be smooth, especially when fresh. Icy or gritty ice cream can indicate inadequate sugar and fat, inadequate stabilizer, slow freezing, or temperature fluctuations.
- Taste
- How sweet is it? Are there any undertones to the flavor? How accurate is the flavor?
Sugar makes ice cream freeze less easily and softens it. Ice cream should be sweet and refreshing with accurate flavors. A weak flavor may indicate too much water or improper homogenization.
- Body
- How dense is the ice cream? How much air does it have? How does it coat the tongue? How long does it linger in the mouth?
Ice cream can be made dense through stabilizers or the addition of fats. It also tends to have less air. Too many stabilizers can make ice cream gummy, but this will vary based on the preference of the store.
Soft-serve style ice creams should be judged similarly, but one can expect a lighter body with a fast finish, and a glossy, ice-free texture.
Silver Dipper
There are two locations, one within easy walking distance of campus, and another on Sagamore, in the Barry Heights neighborhood. The ice cream is very matte and has a very smooth, light, airy texture that doesn’t linger on the tongue. The flavor is less sweet and very fatty. It melts very slowly, and the texture is almost buttery. It would be a great place to have mint, citrus, and vanilla ice creams.
Westside Scoops
Westside Scoops is moderately matte, with a slightly grainy texture. It has the texture of a cold dough or a viscous fluid, and is very fatty. The flavor is almost smoky or woody, in a very pleasant way. It does well with the darker and richer flavors. It lingers for a long time in the mouth, and melts fairly quickly.
Every’s
Every’s is fairly matte, with no grit. It doesn’t have grit or ice, but has a variety of textures throughout, with some parts of the ice cream being colder than others, and somewhat heterogeneous. The ice cream texture is very balanced, in between Westside Scoops and Silver Dipper. The flavors are incredibly precise, and are easily the most interesting ice creams.
Budges
Budges has soft-serve style ice cream. It is a nice fast-food casual spot, with a retro feel. The ice cream is very glossy, with no grit. It is very light and tastes a bit more sour with less sweetness than the other places. It also has a strong dairy flavor and melts very quickly. It is a solid fast-food soft-serve in an interesting environment.
Kurtoskalacs
Kurtoskalacs has another soft-serve style ice cream. The restaurant is very charming, and it feels like their pastries (as their name implies) are more their focus than their ice cream. It would be a great place to get coffee, play board games, and spend an afternoon. The ice cream is very glossy but is comparatively grainy and icy, and melts quickly. It has a distinct, high-quality vanilla flavor. It is very light. It barely sits on the tongue, and is not very fatty.
Pizza Uncommon
Pizza Uncommon (as implied by the name) is not really an ice cream place, although they do have ice cream. The ice cream here is matte, relatively fatty and very smooth. It is less sweet than most other ice creams on this list, and is very fatty. It melts quickly in the mouth. The flavors are accurate and somewhat interesting, but the selection is limited and the flavor isn’t too strong.
Mango Mango
Mango Mango feels like a very trendy dessert place. They serve mostly Bingsu and crepes. The ice cream selections are either all Mango, or mango, matcha, and vanilla. This place is talked about highly by many students, but it is extremely crowded and the quality of the ice cream alone is not justified by the price (although their bing, crepes, and other desserts may be more appealing). The ice cream was matte and melted quickly. It was very icy, by far the iciest I have tried so far from a local ice cream shop. It was not very fatty, somewhat thin, and didn’t have much air/volume. It was on the sweeter side, but not too sweet, and overall, the flavors were fairly accurate, especially the matcha. They added very good fresh fruit to their ice cream, which was somewhat unique, but was understandable given the nature of the store. Overall, it was a nice dessert place, which focused more on the atmosphere and trendy desserts, with average ice cream.
Peach Cobbler Factory
Miss Sugar
Igloo
Igloo’s Frozen Custard is slightly fatty, very glossy and smooth, and has good flavors. They flavors are not necessarily very accurate in the same way Every’s or Silver Dipper might be, but they do taste good. Overall, the ice cream is not too sweet, melts quickly, and has some mild chewiness. Overall, it is in the middle-to-low range of ice cream, but is a very good deal (even if it is out of the way for most students).
Knight Spot
Coffee
Early Bird Cafe
Fuel
Greyhouse
Leaps
Mochaland
Vienna Espresso Bar
Ghost Roastery
Reveilie
Wanderlust
Jump Start
Seventh House
Cafe Literato
Indie Coffee Roasters
On the Go @ Lawson
Saxbys
Centennial Station
7 Brew
Marcel’s Cakes
Continuum
Nutrified Glory
Pizza
Pizza Uncommon
Pizza Uncommon has a very wide selection of toppings and flavors. As a store, it is very unique, but is also very expensive. The dough is very greasy and chewy, and didn’t have the fattiness of most pizza. The thickness is good, but it didn’t have a crisp bottom with a soft top (I suspect this is caused by low oven temperature and not enough fat in the dough). They also didn’t have enough sauce on their pizza. Their vegan cheese and meat were very good quality, and their function in the pizza was well thought out. It was overall good pizza and very interesting, and definitely better than fast food, but without enough merit to justify the price.