The gang in the freezer. From left are Brittany Lyon, Travis McConnell, Kris Williams, Nathan Wilson with Shari Benyousky.

By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Column Note: This is the 44th column in the Diners and Dives series in which a small group of Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club members and their guests road trip to explore the restaurants of Kosciusko and the surrounding area.

WARSAW — Both black front doors opened automatically as I reached the top step (I felt important), so I walked into the buzzing of happy guests scooting tables together and waving hi to each other at lunchtime. I saw lawyers and translators over from the Justice Building, people from the city planner’s office and Alderfer Bergen, realtors, retired people, workers in polos with embroidered names on their pockets, an adorable tot with a yellow truck in one fist, bankers… it seemed like everybody was grabbing lunch at the brand-new Courthouse B & B at 108 N. Buffalo St., in downtown Warsaw just east of the old courthouse, next to 110 Craft Meatery.

This location has hosted many businesses including other coffeehouses. Vestiges of those are long gone. The building has been completely gutted and rebranded. Let’s talk through why you should grab some lunch or dinner ingredients there with everyone else.

The History And The Crime

Paul Finley breaks a Courthouse table.

Speaking of 110 Meatery, owner Jason Brown is also one of the partners of next-door Courthouse B&B Market. The upscale market (urban grocery) mixed with coffeehouse/lunch spot idea originated with him in a Fort Wayne location that moved home to Warsaw. Brown came over to shake my hand wearing a peach-colored button- down. “Welcome!” he grinned. “What, ah, what do you want from me exactly?”

“Not much, Jason. Just brilliant words of wisdom.” I grinned as I snapped pictures of the crowd, drawn by the lovely light-filled spaces everywhere. Jason sat at the tables my regulars had pushed together. Prominent 1st Source Banker Paul Finley had managed to yank the top off one of the little black square tables in the process.

“Sorry, Travis!” Finley grinned at second Courthouse partner Travis McConnell who took a picture of the crime scene before fixing the table.

Jason scanned the restaurant to make sure the staff had orders and cooking under control before returning his attention to us. “So, you want wisdom?”

“How about your staff,” I prompted. I could see three guys behind the counter on the food side and two more staff down at the end managing the coffee. You’ll find the words “Order Here” at two spots inside and the service is quick and knowledgeable about everything from “What’s a scallop?” to “How do I cook this when I take it home?”

“Training is a group effort, but it starts at the top here,” Jason leaned on the table. Clearly, he loves to hire experts, “but we definitely hire people that know nothing and train them well too,” he continued. “The key is to allow people to make mistakes to learn from them, but to minimize how often the mistakes impact the customers.”

At this point, one of the staff guys caught his eye with a question and soon Jason himself had washed his hands and was behind the counter taking over the grill.

The Food and The XXX

The Courthouse Menu features sandwiches, salads, and soups with a New York Deli style flair. You’ll find a lobster roll, lox on a bagel, a seafood boil with andouille sausage and clams, and lots of rotating specials like beef with mushrooms and amazing soups. I’ve tried squash, posole verde, and split pea already and loved all three.

Paul Finley shows off the specialty XXX root beer available.

Brown wanted people to know that the much beloved 110 Salad is available. I ordered a walleye po-boy sandwich and a 110 House Salad including candied bacon, bleu cheese, and caramelized onions. You can also grab a cranberry orange muffin or a chocolate croissant back with your specialty coffee. The menu includes coffees with names like “Judicial System” and “Search + Seizure.” McConnell is also a local attorney famous for wearing hoodies and flip-flops to the office. In fact, I dressed in a hoodie in honor of his style. By the way, if you want to order ahead and pick up your coffee or choices, check out their site here.

At Courthouse, curating and filling the cases with food, good food, is always the goal both for a quick to-go lunch or an after work run-by to grab something for dinner. They want the foods to be authentic to their origins. For example, they buy seafood from East Coast and South Florida fisheries and po-boy and muffuletta breads from N’Orleans.

You can also order specialty sodas. Banker Paul was jazzed to see official XXX Root Beer in glass bottles. In the past, he had driven all the way down to West Lafayette to get them. “XXX is a rather risqué thing to hold for a banker who also teaches at Grace College,” I needled him. Finley wisely ignored me and enjoyed his soda.

As our orders came up, and our names were called, we unwrapped the deli paper from around our sandwiches and licked our lips. “So, where’s REMAX Jeff?” asked Denver Visitor Kris Williams. Jeff has been at all 43 Diners and Dives so far.

“He’s in Naples,” I answered between bites of juicy walleye. “Naples, Florida.” I showed them a promo picture Jeff had sent of himself wearing the Inkfreenews Diners and Dives T-shirt with the Naples Pier behind him. McConnell got a brilliant idea. He pulled up a Jeff photo on his cellphone, and I took a picture of Jeff held up between Brittany and Travis. Technically, REMAX Jeff still gets a star for perfect Diners and Dives attendance.

“I feel loved,” he texted from some sunny Florida beach.

The Carpenter, The Secret Passage, And The Kids’ Nook

Nathan Wilson shows off his secret walk in freezer passage door.

At the back of the Market, you’ll wait at a lovely wood counter created from reclaimed lumber by Nathan Wilson of Wilson Woodworks. Nathan joined us at the lunch table. “My projects took all of his lumber,” McConnell said proudly.

Nathan nodded ruefully. “Don’t worry. We’ll get more. We source mill our lumber locally, mostly from the county itself.” Nathan was in the house finishing a cool project. Behind the Coffee Counter area, you’ll find a kids’ play nook. After lunch when things quieted down, one little boy wandered from the play area. He drove his little truck around the Order Here sign letters.

He liked Courthouse just as much as his parents.

We cleaned up our table and headed to see one last Nathan project — a secret passage through the walk-in freezer into 110 on the other side of the wall. Sadly, you won’t be able to use the passage yourself, but we wanted to show you how happy even people in the freezer at Courthouse B&B are. This is your new happy place. Check it out and say hello.

Do you know of an interesting place, restaurant, nonprofit, or person that you’d like to see featured in Diners and Dives, Whirlwind Wanderlust Travels, or Profiles Behind the Scenes? Send SB Communications LLC Shari Benyousky an email at [email protected].