Published: June 18, 2009 10:35 pm         

Restaurant ready to embrace Terre Haute’s ties to John Dillinger

TERRE HAUTE — John Dillinger has an historical link to Terre Haute, even paying to establish a hideaway in the city for members of his notorious bank robbing gang in the 1930s.

Now that link will include a new restaurant, “JD’s Steakhouse & BBQ,” at 1936 S. Third St.

“I wanted to have a theme, which started out as a Western theme, but we found out by coincidence the tie with Depression-era gangsters,” said owner W. Todd Jackson. “I didn’t realize John Dillinger has so many ties to Terre Haute.”

The new restaurant opens Monday — June 22 — the same date Dillinger was born in Indianapolis in 1903. Plus, a Terre Haute radio station plans a promotional event at the new restaurant to give out tickets for the July 1 debut of the movie, “Public Enemies,” featuring actor Johnny Depp as Dillinger, Jackson said.

The restaurant will hold 70 people. Jackson plans to have 15 servers and six cooks working two shifts. The restaurant will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., plus offer a Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. “We will have steak and eggs, gravy and biscuits or hashbrowns. It will be a limited brunch menu. Everything I do, I do different, but simple,” he said.

As an example, Jackson plans to offer every child, age 12 and under, a free root beer float.

“I got into the restaurant business by accident. My wife makes Italian food and I wanted steak,” he joked. “I am a steak-and-potato guy.”

Jackson and his wife, Michelle, had been working in real estate “flipping houses and selling houses. When the mortgage market when south, we sold some properties and bought on the north end and remodeled it,” he said, adding his wife continues to work in real estate.

The couple opened JD’s Steak Grille & Pub at 1330 8th Ave. a year ago. Yet, Jackson said the restaurant business never really got established, as the location has been a long-standing site as a tavern.

“We thought we could bring the people there, as there was not anything near there, but most people go to the south end to shop and end up eating near there,” he said.

An area south of Hulman Street is close to many restaurants, Jackson said. Plus, the new restaurant is near the Umi Grill, a Japanese restaurant. The two businesses form a restaurant destination, he said.

Jackson makes his own barbecue sauce, his own seasoning salt and seasoned flour for food at the restaurant.

“You know what you like. I make what I like, and it seems that everyone else likes it, too,” he said. “We have our own way we cook. Just about everything goes on the grill, which is what a steakhouse should be, not on a fry pan or skillet,” Jackson said.

“We have smoked ribs, smoked chicken, smoked pork shoulder, pulled pork and the steaks, with the ribeye, sirloins and filet. We are introducing the filet here, which we did not have on the north end,” Jackson added.

Jackson has yet to put up his store-front sign. On Thursday, he planned to install curtains to cover half the large windows that surround the restaurant, plus he planned a training session for employees, cooking and tasting food to be served at the restaurant.

Jackson said he chose “JD’s” because he liked the name for a steakhouse. Now that name fits the John Dillinger theme.

Dillinger’s link to Terre Haute includes gang members Russell Lee “Boobie” Clark and Edward W. Shouse Jr., both of Terre Haute. In September 1933, Dillinger gave Kokomo brothel owner Peal Elliott $27,000 to buy and equip a Terre Haute hideaway. A house was bought for that purpose at 2531 Fenwood Ave., according to Vigo County Historian Mike McCormick’s book, “Terre Haute: Queen City of the Wabash.”

Confessions from Shouse, apprehended by police, placed some of Dillinger’s gang in Terre Haute before a robbery of the Peru police station for guns and a bank in Greencastle in October 1933, according to McCormick’s book.

On Nov. 8, 1933, about 150 Indiana National Guardsmen, Terre Haute police and Indiana State Police raided 2531 Fenwood and 2346 Second Ave., but missed the gang, whose members had fled in the middle of the night.

Articles from McCormick about Dillinger will be placed under glass tops on tables in the restaurant. “We also have some large photos of John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, and Pretty Boy Floyd on the walls. They all have ties to the Midwest,” Jackson said.

Streetscapes from the 1930s of downtown Terre Haute along Wabash Avenue will be part of the decor, too.

“We also hope to get help from the public, for a free dinner or something, if they bring in something copy-ready for us to hang on the walls, so eventually we want to have everything with Wabash Valley history,” Jackson said.

Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.