I guess it should come as no surprise since the mall that houses it will soon be demolished, but Muncie’s MCL cafeteria is closing on March 29th. This is a real shame: I’d only just become acquainted with it!
I was thirty-five years old by the time eating at MCL Restaurant & Bakery first crossed my mind. I’d forgotten Muncie even had one! With a speaking engagement looming there in a matter of weeks, I made my first visit in January. If you’re unfamiliar, MCL is a small chain of cafeteria-style restaurants that got its start in the Indianapolis area -Sheridan, to be exact- back in 1950. Muncie’s Mall location opened in 1975 to replace the shuttered Holland House1.
The other thing to know about MCL is that it is commonly thought of as an “old people’s” restaurant. That’s fine by me- I rolled up starving and practically bounded for the trays and tableware on my first visit. I went for the carved roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a side of green beans. The Brussels sprouts and mac and cheese looked good, too. A Diet Pepsi rounded out my lunch.
The beans were forgettable with but a single piece of bacon in my serving (seen above), the roll was fine, and the mashed potatoes were outstanding. The roast beef, however, was the star of the show: tender, full of flavor, and pink in the middle. It was down-home, scratch-made Hoosier cooking served without pretense!
The next day, my brother and I returned to sample the fried chicken. I went with a wing and a breast, paired once again with mashed potatoes but with a side of mac and cheese and a sweet tea. The potatoes were every bit as outstanding as before, and the mac and cheese was the dense, casserole-style kind. As for the chicken, it was piping hot, perfectly crispy, freshly fried, and shockingly juicy without an excess of grease.
My presentation to Junto of Muncie went well. Afterward, though , I’ll admit that I became a little obsessed with MCL. I went back the very next week- this time on catfish day. Three enormous strips, hand-breaded in cornmeal, came piled on the tray alongside the usual mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and a generous cup of tartar sauce. It was fantastic. The meal was so big it kept me full until February.
Somewhere along the line, I took my sister to MCL. As a vegetarian, she kept things simple -mac and cheese, a slice of pie, and a Starry- while I went all in on a plate of chicken and noodles ladled over a towering volcano of mashed potatoes. The tender egg noodles were an inch wide, the chicken was everywhere, and the whole dish was the kind you’d expect to find at a church dinner or a family gathering rather than a cafeteria tucked inside an unfortunate mall. Sadly, I slurped my lunch up so fast that I didn’t manage to snap a picture.
My most recent trip to MCL came just last month. I planned to try the slow-roasted turkey, or maybe a Manhattan, but the week’s $9.99 special grabbed my attention: stuffed pork chop. I’d never even heard of such a thing before, but curiosity won out. What wound up plopped on my tray was a thick, center-cut boneless pork chop packed with Thanksgiving-style stuffing and smothered in white gravy. It was hearty and delicious! Praise God, praise Jesus- and praise Charles McGaughey and George Laughner for bringing MCL into the world.
Unfortunately, it’ll all be over soon. Although the mall’s new owners indicated a “family restaurant” will move into an outparcel space once JCPenney is demolished2, social media posts seem to indicate that MCL will leave Muncie for good. With its recent closures in Richmond and Anderson, the closest outpost appears to be in Carmel, an hour away. I used to work there. I hate driving to Carmel!
As I finished up my first meal at MCL, a nearby conversation caught my ear as an elderly couple quietly speculated about how long the longstanding establishment could survive in Muncie Mall. Apparently now we have an answer. What a shame, since I only managed to discover it just in time to watch it disappear. If you’ve never been, there are only a few days left to see what the fuss is about. If you have, you probably already understand- MCL wasn’t just an “old folks restaurant.” It was one of those comfortable, unpretentious Hoosier institutions that made everyday life a little better, one tray at a time.
Sources Cited
1 MCL Plans Cafeteria in Muncie (1975, October 22). The Muncie Star. p. 8.
2 Mulherin, J. (2024, January 31). Hull Property Group Acquires Muncie Mall. Hull Property Group [Augusta]. Press Release.
Well they have raised their prices so much that hurts “old people” and cuts down customers. There is still a need for cafeteria style foods at a reasonable price.
Yeah, it sure isn’t the cheapest place in town to eat.
There is one in Castleton-NE corner of 86th and Allisonville RD. You can get there without ever having to get on the highway.
Ah, good to know. Thank you!
Now I’m hungry! I have not been to one in awhile. There was a similar place in Mooresville called Gray Bros. Cafeteria. It had been there for years, but recently closed. Just a few months after we re-discovered it.
John and I are headed to MCL in a couple hours; live vicariously through me.
I remember hearing about Gray Bros. closing. Wish I’d tried it!
I remember going to MCL a lot as a child with my grandmother and as an adult well as a teenager, I should say before I move to Florida I hate to see it go. It’s a great memory I have and it will be greatly missed
As a recent MCL convert, I’ll miss it too.
Why doesn’t MCL move to the empty restaurant down McGalliard? I can’t remember the name of it. It’s beside the empty strip mall Domino’s just left.
I wish they would!
Great…and sad…post.
As a recent east coast transplant to Muncie attempting to relive summers visiting my grandparents, the closure of MCL will close a chapter of some of my fondest childhood memories — rare instances of eating out because my grandmother needed a break or listening to my grandfather, the late Hurley Goodall, meeting with constituents and community members.
Those are great memories. It’s unfortunate that something so sad like this impending closure has brought them up.
MCL was my first real job in 1993 a beautiful blessed to work under Mr. Matt Bridges Karl Goy Scott Miller Lorraine Smith And Maureen Pothiuge!!
Great memories!
MCL Muncie was the best when I worked starting in 1993 With General Manager Matt Bridges Karl Goy Scott Miller Lorraine Smith and Maureen Pothiuge then years later Julie T!!
I’m glad you have such fine memories there.
Love MCL. All the best places are closing. Anymore it’s pizza,Chinese or Mexican food. So sad the old time places are closing.
It’s sad :(.
It is sad that the MCL is going to close. No doubt the future of the mall has played a part of this decision, but in some ways MCL was its own worst enemy over the last few years. The management has had some serious issues, cold food, no chicken at supper time, staff allowed to eat and drink and pull food off the serving line with bare hands then go on serving. The community of Muncie keeps losing these types of restaurants, we are going to be left with fast food for the most part. I had hopes that they would separate themselves from the mall and start a new place and continue to serve the community of Muncie with a new team and fresh start. Guess not.
I’ve never been there for dinner/supper, but my brother has encountered chicken that’s less than piping hot on a late lunch. Nonetheless, I wish it would have opened anew somewhere else too. Seems like it’s not happening.
Let the record show that the writer also ate at MCL on this day, too.
Not only that, but he also commented hours later that he could have done without the roll 😅
Haha, the roll was a bridge too far.
Also, I have another post with the results of today’s meal scheduled for MCL’s last day, 3/29. Also includes a walk around the mall.
That makes sense! Send it out with a bang.