46 replies to this topic

[moosnsqrl]

Welcome, jrichman, to the eGS.

While they are not all extremely current, check out some of these threads in which Indianapolis dining options are discussed:

Indianapolis threads

My vote, of course, would be for Shapiro's but there are plenty of other, worthy spots.

=R=

Happy to see, on one of the threads Ronnie refers to, that The Slippery Noodle is still going. We passed a v-e-r-y entertaining evening there a decade or so ago.

[ronnie_suburban]

The list which follows was compiled by a friend of mine about 6 months ago. The information therein was submitted by several people. While it's not up-to-the-minute current, I think it's still a valuable resource and my friend has graciously allowed me to post it here:

Hollyhock Hill
8110 N. College
(317) 251-2294

Shapiro's Deli
808 S. Meridian Street
(317) 631-4041

Asian
Yummy
740 Braeside South Dr
(317) 299-8883

Brunch
Cafe Patechou
4911 North Pennsylvania Street
(317) 925-2823

Cafeterias
MCL
(various locations; check the website:  www.mclcafe.com)

Jonathan Byrd's
"We are located right off of Interstate 65, Exit 99 in Greenwood, Indiana"  (south of Indianapolis)
317-881-8888

Gray Brothers
555 S. Indiana Street
Mooresville, IN
(317) 831-5614

German
The Rathskeller (dinner and great biergarten)
401 E. Michigan St. (in the Athenaeum/Das Deutsche Haus building)
(317) 636-0396

Cafe Heidelberg (lunch and bizarre German souvenirs only)
7625 Pendleton Pike
(317) 547-1263

Hoosier
Mug & Bun (pork tenderloins and housemade root beer)
5211 W. 10th Street
(317) 244-5669

Ice House
2352 S West
(317)788-7075

Barringer’s Tavern (tenderloins)
2535 S Meridian
(317)783-3663

John's Hot Stew
1146 Kentucky Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46221-1306
(317) 636-6212

Ayres Tea Room (functioning restaurant reproduced inside the Indiana State Museum)
650 W. Washington Street
317.232.1637

Italian
Iaria’s
317 S College Ave
(317)638-7706

Mexican/Hispanic
El Sol de Tala in Union Station Downtown
39 W. Jackson Place
(317) 636-8252

OR

El Sol de Tala East Side (original location):
2444 E. Washington
(317) 635-8252

La Frontera
2541 W. Washington
(317) 822-3994

North African
El Morocco
1260 W. 86th Street
(317) 844-1104

Soul Food/Southern/Barbecue
Elbow Room Pub & Deli
605 N Pennsylvania St
(317) 635-3354

Marble's Southern Cookery
2310 N. Lafayette Rd.
(317) 687-0631

Big Mama's
2356 N Sherman Dr
(317)547-0830

Mississippi Belle
2170 E. 54th St.
(317) 462-0522

King Ribs (several locations)
1. 3145 W 16th St - (317) 488-0223
2. 4130 N Keystone Ave - (317) 543-0841
3. 7336 Pendleton Pike - (317) 547-5464 (near Café Heidelberg for German)

Generations
2044 N. Harding St.
Indianapolis, IN 46202
(317) 639-6339

Big Fellas
3469 N College Ave
(317) 258-4079

Upscale Dinner
R Bistro
888 Massachusetts Ave
(317) 423-0312

H2O Sushi
1912 Broad Ripple Ave
(317) 254-0677

Elements
415 N Alabama St
(317) 634-8888

Broad Ripple Steakhouse
929 E. Westfield Blvd.
(317) 253-8101

Estilo
4939 E. 82nd St.
(317) 570-0831

Oakley Bistro
1464 W. 86th St.
(317) 824-1231

St. Elmo Steakhouse (a 100-year old classic, but a bit of a tourist trap)
127 S. Illinois
(317) 635-0636

Miscellaneous
Indianapolis City Market
222 E. Market Street

*The Chatterbox (Late-Night Jazz Club, the best in town)
435 Massachusetts Ave
(317) 636-0584

Duck Pin Bowling in Fountain Square
(Atomic Bowl and Action Bowl – in the same building)
1105 Prospect St
(317) 685-1955 (Atomic Bowl)
(317) 686-6006 (Action Bowl)

Thanks to JiLS for permission to reprint this list.

=R=

[JimInLoganSquare]

My pleasure, Ron. The list is easier to read if you put the headings in bold (see below). I also direct those who are interested to check out IndyEthnicFood.org; great resource for Indianapolis dining, and it includes "Hoosier" as a sortable ethnicity and also allows you to filter out all chain restaurants.


Indianapolis "Must Eats"
Hollyhock Hill
8110 N. College
(317) 251-2294

Shapiro's Deli
808 S. Meridian Street
(317) 631-4041

Asian
Yummy
740 Braeside South Dr
(317) 299-8883

Brunch
Cafe Patechou
4911 North Pennsylvania Street
(317) 925-2823

Cafeterias
MCL
(various locations; check the website:  www.mclcafe.com)

Jonathan Byrd's
"We are located right off of Interstate 65, Exit 99 in Greenwood, Indiana"  (south of Indianapolis)
317-881-8888

Gray Brothers
555 S. Indiana Street
Mooresville, IN
(317) 831-5614

German
The Rathskeller (dinner and great biergarten)
401 E. Michigan St. (in the Athenaeum/Das Deutsche Haus building)
(317) 636-0396

Cafe Heidelberg (lunch and bizarre German souvenirs only)
7625 Pendleton Pike
(317) 547-1263

Hoosier
Mug & Bun (pork tenderloins and housemade root beer)
5211 W. 10th Street
(317) 244-5669

Ice House
2352 S West
(317)788-7075

Barringer’s Tavern (tenderloins)
2535 S Meridian
(317)783-3663

John's Hot Stew
1146 Kentucky Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46221-1306
(317) 636-6212

Ayres Tea Room (functioning restaurant reproduced inside the Indiana State Museum)
650 W. Washington Street
317.232.1637

Italian
Iaria’s
317 S College Ave
(317)638-7706

Mexican/Hispanic
El Sol de Tala in Union Station Downtown
39 W. Jackson Place
(317) 636-8252

OR

El Sol de Tala East Side (original location):
2444 E. Washington
(317) 635-8252

La Frontera
2541 W. Washington
(317) 822-3994

North African
El Morocco
1260 W. 86th Street
(317) 844-1104

Soul Food/Southern/Barbecue
Elbow Room Pub & Deli
605 N Pennsylvania St
(317) 635-3354

Marble's Southern Cookery
2310 N. Lafayette Rd.
(317) 687-0631

Big Mama's
2356 N Sherman Dr
(317)547-0830

Mississippi Belle
2170 E. 54th St.
(317) 462-0522

King Ribs (several locations)
1. 3145 W 16th St - (317) 488-0223
2. 4130 N Keystone Ave - (317) 543-0841
3. 7336 Pendleton Pike - (317) 547-5464 (near Café Heidelberg for German)

Generations
2044 N. Harding St.
Indianapolis, IN 46202
(317) 639-6339

Big Fellas
3469 N College Ave
(317) 258-4079

Upscale Dinner
R Bistro
888 Massachusetts Ave
(317) 423-0312

H2O Sushi
1912 Broad Ripple Ave
(317) 254-0677

Elements
415 N Alabama St
(317) 634-8888

Broad Ripple Steakhouse
929 E. Westfield Blvd.
(317) 253-8101

Estilo
4939 E. 82nd St.
(317) 570-0831

Oakley Bistro
1464 W. 86th St.
(317) 824-1231

St. Elmo Steakhouse (a 100-year old classic, but a bit of a tourist trap)
127 S. Illinois
(317) 635-0636

Miscellaneous
Indianapolis City Market
222 E. Market Street

*The Chatterbox (Late-Night Jazz Club, the best in town)
435 Massachusetts Ave
(317) 636-0584

Duck Pin Bowling in Fountain Square
(Atomic Bowl and Action Bowl – in the same building)
1105 Prospect St
(317) 685-1955 (Atomic Bowl)
(317) 686-6006 (Action Bowl)[/quote]

Edited by JimInLoganSquare, 17 February 2006 - 03:52 PM.

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks, JiLS, for the heading-tweaks and the additional info. Again, this is a great resource and I appreciate you taking the time to compile it -- and share it with us.

=R=

[nsxtasy]

It has been over a year since the last post but the Oceanaire Seafood Room is fantastic.

I really love the Oceanaire. I've been there numerous times and it's always been excellent.

This past weekend, I was visiting central Indiana, and I decided it was time to try some places I had not been to before, rather than going back to the Oceanaire. I loved 14 West (downtown, at the Circle Center), I liked L'Explorateur too (in Broad Ripple), but I was disappointed in Restaurant Tallent (in Bloomington).

[317indy]

Okay, being a chef, I feel that I have to tell and warn everyone. Indianapolis is SO far behind on Cusine, that its rediculous. So much, that I moved from that pathetic state, to a better place that knows how to be inovative and creative with food. All you can get in Indianapolis is a good steak. Im sorry, but thats the truth. However being that I know 80% of the chefs at these places, and having dined at all of these places, I will tell you from my first hand experience.



Chanteclair 2501 S. High School Road - Its at the Airport inside of one of the hotels, I forget which, but this is a true French restaurant. I mean hell they still do tableside service! Costs a lot though.

Chez Jean Restaurant Francais 8821 Ind. 67 South - Another true French cuisine place, taken over by a German :-) Chef Carl Huckaby is one hell of a chef. Named National Chef by the American Culinary Federation for his brilliance. Its near the Airport in a town called Camby.

Danielli Restaurant and Art Gallery at the Canterbury 123 S. Illinois St. - This is Indianapolis' only 4 Star place to eat. Its kinda sad to; but any how Its got great good with the service to match. Its very elegant inside as well, but only seats like 50 people?

Peterson's 7690 E. 96th St. - Great place to eat. Its a "Steakhouse" but Chef Carl Binko trys to be very innovative with his cuisine. However you still have to please the Hoosiers and they arent likely to change any time soon with their Steakhouses only.

Mo's A Place For Steaks 47 S. Pennsylvania St - All of the Pro football and baskeball players dine here. On a weekend if you dont have reservations, you dont get a seat. Very nice inside, good food, nothing breakthrough though.

Glass Chimney Restaurant 12901 Old Meridian St - Another French place. Very VERY nice, it doesnt seat many either. Ive only been here once, and it was very romantic.

14 West 14 W. Maryland St. Expensive but worth it. This place is very nice, located in the heart of downtown. This place is trying to be breakthrough, however its lacking. It tries to infuse WAY too many dishes. French, Asian, American. Its just way too much for a place.

Harry & Izzy's 153 S. Illinois St. - Recently opened, owned by St Elmos steakhouse. This place is trying a nice theme. The "speakeasy" days of prohibition. But its still a steakhouse.

Oakley's Bistro 1464 W. 86th St. - The only innovative place in the whole city IMHO. This place has a great chef, far out of his element I believe. He still caters to the old MidWest way of life though. Deffinetly the place to go though.

Kincaid's 14159 Clay Terrace Blvd - Good dinning, very fresh food. However nothing too bold.

Mitchell's Fish Market 14311 Clay Terrace Blvd - Fresh fish daily, and fresh ingredients. Very expensive though. Make sure you pair your food with wines here. It adds to the experience.

Rick's Cafe Boatyard 4050 Dandy Trail - I took my prom date here. Its very romantic, out on a National Parks water reserve, it sets the tone for a romantic evening.

R Bistro 888 Massachusetts Ave. - Great chef, great food, and its inexpensive.

Rathskeller 401 E. Michigan St. - Older heritage place. German cuisine, havent been there in a long time, but its still a great place to go from what I heard.

Scholars Inn 725 Massachusetts Ave. - Its already been discussed.

Bazbeaux Pizza 334 Massachusetts Ave. - Great pizza! Make sure you dine at this the original location and ask to be seated in the basement, or outside. It gives you a better feel for the place, location.

Stone Creek Dining Company 2490 Futura Parkway - Great food, great portions. Its a locally owned chain though. But still fantastic food!

H2O Sushi 1912 Broad Ripple Ave. - Great sushi place in the middle of a "trendy" area.

Iron Skillet Restaurant 2489 W. 30th St. - This is a FANTASTIC place to eat. If you go to Indianapolis, make sure you get reservations 3 months in advance maybe more. Its located in an old home on a hill. This place is SUPER great if you are into personal service. Visit their website for details.

Kona Grill 14395 Clay Terrace Blvd. - Great place for fresh fish, and sushi. Located in an outdoor mall in a very upscale neighborhood, all of the places on "Clay Terrace Blvd"(Jimmy John's, Kincaid's, Kona Grill, Mitchell's Fish Market) are fantastic places. Google Clay Terrace Mall for info.

Music Mill 3720 E. 82nd St. - This is a restaurant/music venue hall. Great place, very "art deco" inside. Its something out of South Beach almost. Enjoy good food with a fantastic band. Be it local artist's or world famous artists. This place is awesome.

McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants 110 N. Illinois St. - Chain, but still great service and great food.

Naked Tchopstix 6253 N. College Ave. Another great sushi place, in the middle of a "trendy" area. Resonably priced to boot.


There you have it. All of the places to dine in the heart of crossroads of america

[Davydd]

I'm in Indianapolis right now as I type. I'm here for the deep-fried breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches. Now that is something you can't take away from Indianapolis. In aggregate they do it better than anyplace else, including Iowa.

[317indy]

I'm in Indianapolis right now as I type. I'm here for the deep-fried breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches. Now that is something you can't take away from Indianapolis. In aggregate they do it better than anyplace else, including Iowa. 

If you want the cities best Breaded Pork Tenderloin...

Manns Grille
(317) 241-5801
1214 S Tibbs Ave

Take Washington Street until you come across Holt Road, take it south for four - five miles, and it will be on the right hand side. Its litterally the Cities BEST tenderloin.

I-70 runs to Holt Road as well...Its only 4 blocks from Washington Street/US40

Edited by 317indy, 05 October 2007 - 01:48 PM.

[nsxtasy]

I really love the Oceanaire.  I've been there numerous times and it's always been excellent.

This past weekend, I was visiting central Indiana, and I decided it was time to try some places I had not been to before, rather than going back to the Oceanaire.  I loved 14 West (downtown, at the Circle Center), I liked L'Explorateur too (in Broad Ripple), but I was disappointed in Restaurant Tallent (in Bloomington).

I visited central Indiana again at the end of August. I went to Oakley's Bistro and loved it as much as I do 14 West and maybe even more. Just a great place in every way.

I also went to Kincaid's in Carmel and was disappointed (after trying one of their California locations earlier this year and liking it a lot).

[iluminon]

Hi everyone,

I would love to hear from anybody about their picks for favorite Indianapolis restaurants. What I'm most interested in is ethnic, mom & pop or anything unique.

Thanks in advance.

[Luke]

I recently spent 5 days in Indianapolis and made Palomino's my second home (well, I think I ended up eating their 4 times, although it was conveniently located just across the road from where I was staying).

http://www.palomino.com/page/location

Service and food was awesome. I became addicted to the rocket, feta and pumpkin seed salad along with the Rigatoni with tomato, cream and Italian sausage. The last time was on a Wednesday and I pleasantly discovered they have a half-price wine "Wednesday" where the offer is literally any bottle of wine for half price. I enjoyed an $80 bottle of Napa Valley Cab Sauv for half-price - very nice!

Luke

[IndyRob]

Hi everyone,

I would love to hear from anybody about their picks for favorite Indianapolis restaurants. What I'm most interested in is ethnic, mom & pop or anything unique.

Thanks in advance.

Under the mom & pop heading, I highly recommend "The Donut Shop" at about 55th and Keystone. I've only had the donuts (the best in the region, but get there early), but it also gets good reviews for general breakfast and lunch. Be prepared for a sort of Waffle House ambiance.

Another mom & pop is Greek Tony's at 116th and Rangeline Rd. Best submarine sandwiches in Indy. Order the Italian. Hockey fans will approve of the ambiance.

Under quirky, but often well reviewed, is the Three Sister's Cafe in Broad Ripple. But it also is also often poorly reviewed due to service (I'm guessing it's down to which sister you get). We tried to go on Mother's Day but apparently some of the sisters were also mothers and it was closed.

Better restaurants: Broad Ripple Steak House. Voted best steak house in Indy. Been there - very good. Brugge Brasserie. I've not been there, but it's clearly a good (and well reviewed) brasserie.

[nsxtasy]

As a frequent visitor to Indianapolis over the years, it's amusing to read six-year-old comments about the lack of dining choices. I've found that the dining scene in Indy has dramatically improved over the past twenty years, and is now vibrant and impressive for a city its size. As little as ten years ago you would be hard-pressed to find anything creative (unless you went to an out-of-the-way restaurant called Something Different, where you'd find a young chef named Stephen Oakley). Now, you can find a panoply of creative, contemporary American, chef-driven restaurants, including Oakley's Bistro, R Bistro, Recess, Euphoria, and Zing, as well as great restaurants for steaks and seafood like St. Elmo's, the Oceanaire, Z's Oyster Bar, and Peterson's. Choices for ethnic foods and specialty restaurants (e.g. Cafe Patachou) have also dramatically improved. And if you enjoy a really good bakery (for breads as well as pastry), don't miss Rene's Bakery in Broad Ripple; among other things, they have the perfect eclair, and a couple of months ago I got the most amazing small one-inch squares of almond pastry there.

Edited by nsxtasy, 03 June 2010 - 02:10 PM.

[TeakettleSlim]

We recently discovered His Place on the east side of town-- on Shadeland Blvd, in an unassuming (ok, kind of rundown) little strip mall. Soul food/southern style cooking, very very good. I had fried catfish, collard greens, macaroni and cheese; husband had smoked meatloaf, candied yams, bourbon creamed corn. We split an order of banana pudding for dessert--it was perhaps the best banana pudding I have ever had. Everything was superb, enough to make two displaced Southerners' hearts glad. (Well, I didn't care for their sweet tea, but that's hardly a deal-breaker, and the large squeeze bottle of hot sauce they provided more than made up for it, albeit in a different capacity). Next time we will be trying the ribs (which get both dry rub AND mop treatment!).

[huiray]

Hmm, a pretty old thread.

A couple updates (certainly not exhaustive) on the most recently listed places (by nsxtasy):
• Euphoria is closed as a public-access restaurant - it became a catering concern a while back, with its upstairs space available for catered parties. The downstairs Creation Cafe is still operating. http://www.creationc...ndeuphoria.com/
• Z's Oyster Bar has been closed for a little while now.

[huiray]

An update on a Chinese restaurant which has undergone various changes over the years but had usually been considered one of the better places to get Chinese food in Indy, plus notes on what I had there for Sunday lunch today.

 

Lunch – Dim Sum & etc at Lucky Lou (幸運樓) Seafood Restaurant. (This used to be “On Time Chinese Restaurant” until January 2013 when it was taken over by new owners & management.  The chefs are new; the main chef is Cantonese although they offer a lot of Szechuanese and Hunanese dishes in the mold of the old “On Time”; perhaps to maintain “familiarity for the previous clientele”?)

 

See also this post for the previous history of the place.

 

Today I had a sampling of dim sum dishes:

• Beef tripe (with slivered ginger) (牛拍葉)

• Pan-fried shrimp roll (pan-fried then poached/simmered w/ sauce) (腐皮卷)

• “Phoenix Claws” a.k.a. Chicken feet (usual deep-fried then stewed stuff; with a slightly different sauce than I usually find with this dish elsewhere or previously) (鳳爪)

• Shrimp dumplings a.k.a. “Har Gow” (蝦餃)

The Har Gow were decent. (10-12 folds in the wrapper! Pity said wrapper was a little on the thick side). The tripe was tasty but needed to be softer for my taste. Not sure if I like this sauce for the chicken feet. The shrimp roll was OK.  Overall, better-than-nothing dim-sum, not on the level of bigger and better cities with better Chinese restaurants.  I think I marginally preferred the stuff put out by the former On-Time.

 

I also had:

• Cantonese-style beef pan-fried with wide rice noodles (“Hor Fun”; 河粉 ), scallions & ginger.  The chef here put in lots of bean sprouts – which turned out fine, because the commercial wok & powerful burner presumaly used zapped it without water being released.  Good flavor, tender beef, nice hor fun, decent “wok-hei”.

• Kai-Lan/Gai-Lan (芥蘭) with oyster sauce.  This apparently saw a hot wok briefly (good). Pretty decent but nothing that exceptional.

 

 

[huiray]

A nice wine dinner at Oh Yumm! Bistro, a well-regarded local place.

 

Overall, a nice neighborhood place, fairly high-level food. (I've eaten there before)  The wines were all interesting, some more than others, and all certainly a change from the Northern Hemisphere stuff one sees more often in the US and (what else) Northern Hemisphere places.

 

If there is interest I will post my specific comments on the wine and the food.

 

I ordered the Sauvignon Blanc and the Carménère.