Indy Eats

My 13 yo. son and I are visiting friends in Indy late in August. I looked on Yelp, Open Table, etc., for fine dining and it looked like a culinary wasteland populated only be chain restaurants with lots of cheesy things. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Drive to Chicago. Couple of mediocre steak places in Indy I am sure someone else will chime in but you pretty much hit it on the head with culinary wasteland.

George

My parents live there and when visiting we have had good food at Oakley’s Bistro on the northside, and decent steaks at St. Elmo’s downtown (Indy institution which can be variable). That said they don’t aim too high and the early Sunday prefix at Sullivan’s does please the masses. Mike

Bruce - Send me a PM with your email address, and I will help you out. Indy is not Chicago, obviously, but it’s far from being a culinary wastleland. I certainly wouldn’t trust the masses on Yelp and OpenTable, or the drive-by visitor who assumes it’s all steakhouses and chain restaurants. Don’t get me wrong - we have our share of those, but it’s primarily because we are a big convention destination. We actually have some very talented chefs, putting out great food. Hit me up, and I’ll help steer you in the right direction!

Why not just post it here? I for one would love to learn.

George

Good point…

One of the most important things to consider, is that “fine dining” here is not going to equate to the same definition as it would in NYC or Chicago. The environments are typically a bit more informal, but the focus on food and service is top notch. A lot of chefs almost exclusively source their ingredients locally, and change their menu frequently to reflect that. I would currently put these on my list of places to visit:

Recess: Probably my current favorite in town. Greg Hardesty is a very talented chef, and this is a really unique concept (at least for Indy). It’s a small space, and the furnishings have kind of a “school lunchroom” vibe with retro tables and chairs. There is only one menu, a 4 or 5 course tasting menu, which changes daily. They have a nice wine and beer selection (although it’s not very well organized), and they obviously will pair either with your dinner. http://recessindy.com/default.html

Black Market: This is a relatively new spot in town (the sign isn’t even up on the building yet), but the buzz is growing and they are getting a bigger crown by the day. I suppose you could call it a “gastropub”, although I’m not sure I even know what that means anymore. They don’t accept reservations and seating is basically large communal tables in the main room, with some 2 and 4 tops scattered about as well. Small plates and entrees…local beers and a small but interesting (and affordable) wine list. I’ve only had one “miss” on the menu so far, and I suspect that they will correct that soon enough. http://www.blackmarketindy.net/

R Bistro: Maybe one of the most underrated restaurants in the city. Very small room (located across the street from Black Market) and Regina Mehallick is very respected among her chef peers in town. She’s not always the most “inventive” chef, but changes the menu weekly and works hard to put quality dishes out. http://www.rbistro.com/

There are a few others that I may have put on this list a year or so ago, including Oakley’s Bistro mentioned above, but some of these places have started pandering to the “steak and potato” crowd that dominates the Midwest. Places like Oakley’s, 14 West and Meridian are all very good, have started to become a bit boring with their menus.

Some other notable mentions:

Sushi: Omakase at H20Sushi can’t be topped in town. http://www.h2osushibar.com/
Pizza: Pizzology in Carmel (northside) is worth the trip. Neapolitan pizza done right, and kick-ass bartenders. http://www.pizzologyindy.com/
Lunch: Zest! (ignore the blatant mention of their Triple-D episode. It’s great food.) http://www.zestexcitingfood.com/
Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch: Taste Cafe. It never gets any local press, but is always packed when I go. http://www.tastecafeandmarketplace.com/

Finally, while not located in Indy, Restaurant Tallent an hour south in Bloomington may be the best restaurant in Indiana. http://www.restauranttallent.com/

Basically what Kent said…

JD

Thanks Kent! Good info.

George

Thanks all.

From a column in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer by our former governor, Ed Rendell:

Although the Packers will get Ryan Grant and Jermichael Finley back this year, with our bevy of free-agent additions and with Vick having a full training camp as a starter, we have improved more than the Packers and should be considered the favorite to represent the NFC in Indianapolis for the 2012 Super Bowl. (And for you truly crazed Eagles fans, the best steak house in Indy is St. Elmo.)

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20110810_Ed_Rendell__Exciting_Eagles_must_avoid_pitfalls.html#ixzz1UckiOXWX

Is the steak house part accurate?

Not in my opinion. It’s very old and has a lot of character and charm (and a very big and very expensive wine list), but they don’t put out the best steak in Indy. The business they will do during the Super Bowl on reputation alone will probably make their year, though.

I would go to Mo’s, Peterson’s, or even the Indy outposts of Ruth’s Chris and Capital Grill before St. Elmo’s.

Mo’s is good (Kent and I had a great meal there 2 years (?) ago) and Peterson’s is probably the best steak in Indy. St. Elmo’s wine list used to be (IMHO) by far the best in Indiana. They seem to have cut down on it over the years, it seems. It is steakhouse expensive but I don’t think any more than the other downtown steakhouses. Downtown I would avoid Shula’s and Morton’s. Mo’s, St. Elmo’s and Ruth’s Chris are all about the same. Like Kent said, St. Elmo’s has a huge rep, lots of charm and character. They do a great shrimp cocktail. It is my personal favorite in downtown Indy with the caveat that I grew up with the owners.

Thanks…it’s all moot to me, as I doubt I’ll ever get there. I was just reading his column and wondered if he knew what he was talking about. I don’t like the chains if I can avoid them; I look for local character in a restaurant, so…St. Elmo’s sounds a bit more interesting than Ruth’s Chris or Capital Grill…but…I can’t remember the last time I chose to go to a steak house either.

Interesting…where you pick up tidbits.

Spent Memorial Day weekend in Indianapolis with the family and thought I’d bump this thread with a couple of reviews. Reached out to Kent Z, who came through with some good advice.

Hoaglin to go (448 Massachusetts Ave): Went here for breakfast and it was a bit disappointing, compared to our last visit (a couple years ago). The food was OK, but had definitely come down a few notches. Our kids (5 & 3) split the red velvet pancakes and really didn’t care for them. Neither did my wife and I, and they were probably our favorite dish last time. Mostly, they were bland bland bland and the frosting was almost pure cream cheese. Wife had the banana walnut french toast, which was thick and tasty. I had a smoked salmon/herbed cream cheese/roasted red pepper omelette. The egg part of the omelette was great, but the fillings were underwhelming: salmon was very oily, there was one small red pepper hidden in the middle of the omelette, and it was completely overflowing with cream cheese. On the plus side, they had some of the best bacon I’ve ever eaten.


Oakley’s Bistro (1464 W 86th St): OK, this place is in a strip mall about 25 min north of the downtown area. Don’t let the outside fool you, because the food was outstanding. Wife had the tilapia with red pepper marscapone risotto and proclaimed it “the best fish dish she’s ever eaten.” Granted, she doesn’t eat much fish, mainly just tilapia and mahi mahi, but I love fish and it was certainly up there for me as well. The risotto was perfectly cooked, creamy, and just bursting with flavor.

I had the meatloaf, which apparently comes from the chef’s grandfather’s secret recipe. I want to say that it’s a mix of beef, pork, and venison. It too, was really good. Not as good as the tilapia, but still quite tasty. Served with decent mashed potatoes and a mammoth piece of broccoli.

The kids split an excellent piece of grilled chicken with mashed potato and broccoli sides. Very simple prep, but also very tasty, it had a slight char on the outside and was deliciously moist and tender on the inside. Dessert was a Chocolate Torte with blood orange coulis, vanilla fluff, and cocoa puff ice cream; and a deconstructed pecan pie, both of which were very good, if a bit small for sharing.

All in all, it was an enjoyable meal, with two drawbacks. First, the cocktails weren’t very good. The wine list seemed a bit pricey, so we opted for drinks instead. I had a Manhattan, wife had an Aviation cocktail. Both were loaded with tiny ice chips which all melted in about 10 min, leaving them quite watery and they just didn’t taste very good. Second, the cheese plate was laughably small. It’s a plate similar in size to the one used for the torte with 5 teeny, tiny rectangles of cheese. Combined, they were smaller than one of pecan pie marshmallows. Both were relatively minor missteps, however, and I have no problems recommending this place.


The Loft at Trader’s Point Creamery (9101 Moore St, Zionsville): This is a farm-to-table place located about 20 min. northwest of downtown, and it’s on the second floor of a barn, very cool. Started out with the cheese plate, and it was mammoth and wonderful. Given that this place is a creamery, you’d expect them to have good cheese…and you’d be right. I can’t even remember what all was on there, but everything was great.

We also had the garden bruschetta (sweet pea & lemon, mint, feta, and cracked pepper) as an appetizer. The wife didn’t care too much for it, but I really liked it. It had a nice mix of sweetness and acidity, without being oily or heavy. Just a refreshing alternative to traditional bruschetta.

The kids split a mac-and-cheese that was among the best I’ve tried, while my wife had the filet mignon and whipped potatoes. The meat was so tender you could basically cut it with a fork and it had a great flavor to it. I went with the twin beef filets, which were small tenderloin medallions with bernaise sauce and a whiskey peppercorn cream sauce, served with braised kale. I didn’t get any pics of the meat, but our tiger sure loved the mac & cheese.

For dessert, we had ice cream and milkshakes. That day, they had vanilla, chocolate, and blackberry. All 3 were great, but the vanilla was the best by far. The wine list consisted of organic/sustainable/biodynamic selections, but we just ordered a few glasses. For you value drinkers, this might be the way to go, since the pours were pretty big (easily 10 oz, probably closer to 12). Nice setting, great service, great food, I would definitely recommend this place if you have a car.

I usually always hit up Bluebeard when I’m in Indy.

Great beer & cocktail program, small plates, etc.

Work is going to take me occasionally to Indy (like now). Are there any worthwhile refreshes to this list since it originally appeared??

The Livery is supposed to be very good- people I trust really like it.

This place is great http://www.rookindy.com/ “Street Food Inspired Contemporary Asian”. I’m not sure Black Market has been mentioned but it is worth a look. https://blackmarketindy.net/

JD

In addition to those, I received recommendations for Bluebeard and Rook.

3 Years later, I’m still going to Bluebeard when I’m in town. Black Market is my backup if Bluebeard is busy.

Didn’t have time to get downtown, but Pizzology in Carmel was good eats, and sitting at the Horseshoe-shaped bar is a good call. Had some great chats with the locals.