10 finest Downtown Indianapolis Restaurants for Weekenders
Only have a couple days? Eat your way through these top areas and local favorites
You just have a weekend, however you want to taste everything excellent about the amazing Downtown Indianapolis restaurant scene, right? These are the places to find top chefs, regional food and fantastic hamburgers, pizza and fried chicken. Oh, and cocktails, too.
Napolese
Local produce and meats leading thin-crust pizzas prepared in a wood-fired oven. Salads are as good as the pies, particularly shaved Brussels sprouts with almonds and dried cherries in fall or summertime's caprese tower with velvety mozzarella and rainbow intense tomatoes. Tall ceilings and white columns evoke ideas of Rome. There's cozy little bar and a patio, too.
Milktooth
Indiana-grown produce and Midwest simple pleasures mingle with off-the-cuff ingenuity. Eater, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine and Conde Nast Traveler all hail the breakfast/brunch/lunch great diner. Sweet or savory Dutch child pancakes are legendary. Lately, manchego creamed spinach accompanies grilled steak and eggs. Feeling adventurous? Consider Korean venison heart tartare with cured egg yolk and pickled pears. Baristas and bartenders put topnotch sips. Prime counter seating deals with the dynamic open cooking area.
Punch Burger
Indy chefs will inform you that Indiana's Fischer Farms beef is a few of the state's best. Cows roam substantial grassy fields in Southern Indiana. That's the beef cooks here use to make hamburgers however you like them, even covered in lettuce if you wish to avoid the carbs. Personalize grilled cheese sandwiches, too. Service is incredibly fast and the environment is very casual.
Rook
Asian street food inspires boom-pow blend tastes. Carnitas may pack the day-to-day banh mi. Honey-drizzled, crispy pig ear strips top fluffy rice grits. Seafood is anything but average. Snapper with peaches, chilies and coconut milk perhaps? Share at communal tables or get a seat at one of two bars overlooking the open kitchen area. This is one of Indy's best spots for cocktails.
St. Elmo Steakhouse
Easily Indy's most famous restaurant, St. Elmo has actually been flaming beef since 1902. Every celebrity that rolls into town eats here. You never ever understand who you'll see. Jimmy Fallon, Clark Gable and U2 have all dined at St. Elmo. Get a steak, of course, but surviving the horseradish-heavy shrimp cocktail is the sign of a true pro. If the line is too long, hit St. Elmo's brother or sisters: 1933 Lounge upstairs, traditional however casual Harry & Izzy's next door and Burger Study around the corner.
Black Market
Hidden at the northeast end of Mass Ave, this quiet escape is a favorite of epicures and rum fans. Deemed a "well-provisioned farmhouse," the place hosts communal tables for the rustic similarity apple-brined pork chops, sausage, kraut and mustard flatbread, pumpkin and veggie curry and, for dessert, salted chocolate brickle with rum caramel. The rum-obsessed bar uses more than 100 labels for straight drinking or cocktails, timeless and creative.
Bluebeard
Residents stand by this intimate dining establishment named after hometown author Kurt Vonnegut's book, "Bluebeard, the Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian." A James Beard award semifinalist right out of eviction in 2013, Bluebeard continues to wow fans with seasonal contemporary however always reassuring New American meals like beef tongue lentil stew with butternut squash and meatball sandwiches with spicy tomato sauce and melted mozzarella. Cocktails are constantly spot-on and enjoyable to sip with a generous charcuterie plate on the patio area or while considering vintage typewriters and old books that embellish bar. Come by sibling Amelia's pastry shop next door for a loaf of artisan perfection and homemade sweets.
The Eagle
Legit home cooking meets a jamming Americana vibe at the end of Downtown's hot Mass Ave strip. The patio area is huge and constantly enjoyable for beverages or sharing family-style fried chicken dinners. The reputable chicken sandwich sports a thick, tender breast with a fiery, crunchy covering. Slaw, spicy mayo and spicy sour pickles arrive on the toasted roll, too. It's a tongue burner in a good way.
Cerulean
When it comes to great dining, Cerulean wins the contest in Indianapolis. Chef Alan Sternberg pushes Midwestern active ingredients to just-right limits without being pompous or fussy. Get your cellular phone video camera all set. You'll wish to explode your Instagram with Sternberg's artistic plates. Pasta is his specialty. Lately, it's corn ravioli with truffle butter and eggplant. Cerulean is similarly famous for dessert.Goat cheese strudel with Bing cherries and saffron anglaise? Yes please. Can't make supper? Appear for sweets and a cocktail at the sexy bar.
Vida
Vida is the Spanish word for "life," thus the substantial hydroponic garden ignoring the open kitchen area. Chefs use the fresh herbs and greens in New American meals infused with world tastes. Soft-as-butter smoked scallop pieces garnish shrimp dumplings along with black garlic, bok choy, crispy onion rings and beech mushrooms. A ladle of pork skin broth is the final touch. Chefs are part of the scene. They finish dishes underneath the hydroponic garden. Walk up and say hello. Noise-absorbing surfaces in the cozy dining-room making discussion easy even when the place is hopping, which is just about all the time.
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