Recommended restaurants in downtown Indianapolis
Hello, I am going to be in downtown Indianapolis next weekend. My boyfriend has to go there for work so I am just going to go with him. We will be there Thursday through Saturday and he told me to find a "nice" restaurant in downtown Indy for us to go to Friday night. Does any one have any good suggestions for us? We are not specific on price or type of food. Thanks for your help and suggestions! I don't know when I'll be able to come back so I want to go somewhere awesome!
Morgan1981
Jul 17, 2008 08:29AM
St. Elmo's. If you want a great steak. Its a carnivore's best dream come true.
http://www.stelmos.com/
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Phaedrus hit the nail on the head. There are many great places to go downtown, but if you want to experience awesome, this is it. Enjoy!
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I'm sorry, but it's been many years since St. Elmo's was great. They coast on their reputation, but the quality of their steaks has hit the skids. We gave up eating here about 10 years ago.
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Sorry you feel that way as I continue to enjoy it. Perhaps you have another recommendation for Morgan1981.
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It was awesome in March....
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I'm with you on St.Elmo's. Admittedly it has been quite some time since we have been. We took out of town guests there for dinner. It was embarassingly bad. Go there for a drink at the bar, admire the atmosphere and then dine elsewhere.
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Hi Morgan1981 -
These 3 are in the Massachusets Ave area - lots of fun, funky shops:
R Bistro for fresh inventive food, Chef Regina changes her menu weekly to reflect whats fresh and local.
S & I just did a remodel and has been getting good reviews in the Indianapolis Monthly.
Elements - I haven't been in a awhile and I know they have a new chef. But I think they are trying to keep things the same.
Right in the middle of downtown is:
Oceanaire (a chain but very good) for seafood
St Elmo's - an Indianapolis standard for steak... and it's very good, but not my favorite. There are several different steak places downtown, Capital Grill, Mortons, Ruth Chris's, Harry and Izzy's, Mo's a Place for Steak, Shulla's (ack)... if you want steak - there are a lot of places to chose from. If I'm going downtown for steak, I'd probably go to Mortons.
Nicky Blaines for fun martinis and cigars
There are several places scattered around - mostly chains - Circle Center. Palomino, Steak n Shake, PF Changs, a couple of brew pub places...
There are several places I can't think of!
Hopefully someone else will chime in!
Have fun and let us know where you went - please!
:-)
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Harry & Izzy's has a nice ambiance, but the food I got when I was there last summer was only average for the cost of the place. If you're going somewhere for the atmosphere more than the food this may be a good pick because it's the one feature I remember that really stood out from my visit to Indy last year.
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I completely agree with you - I was just trying to come up with all the steak places downtown.
My favorite steak place isn't even downtown... it's up in Fishers.
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I'm surprised no one has mentioned driving to Oakleys Bistro on the north side. I brought my GF there for V-day, and the food, wine and service were top notch. I think L'explorateur in Broad Ripple is great, though certainly not as polished as Oakleys. I personally believe that Indy, as it is a car city, is best experienced by car. Spending a weekend downtown just doesn't seem to be an authentic indianapolis experience - this city is stop lights and strip malls.
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Hi Danimal -
The OP asked for downtown restaurants...
Otherwise I'd recommend Oakley's. L'Exploateur or Petersons.
Or Tallent in Bloomington!
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I would imagine more folks pulling for Peterson's if the limits weren't downtown. It's my favorite steakhouse in the area, even though I'm in the minority for still liking St. Elmo's. I also agree that Nicky Blaine's is a good place for lounging, if you don't mind the smoke. Another recommendation for R Bistro as well. I like the Rathskellar too. I guess I'm a sucker for good food in historic buildings.
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You might consider Dunaway's on the corner of South and East streets. You can get steaks, some Northern Italian inspired dishes, seafood (lobster ravioli is excellent) and great shrimp cocktail.
I'd avoid St Elmo, as the quality has declined markedly. The meat is not dry aged as it had been years previously. It is living on reputation.
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