Serpentine lines waylaid our early attempts to hit downtown’s new Punch Burger (137 E. Ohio St., 317-426-5280) for lunch. In the weeks immediately following the burger joint’s early October opening, we would poke our heads inside the glass door, survey the scores of business-attired patrons queued up at the counter (with the line snaking down the center of the bustling dining room), and quickly go to Plan B. Holy cheese paper, it’s just burgers. So we thought.
The Perfect Protein Salad from Duos food truck. Crispy/chewy (chewspy?) fried Pretzel Dunkers at Fox and Hound (4901 E. 82nd St., 317-913-1264; 14490 Lowes Way, Carmel, 317-844-0075), served frites-style in a paper-lined basket with creamy queso for dipping. (Tip: Ask for mustard as well.) The adorable Cheesecake in a Jar at
A meaty squid salad at the SEO-friendly Sushi Bar Broad Ripple (911 Broad Ripple Ave., 317-257-7289). Carefully assembled to provide the perfect ratio of grated cheese to dressing per bite, the cherry tomato salad from Room Four (4907 N. College Ave., 317-925-7529). The shrimp and grits appetizer at
A chilled pint of light, crisp Flying Horse Royal Lager, brewed in India and poured with flourish into ice-slicked mugs at the new Delhi Palace Restaurant (901 Indiana Ave., 317-955-1700) just off the IUPUI campus. Roasted pork loin at Palomino (49 W. Maryland St., 317-974-0400), lightly charred but tender-pink on th
On Sept. 10, Carmel gets Indiana’s first Matt the Miller’s Tavern (11 City Center Dr.), an Ohio-based chain whose tagline, “Life is short. Enjoy family, friends, and good times,” pretty much sums up its cargo-shorts business model. The 5,300-square-foot restaurant will seat about 170 inside and as many as 100 on the patio. Its menu is a mix of burgers, sandwiches, and big-plate entrees such as roasted salmon and flat-iron steak. Bar snacks (including deep-fried pretzel bites and $5 appetizers during happy hour) complement the 26 draft beers on tap, extensive wine list, and pretty-pretty martini list. And a roster of flatbreads ranges from chicken-avocado to wild mushroom. “The crux of what we do is the flatbreads,” says the chain’s Columbus, Ohio-based president, Craig L. Barnum, who runs two Matt the Miller’s Taverns in Ohio as well as a more upscale restaurant, Tucci’s California Bistro, in Dublin, Ohio. “We have a few items on the menu that you don’t see in every casual restaurant, like ahi tuna wontons, shrimp and grits, edamame,” Barnum says. “We are not ultra-casual, but we are not fine dining either. We are somewhere in the middle. This is a very approachable concept.”
The banana split pie, included with your entree at Ralph’s Great Divide (743 E. New York St., 317-637-2192), composed of fresh, ripe bananas, whipped topping, and layers of chocolate and strawberry filling propped up by a crumbly crust. The platter of spicy feta, hummus, and tapenade at
We were smitten the moment we walked through the door of Bloomington newcomer Topo’s 403 (403 N. Walnut St., 812-676-8676). The grand entry of this restored 1870s townhouse has the kind of amber, Art Deco glow that could put Instagram out of business, for starters. Then there is the high clustered chandelier illuminating deep-blue wallpaper festooned with stylized jellyfish and the whitewashed spindles of the stairway, and the hallway that opens onto high-ceilinged dining rooms with white tablecloths, tall windows, and refurbished fireplace mantels. It’s an elegant entry point for a restaurant that seems to have put just as much meticulous thought into its Mediterranean-inspired dishes. Dave Tallent, of Bloomington’s Restaurant Tallent fame, helped craft the menu, which takes some creative liberties with Greek favorites such as spanakopita (done inside a filleted rainbow trout) and skewered meat (pork souvlaki plated with plump, creamy gigante beans). Even the little gratis dish of house-marinated olives—tender and oily—are herb-flecked gems.
