The old-school thin-crust pizzas—with that characteristic wafer-crisp crust under a layer of sweet house sauce—at Fountain Square’s Maria’s Original Pizza (1106 Prospect St., 317-786-9283). Tongue tacos at Guatelinda (3107 Lafayette Rd., 317-926-5754), tender hunks of meat tucked inside soft corn tortillas and topped with fresh cilantro and onion.
On a balmy friday night, as the sun sets over the Fashion Mall, a crush of well-heeled 40-somethings crowds the patio of Brewstone Beer Company. Bartenders shake up sticky concoctions with names like Mango Tango and a grove of fruit-flavored mojitos while a guy with a guitar and a fedora provides the poppy Dave Matthews–esque entertainment. This handsome spread looks like what you would get if Tommy Bahama threw a party for Crate & Barrel. “Don’t you love this place?” the singer says into the mic. “This is my favorite new spot.” People raise their cocktail glasses and cheer in a scene that gives true meaning to the term TGIF.
It boasts one of downtown’s most coveted locations, at the busy crossroads of Pennsylvania and Washington streets, with Bankers Life Fieldhouse framed squarely in its front windows. But the brand-new, Atlanta-based Tin Roof (36 S. Pennsylvania St., 317-951-2220) seems determined not to be mistaken for some kind of nice, uptown restaurant.
The moist, savory pull-apart bread at The Libertine Liquor Bar (38 E. Washington St., 317-631-3333), essentially adult monkey bread made with Sun King Wee Mac, Fair Oaks cheddar, mustard, dill, and crunchy salt. It arrives in a bowl. Tug it out in big, buttery hunks. Crunchy, breaded onion rings served with a creamy horseradish-spiked sa
If you have spent any time at all with an East Coast expat, you’ve probably been apprised of the embarrassing state of pizza in Indianapolis—our dearth of pizzaioli dusted in doppio zero flour, dough spiked with mineral-rich water, and slices that fold neatly down the middle. But when a place like downtown’s Coal Pizza Company comes along, cooking its pies in a 900-degree oven in the big-shouldered tradition of America’s first pizzerias, redemption is served by the slice.
Those in attendance at Saturday’s IPL 500 Festival Parade might experience Rydell High School flashbacks when grand marshal Olivia Newton-John makes her appearance on the parade route. “I’m going to need two flags to wave, and a ’50’s outfit, right?” jokes the pop legend best known—perhaps indelibly—for her role opposite John Travolta in 1978’s blockbuster musical Grease. “It’s been 35 years, and that movie is still popular,” Newton-John remarked in a telephone interview earlier this week. “People love it. I don’t know why, but I think it’s got a great energy in it. It’s fun, and the music is timeless.”
The tangy, crumbly lemon bars from Duos Kitchen (2960 N. Meridian St., 317-508-8614). Morels, lightly breaded and fried to perfection at Salt Creek Golf Retreat’s booth during last weekend’s Taste of Brown County event. King Wok’s (4915 W. 38th St., 317-297-3636) Goi Ga s
The location itself has a history of flatlining, but the Friday-night scene at Clearwater Crossing’s months-old Brewstone Beer Company (3720 E. 82nd St., 317-577-7800) is alive and kicking. Barely recognizable under all of the varnished wood and fieldstone accents from its days as The Music Mill and, before that, a Discovery Zone indoor playground, the spot with the sprawling square footage (Cadillac Ranch was a prospective tenant at one point) combines the bling of a Vegas casino with the distraction of a big-screen sports bar. Diners pack the tables, jockey for spots at the central bar—where business got so frenzied one night that the ’tenders ran out of martini glasses—and occasionally hit the jackpot by landing one of the coveted outdoor tables, where the people-watching pairs well with a flavored mojito and an appetizer sampler. Imagine Geist’s Bella Vita without the water, or Champps Americana, but with better cut, clarity, color, and carat.
