Independents Day
The Star does a very nice job today, on its front page, of reporting on the latest spate of restaurant closures … though they were singing
Yesterday marked the first day of Devour Downtown, and we have a lot of work to do. Among the restaurants participating in this summer’s $30/three-course eating frenzy (which runs through Aug. 21), we have our eyes on . . .
The Rathskeller Restaurant (401 E. Michigan St., 317-636-0
1. Shrimp nachos at El Puerto de San Blas (3564 Lafayette Rd., 317-291-2800): Huge pieces of shrimp, chunky cilantro-laced guacamole, and plenty of melted cheese on housemade chips.
2. The Chinese basil, eggplant, and garlic chicken at Naisa Pan-Asian Cafe (1025 Virginia Ave., 317-602-3708), a seasonal special.
3. Deep-fried breaded jalapeno ri
The backyard chicken coop craze is catching on from Carmel to Irvington. Here is everything you need to know to join the flock. Feed Store:
The only chicken feed store inside the I-465 loop, Backyard Birds (2374 E. 54th St., 317-255-7333) also hosts classes on raising them.
Required Reading: Established in 1914,
The mostly deserted curb next to a torn-up lot at 14th and Meridian didn’t seem a very promising spot for a lunchtime food truck. But soon enough, fans and Facebook followers of Fat Sammies Ciao Wagon started trickling in, hungry for a Sicilian lunch. This relative newcomer onto Indy’s growing food-truck scene prides itself on being a quality “taste” truck with Italian-style subs and sandwiches that won’t weigh you down when you head back to work.
You never know who you’ll end up rubbing elbows and swapping plates with downtown. A friend who works in radio invited me to have a drink with his cohorts at Harry & Izzy’s (153 S. Illinois St., 317-635-9594) last Monday night. He himself didn’t know it would turn into dinner, and lo and behold, former Colts backup quarterback
Seafood manicotti at Augustino’s Italian Restaurant (8028 S. Emerson Ave., 317-865-1099), densely filled tubes of crab and shrimp, tucked under a blanket of molten cheese. Tres Leches cake at Barcelona Tapas (201 N. Delaware St., 317-638-8272), submerged three times &h
Tomorrow night on the Food Network’s Restaurant: Impossible reality show, Nora’s very own Snooty Fox (1435 E. 86th St., 317-257-6033) gets its 15 minutes of fame as the subject of host Robert Irvine’s revision. Restaurant owner Tim Queisser applied for the spot, having kept a worried eye on the restaurant’s bottom line for the last couple of years—though a family-run restaurant that has survived 30 years could probably teach its own seminar on how to run a
Some al fresco tables announce themselves from the curb—little wrought iron two-tops arranged along the edges of parking lots and busy sidewalks. But some of the best outdoor tables in town are more hidden from view (and, in many cases, comfortably out of the baking sun’s direct line of fire). Want to sip wine in an urban garden that looks like something straight out of West Side Story (with strings of lights and Friday night movies, no less)? Reserve a courtyard table at Iozzo’s Garden of Italy just south of downtown. Have a hankering for skewered appetizers and umbrella drinks with a tiki essence? The fenced-in patio attached to Revolucion is your hallowed ground. Here, a few more of our favorite secluded places to get a little air with dinner.
By most measures, it was a typical spring Wednesday, cool with drizzle. But in the parking lot of Seasons 52, the latest high-profile franchise to populate the Fashion Mall, the buzz resembled a VIP gala. Orange pylons blocked the better portion of the parking spaces, and valets sprinted to fetch keys. Inside, nearly every seat in the place was taken. Clearly something special, some of-the-moment trend, had drawn out this many diners on such a dreary day.
Somewhere between a patio barbecue and a walk-up Dairy Queen, the adorably quirky digs of the original Boogie Burger won us over from the start. Tucked inside a broom closet next to what is now Ripple Inn, this lovably shabby burger joint gave off an undiscovered vibe, even four years after it opened and lines were curling out the doors on summer evenings. We were always surprised that a place this humble could put out such scrumptious fare: two-handed, well-seasoned burgers with unexpected toppers like grilled pastrami, peanut butter, and fried eggs. On the side, deeply golden fries were flecked with fresh garlic and parsley.
