Sophisticated Meat Options Expanding Downtown

Meat lovers will soon have even more reasons to head downtown for dinner. With the news last week that the remaining Georgia Reese’s, the dressed-up Southern bistro opened in 2015 by longtime Colts linebacker Gary Brackett, is being converted into the steakhouse CharBlue (14 E. Washington St., 317-986-7883) with chef Ricky Hatfield, recently of Peterson’s, heading up the kitchen, downtown will soon boast another homegrown option for steaks and chops. Now, the legendary dining institution that brought you tear-inducing shrimp cocktails and plenty of local laughs on NBC’s Parks and Recreation is opening an upscale burger-themed restaurant in a vacant space facing Georgia Street in Circle Centre Mall. Christened by St. Elmo Steak House (127 S. Illinois St., 317-635-0636, stelmos.com) owners as Burger Study, the new carnivorous concept promises to deliver more elevated and innovative takes on the humble patty and bun than what the three area Harry & Izzy’s locations have done with their slider trios and prime steak burgers, which have made more than one appearance in IM’s Best of Indy and Best Burger issues, as well as this year’s Burger Time event this past June. The new restaurants are slated for opening sometime in spring of 2017, and while the heart of the city is ripe with burger options from playful Burgerhaus (335 W. 9th St., 317-434-4287, visitburgerhaus.com) along the canal to the always-packed Bru Burger Bar (410 Massachusetts Ave., 317-635-4278, bruburgerbar.com), not to mention the locally sourced counter-service standouts from Punch Burger  (137 E. Ohio St., 317-426-5280, punchburger.com) and the now-famous Tyner Pond beef burgers from The Mug available for quick delivery from Clustertruck (clustertruck.com), you can bet that the St. Elmo folks will draw upon their nearly 115 years of history and experience to make something truly their own.