Reader's Choice
Your voices are heard in this companion piece to our December 2012 cover feature of 109 great Indy gets, finds, tastes, and experiences.
Five weeks ago, we shared a preview of the reopening of Indy’s cherished Aristocrat Pub & Restaurant (5212 N. College Ave., 317-283-7388). Just like we remember it, the center cut fried pork tenderloin still takes up the entire plate. And the peppery potato chips still make us long for another pint of brew.
With so many food trucks stuffing the humble taco full of Korean-style pork and Indian pakoras, another “fusion taqueria” is hardly a trendsetter. But when veteran chef George Muñoz started filling thick tortillas with salt-and-pepper shrimp and skirt steak marinated in red curry, he set the bar for flavor. In July, Muñoz opened his first solo effort, La Chinita Poblana (927 E. Westfield Blvd., 317-722-8108, lachinitapoblana.com), in the former home of Boogie Burger in Broad Ripple. Removing indoor seats and painting walls in rainbow pastels gave the tiny lean-to a new spaciousness. Counters and neighboring outdoor tables still accommodate those dining in. Bubble teas and hot-and-sour soup, offered alongside churros and sweet-potato fries smothered in mole, attest to Muñoz’s playful approach. But the crispy bark on his slow-braised pork carnitas and his perfectly blackened yellow-curry tilapia, not to mention custom sauces and mixed herbs, help elevate his funky tacos above the rest.
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.
This New York sub chain is making its way to Indy. On June 6, DiBella’s Old Fashioned Submarines opens a location in Traders Point (5650 W. 86th St.). A second will open in early fall near IUPUI (910 W. 10th St.). Billed as a higher end, fast-casual sub shop—think more Panera, less Subway—it assembles sandwiches such as the Godfather sub (with salami, capicola, and spicy ham) and the Dagwood (with turkey, ham, and corned beef). The medium sandwiches will put you back $7. But during Wednesday’s grand opening, the first wave of 25 diners through the door will get a year’s worth of free subs.
King David Dogs (135 N. Pennsylvania St., 317-632-3647), Indy’s original all-beef quarter-pound hot dog spot, is now serving breakfast from 7:30 to 11 a.m. Nothing costs more than $4, and menu items include breakfast sandwiches, pancakes, breakfast burritos, Intelligentsia coffee, and the Top Dog–biscuits topped with gravy made from King David hot dogs.
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.
In our weekly e-newsletter this past Tuesday, we noted that Kelties in Westfield has closed. That is not the case, though the owner intends to close in September if she does not sell the restaurant. This news means that diners who relish high-quality comfort food should make their way post haste to Westfield.
Considering the electric lime and Pepto-Bismol pink walls, mounted taxidermy, indoor bocce ball court, and Mister Rogers and Merle Haggard portraits, we have a feeling the owners of at the soon-to-open The Tin Roof (36 S. Pennsylvania St., 317-224-0785) won’t be taking much of anything too seriously.
