nightlife

Years before the speakeasy trend made its way to Indy full force, this establishment featured Jazz Age photos on the wall and classic cocktails like the Sazerac.

This tiny joint is a total dive. But the jazz musicians who perform there, and the toe-tapping art-schoolers and wine-sipping literati who crowd the shotgun bar to hear them, really class things up.

There are plenty of other holes-in-the-wall in Indy, and you can’t throw a dart (another Wellington pastime) without hitting a corporate bar marketing itself as a British-themed pub. But the leaded glass and woodwork here make most of those other places seem like a trip to the loo.

It has built a reputation for being the place to knock back a few drinks while taking in the best indie rock you haven’t heard yet.

You can’t fault owner Hal Yeagy for taking what was essentially a sad little shotgun saloon and turning it into a blues mecca, sprawling grownup amusement park, and Indiana’s most famous nightspot.

A bar crowd that had thinned (and aged) noticeably since the Aristocrat opened 80 years ago now seems to be reinvigorated, even on weeknights.

European and American football share time on the TVs here, but in the summer, most patrons crowd around the garage-door windows and focus their attention on the stylish denizens of Mass Ave.

One of the few grown-up watering holes in Broad Ripple, this mod bar has the polish and straight lines that make for a sophisticated place to drink.

The 75-year-old former movie theater has anchored Broad Ripple since your grandparents were going there to see talkies.

This English pub caters to scarfed soccer fans, and apparently there are a lot of them. It’s perfectly acceptable to show up alone here and belly up to the bar for the house-specialty fish and chips and an Old Speckled Hen.

Its iconic neon sign remains a beacon for the downtown legal set, returning Noblesville expats, and, on Saturday nights, a raucous karaoke crowd.

Among sports bars in Indy—and there are a lot of them—this SoBro veteran remains the champion.

Well-dressed out-of-towners make fast friends around the white marble bar and the comfy couches of the lounge. Unlike most hotel watering holes, traffic flows in and out all day, making for five-star people-watching.

It’s a gay bar if you need to categorize, but patrons don’t care whose tree you’re barking up if you came to sing.

Opened in 1908, this Cottage Home bar caters to a loyal following of urban hipsters and neighborhood transplants who flock to it for cheap PBR and the divey digs.