Indianapolis Nightlife
 

I will be in Indianapolis this coming Saturday for a Pacers game, and am planning on getting a hotel downtown. Looking for any recommended restaurants, and bars to go to, as this will be my first time in Indy.

Obviously not looking for super expensive restaurants here, just something by the stadium perhaps

I haven't been there, but I have heard that Scotty's Brewhouse is a great place to go.

St. Elmo's is a famous restaurant. I love Morton's which is just down the street from the Fieldhouse.

The good thing about Downtown is that it is not very big and everything is within walking distance.

If you just want a burger and possibly some live music, I'm a fan of the Slippery Noodle

SI

The RAM is a pretty good Sports bar and restaurant type place. Champions is pretty good too. If you want a gaming place then there's a Jillian's. Has full bar, bowling, video games. The food is okay but it's not a full menu. More sandwich/appetizer type stuff.

Jillian's closed a few months ago, unfortunately.

The RAM brewery is pretty good.. if you want really good fast food, they have a stake and shakje in the downtown area..

So what everyone seems to be saying here is that Indianapolis fucking blows.

lol do people seriously still go bowling lmao

well at least they have three Skyline Chilis :) The main one I know is by Castleton. IT's similar to the one in Beaver Creek.

prepare for a case of the squirts :)

SEE THE JOKE IS THAT I BOWL A LOT BUT I AM PRETENDING LIKE NOBODY DOES

yeahyeah we got it :)

Just watch out for Reggie Miller. He stole my stool once. I stepped out to the bathroom, and when I came back, Reggie was on my stool. Bastard.

True story.

Former members of the Knicks are still telling some damn story about how Reggie Miller stole something from them, but I don't really remember how it goes.

That's great to hear, I grew up on a Skyline diet, but I hope I won't be eating food native to Cincinnati while in Indy. :p

I'm still trying to figure out which thread this is parodying

I don't think there is native indianapolis food really. :) Um...corn dogs? Elephant ears? Lemon Shake-ups?

yeah I know. Indiana sucks.

Oh yeah they have plenty of White Castles! :)

Larry Bird?

He can't eat Larry Bird.

Oh boy. What the heck did I eat then?

Shut up.

Scotty's brewhouse seems like a good choice for pub/restaurant eating.

What about late-night bars?

Go to Ike and Jonesys....50s bar that turns into a dance club at night.

I don't know about Indianapolis but in my short time living here, it seems like Indiana is all about the pork tenderloin

SI

And IMS has the best tenderloin in the history of history. :D

Don't worry- I'm sure the sports media will be telling you that shortly. It's great how every time it's not in one of the typical sports (New Orleans, Miami, LA), it's the worst place on earth. It never fails with the 2 week break as you can only badger the teams so much for two weeks

I've only lived here for under 2 years and I'll probably be moving on shortly (my wife has been working in Houston for a few months already after she lost her job last year), but I've come to really like the city. It's a great size, in my mind- not too big: crazy commutes, pollution, lots of poverty and crime but not too small: NFL and NBA team, Indy 500, reasonable arts facilities, and major industries. And if I need something big time, Chicago is only 3 hours away. People are Midwest friendly, tho a bit more Rust Belt Friendly (a little more reserved but "good people") than Great Plains Friendly ("hi, howya doing!"). The city seems reasonably well governed for a city its size- I mean, there's always stupid local government but it seems better here than most.

Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed that I'll be leaving soon but I'm happy for my time here and I could have seen myself living here long term. The biggest downside to me is the damn winter, which has been quite mild this year (until tomorrow).

But, unfortunately, it may not satisfactorily provide for all your needs, you seasoned drunk and fornicator. :D

SI

That reminded me of something

Shots Of Indianapolis Skyline To Depress Nation During Final Four Broadcast | The Onion Sports Network

WASHINGTON—Shots of the Indianapolis skyline scheduled to air during the 2010 Final Four will be extremely depressing and will momentarily infuse viewers with a sense of overwhelming bleakness, the U.S. populace reported this week. "When they come back from commercials I'll have to look at these uninspired, cold-looking buildings. There are those two really tall ones that kind of look dead, like nothing's really going on inside of them," said Andover, MD resident Nathan Kowalski, adding that during the Colts' 2009 Super Bowl run, aerial shots of the metropolis put him in such a deep malaise that he had to stop watching the NFL playoffs. "I bet they'll show night shots of the skyline, too. Which will look just as dead, because who wants to be caught in Indianapolis at night when everything is closed and there's nothing to do? I hope they just show the New York City skyline and cut to the game." At a press conference Thursday, Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard seemed to be on the verge of defending his city, but ultimately sighed and agreed with the rest of the country.

Then you'd better get to a Cracker Barrel or Bob Evans PRONTOOOOOOOOO!

I was thinking more like at the State Fair or Drive In type places

SI

I think Indianapolis is a fine city.

Heh, I am sure Indianapolis is a fine city - I just thought it was funny that off the bat some of the recommendations were for places like Jillian's and Steak and Shake.

I think this was 5x as bad for Jacksonville as it has ever been for Indy. Bored reporters was THE story that year.

I think the Steak and Shake mention is because Indy is the corporate HQ

SI

Yeah, Jacksonville is where I remember hearing this the most. It was like "Geez, you get an expense paid trip to Florida when the rest of us are freezing to death. Shut the eff up already."

Just wait- if it's as cold as it is today- that's all you'll hear during media week.

SI

Well Subby has an excellent point here. Yes pretty much all you'll find in Indiana are chains, even if they are regional chains. Lotsa Fast Food, lotsa Bar & Grille, lotsa family stuff, lotsa pseudo tex-mex.

And Chuck-E-Cheese! :)

sure there's the occasional good independent place, but you really have to hunt for those.

I grew up about an hour and a half NW of there and lived in Dayton for about 7 yrs. I still go back to Indy for Gencon almost every year so I've gotten to know the place pretty well.

Ok then I guess my original comment stands. ;)

When I first saw this, I mis-read it as "I go back to Indy for Garcon almost every year"

And I thought, "Wait, what? Someone goes on an annual Pierre Garcon pilgrimage? Why?"

Then I re-read it.

I've been to Indy about 7-8 times or so. Perhaps more. I go to GenCon every year as well. I agree. Downtown Indy is pretty much like one giant outdoor mall. Chain city for the most part.

Also, as often is the case with gamers, we are creatures of habit and routine, so we mainly go to same few places each year.

Touche

SI

who?

Personally, I love Indy. I live closer to Louisville, but I prefer to go to Indy if I want a day out. Staying downtown is great. Like someone said, everything is within walking distance and most places are connected by the gerbil tunnels.

The field house is a great venue. Lots of good places to eat from high end (St. Elmo's) to lower end places. Rock Bottom, RAM, Rathskeller (I know I'm misspelling that), Schpiros Deli, The Cladduagh...all great places in or very near downtown. There's a new pub as well that took Jillian's spot but I haven't been there. There's supposedly a really good dive pizza place on one of the side streets next to the field house too.

Bar wise, everything is pretty much on one street. Wild Beaver, Hooters, several others in the area. There's a comedy club there too. There also used to be a place by the comedy club that did movies and you could order dinner to eat while watching the movie. Can't remember the name though or even if it's still there.

It's a good place to go for a weekend. Enjoy the Pacer game. They playing the Celtics? I need to get up to one myself this season.

Gerbil tunnels, awesome name

Yeah, one of my buddies is a big Celtics fan (born in Boston so I let it slide), so I'm going with him just because I want to see a game. He's going to be miserable though, as they play damn near the same time the Patriots do!

that's what ihpones are for :)

http://www.fogodechao.com/home/ You should go there for lunch. Dinner is quite expensive but lunch is like $20, but I'm sure you'd get your monies worth. I haven't been to the bars down there but a few times in downtown. Broad Ripple is where a lot of the night life is and would be a cab drive away. Another place to eat would be Bazbeaux Pizza. There is one downtown and also one in Broad Ripple. I definitely recommend this place.

After seeing this thread consistently at the top of the page I had to check in. I figured there must be something funny going on in here. No, you guys are seriously still talking about Indianapolis nightlife.

Oh, you're in luck. After the mention of Fogo de Chao, I remembered that it's Devour Downtown, which is basically the twice a year restaurant (two) week(s). Along with normal fare, pretty much all the restaurants downtown, even the higher end places, have a $30 prix fixe menu.

So, for instance at Fogo de Chao, it's about half the usual meats- still enough to get a hedonistic meat coma- but it's only $30 instead of the usual $50. Some places don't do weekends and it's not going to be the top end stuff typically- St Elmos has the Filet Mignon and not the Porterhouse but you do get 3 courses. It makes it a bit more crowded so you might have to be patient. But with the weather the way it is, I'm not sure how many crowds you'll be fighting.

Devour Downtown Indianapolis

SI

Big win for the Pacers again. They may not win a title, but they are going to be a fun team to watch and a tough out in the playoffs.

I live in Indy. Hope you had a good time at the game. I like the city quite a bit. I was born in Indiana but have traveled quite a bit over the years and as someone mentioned, this city kind of hits the sweet spot on cities that are decent sized but not too big to actually go anywhere or do anything. If it wasn't for the cold of Indiana, I could see myself staying here forever.