Indianapolis?

btass

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 27, 2004
Messages
508
Hi everyone,

I will be going to Indianapolis, Indiana from November 11th to 16th for job training. What I would like to know is:

What is there to do at night there? (I will be in training during the day)

Where are the good places to eat that the LOCALS go to?

I would much rather see the real local aspects of Indianapolis than the more "commercial" or "touristy" aspects. Tell me all of your thoughts!

Thanks in advance :love:
 
I think you'll have a great time. I am not a local, but we went there on vacation this summer. It's a beautiful city. I wish we would have had more time to just walk around and explore. We just ate at chain restaurants, but there was a place downtown that looked interesting. I don't remember the name, but it was an odd one (Happy Time Cafe, maybe?) and the front had smiley faces all over it.

OK - I just googled it and it's "Have a Nice Day Cafe" and apparently it's a club. :)
 
Thanks very much for the info, Have a Nice Day Cafe sounds really cool :cool1:
 
Circle Center Mall - lots of stores and restaurants... more than just a mall. It's not a "Mall of America" but it's still nice.
 

Thanks very much for the info, Have a Nice Day Cafe sounds really cool :cool1:


You might want to google and look at the pictures. It's completely different than what I thought it would be. :rotfl: I had visions of organic food served in a comfy atmosphere. In the photos there are a lot of young women dancing around and posing in bikinis. :) If that's your thing, I'm sure you'd love it, but you might want to look into it before you wander in. ;)
 
Well, I have to admit that I was at a strip joint last Saturday night (but I really didn't want to be there) I just went to piss off a guy friend of mine.

So I think I will defintely google before I go!:lmao:
 
If you like steak, St. Elmo's Steakhouse is outrageous!
 
Some places to check out:
St. Elmo's Steak House
Union Jack Pub in Speedway
Shapiro's (often said to be the best deli outside of NYC)
Any number of night spots up in Broad Ripple (Friends of mine are partial to "The Pawn Shop Pub").
 
You could go walking on the Canal Walk or go on a carraige ride neither may sound fun by yourself but I would do it. There is also a big Borders on the main drag of Meridian right by the circle if your walking their at night. We always stop their wether we have the kids or not and wast a few hours.
 
Some places to check out:
St. Elmo's Steak House
Union Jack Pub in Speedway
Shapiro's (often said to be the best deli outside of NYC)
Any number of night spots up in Broad Ripple (Friend of mine are partial to "The Pawn Shop Pub").

Pub's are always a good thing! Thanks!
 
You could go walking on the Canal Walk or go on a carraige ride neither may sound fun by yourself but I would do it. There is also a big Borders on the main drag of Meridian right by the circle if your walking their at night. We always stop their wether we have the kids or not and wast a few hours.

Is it safe to walk around at night alone? (I live about 1 1/2 hours outside of NYC so I always compare to that) Plus, I am a chicken!
 
For real yes! They have the police out patrolling the strip (Meridian and general area and also the fire trucks! My children always get a big kick out of that! 2 weeks ago my 3 year old saw a brand new Lamborghini and a Diablo? upclose w/in 5 min of each other. The guy in the Lamboghini revved his engine for him and my son was clapping and having a big time- for real it was like Christmas for him! LOL!
 
The canal is beautiful. I don't know about going alone because I haven't been there in forever.
There are lots of places to go near the Circle Centre Mall at night, and BroadRipple. Broadripple I would say is more for under 30 people. I did go dancing there but I didn't see many people over 30.

The night life downtown has exploded in the last 10 years. I don't have a clue what all is there anymore.
 
Maybe don't go to the Canal walk after it gets dark. Once I thought about it stay around Downtown it is really well-patrolled.:goodvibes
 
A good place to get some info: http://www.indy.org.
Events that are going on in the city during your stay:
http://www.indy.org/indianapolis/we....jsp?c=eventscalendar:all&p=1&x=1192720821240

A place to eat and not miss: Bazbeaux Pizza. Great pizza place! It's an unusual pizza place. Not too many pizza places offer Albacore Tuna, Avocado, Snow Pea Pods, Fresh Goat Cheese, Black Bean Dip and other exotic items for toppings. ;) They also have the usual toppings. :)
They also have sanwiches and desserts like TARTUFO – Classic tartufo with a zabaglione cream center, covered by chocolate gelato,
crushed caramelized hazelnuts and cocoa powder and SORBETTI.
Another Indy restaurant: The Milano Inn. Nice Italian place.
For Kosher food: try Shapiro's Delicatessen. Voted one of the 10 best places to eat authentic Jewish deli cuisine but USA Today.
For a great steak dinner: St. Elmo Steak House.
Of course, there's the usual chain restaurants downtown like Hard Rock Cafe, McDonalds, Alcatraz Brewing Co, Buca di Beppo, Buffalo Wild Wings, Le Peep, McCormick & Schmick's Seafood, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Rock Bottom, T.G.I. Friday's, etc.

For shopping, there is the Circle Centre Mall right Downtown. It also has a theater and a game area on the 4th floor.
There is also Broad Ripple Village. It's not too far from the downtown area.

For some History:
The President Benjamin Harrison Home. Only about 1 mile north of the circle.
There is Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana which offers walking tours in Indianapolis.

Museums:
Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians & Western Art
Indiana State Museum
Which includes and IMAX theater.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum
Indianapolis Museum of Art

There are tons of things to do right in the downtown area. Another site that offer info on just the downtown area is http://www.indydt.com.
White River State Park is right downtown. It includes the Eiteljorg Museum, the Indianapolis Zoo and outdoor concert venue the Lawn. There are gardens, Military Park, the Canal where you can walk, ride rental bikes, take a gondola ride or rent a pedal boat.

There's lots more info in the links I've provided. :)


There is also the Iron Skillet. It features a traditional Hoosier menu.

For a local only Greek place, Greek Islands Restaurant. They also have belly dancing on Friday and Saturday nights.

Heidelberg Haus is also locally and family owned. Great place for desserts. It's actually a cafe and gift shop with limited seating and they encourage sitting with strangers and making friends. :)
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For more Sweets and desserts, there is the Chocolate Cafe which is owned and operated by The South Bend Chocolate Company. This is based out of Northern Indiana but now has a couple locations in Michigan and Ohio as well as Indiana.


For nightlife:
Comedy clubs One-Liners and Crackers are great places.
This link http://www.indy.org/indianapolis/we...sp?c=nightlife:loungebars&p=1&x=1192727147725 privides a lot of info on the bars in the area. :)

I have provides links to all restaurants I have listed.
 
We LOVE Indy! Our DD lives there now, and when we visit we like to dine at St. Elmo's downtown. Great shrimp cocktails with the steaks!
We have walked the length of the canal late at night with no jproblems. It seems like there are always joggers around...not scary at all! The carriage rides around downtown are very nice too...
 
Hey Indy folks!

Does anyone remember the King Cole restaurant? My DH, who was my boyfriend at the time, took me there when we were dating about 24 years ago. It used to be downtown, I think, and was a classy, grand old restaurant.
 
WOW! I go to lunch and come back and look at all this info!!!!

Woohoo! I am actually getting excited about my trip alone now :cool1:

It looks like I won't be doing this: :happytv: when I am there!

Anyone else have any info?
 













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