We were in and out of Indianapolis like a whirlwind, but I made time to get as much of the local favorites from the downtown area that I could muster to fill my belly with.

Harry & Izzy’s

With the helpful insight of some friends well acquainted with Indy’s best, my husband and I jumped straight into it with a dinner reservation at Harry & Izzy’s, coined as a more casual sister restaurant to St. Elmo Steakhouse. The restaurants are more than just owned by the same proprietors, they are neighboring restaurants, which begs the question if they even share kitchens?

Our Menus:

With so many light and summery drinks, we couldn’t pick just one. And between the two of us, we didn’t have to.

1. Izzy Spritz: Exotico reposado, aperol, grapefruit juice, grapefruit soda
2. The Signature “Elmo Cola:” A glass of St. Elmo Whiskey over ice served with a bottle of Coca Cola
3. Solar Storm: Tito’s vodka, lemon, lychee, orange and rhubarb bitters, with an aperol float

Our server was spot on with all her recommendations for the evening. The Izzy Spritz was light and refreshing. She thought it reminded her of a margarita; with the reposado I could see why. The Solar Storm was also light and much fruitier. The Elmo Cola was the star of our drinks of the evening- a traditional whiskey and coke with a fun twist. St. Elmo’s straight bourbon is infused with natural dark cherry and bourbon vanilla beans. It tastes like whiskey with a bunch of the fancy Filthy Black Cherries that make an old fashioned so delectable. This whiskey is very easy to drink straight. However, go ahead and throw in a dash of cola… I’m not even a soda drinker, but I’ll admit it makes it crushable. The St. Elmo Steakhouse Straight Bourbon can be purchased by the bottle in Indianapolis at Big Red Liquor or Kroger. So far, the only online vendor willing to ship it across state lines is The Liquor Barn. So, if any of you Missourians are planning a trip to Indy let me know if you’ll have a little extra trunk space on your way back that I could rent from you.

Harry & Izzy’s and St. Elmo Steakhouse are known for their shrimp cocktail. We twisted our server’s arm and forced her to tell us which appetizer she would get for herself, and it spoke loudly that it wasn’t even their most famous menu item. We ordered the Grilled Slab Bacon, served with cornbread and a root beer maple glaze. The meat was more comparable to pork belly: a nice, thick sliced bacon, not that crunchy stuff you always manage to overcook on Sunday morning. I swear the glaze had chocolate mixed in. I would’ve gladly poured it over ice cream. I’d probably even throw the bacon on top ice cream, too. No judgement here.

Ryan ordered the Kansas City Strip, which somehow missed on the menu and when our server explained the specials. But it was delicious. Ryan said it was the best steak he’d had in a while, and it came out perfectly cooked to order. It came out on a bed of their house steak sauce, and Ryan added on the horseradish gorgonzola butter, which really added a nice touch. I think his green beans pretty well went untouched, just so he’d have more room for steak.

I ordered the Lobster Sacchetti, a cute little pasta stuffed with cheeses, topped with a serious serving of lobster, green peas, and a rich cream sauce. The pasta reminded me of more decorative tortellini. This pasta was perfectly rich, yet light.

My husband and I split a a caesar salad as well. It was very good, but sadly didn’t get a mini photo shoot this time.

Find out more about Harry & Izzy’s here.

The Rathskeller

The Rathskeller made my list of places to visit when I was initially doing my Indy research. This German establishment has both restaurant and biergarten with live music.

Pro tip: there was a very long line to get in, and when I realized it looked like they were taking money, we asked and found that it was actually a line to pay the cover to see the live music in the outdoor biergarten. So go on past it if you’re after a table inside.

I failed to make a reservation in advance because we always wait until the last minute to decide what’s next? Luckily, past their restaurant they have a bar with open seating. The bar was packed, but once we got past all the partiers there were plenty of open tables to seat yourself at, and a server made is way to us.

The food menu is massive and eclectic. I chose to get the Jaegerschnitzel (schnitzel, or pork loin cutlet, sauced with a mushroom gravy) with the spaetzle and german potato salad. Ryan got the Sauerbraten (5-day marinated beef roast) with the purple cabbage and potato pancake. Both entrees were phenomenal, but I’d say the german potato salad was the star side item. It all felt like good home cooking, even though I’ve never been to Germany.

Find out more about The Rathskeller here.

Shapiro’s Delicatessen

After my initial Indy research, I was super excited to visit Shapiro’s Delicatessen. It was our last stop for food before heading out of town. Overall, I was pretty disappointed. Maybe it was because it came so highly recommended and/or because the photos looked very promising, but I don’t think any aspect lived up to the hype. I wouldn’t return, and I don’t think I’d recommend any friends waste their time.

I didn’t take any of my own photos of the ambience, mostly out of shock, but let me tell you this is pretty well a cafeteria. You grab your lunch tray, your plastic wrapped silverware, then proceed down the cattle line and order through the microphone. I asked for the corned beef sandwich, something they’re pretty well known for, but wanted to be sure, “That doesn’t have mayonnaise, right?” The man at the deli slicer shrugged and said, “It has whatever you want on it.” So I said, “okay, well, I’ll have some mustard.” He sliced me up the sandwich, passed it over the deli window, and I proceeded down the line. Ryan tried to order his Lox & Bagel, but was corrected to order that at the cashier. It was pretty empty when we walked in, so the line went fast. We ordered Ryan’s lox & bagel and paid for my sandwich, a side of latkes, and a piece of coconut cream pie (wrapped in saran wrap). We picked a table, unwrapped our silverware and I had to track down some mustard packets from the condiment table.

My corned beef sandwich was huge (as pictured with my hand for comparison), and Ryan couldn’t finish his salmon and bagel, but we did have to have a bite of the pie before we headed out. There was a lot of hype surrounding our plated items, but it all fell incredibly short. Also, the latkes tasted like they were fried in some funky oil… maybe with fish or something. It was all lost on me.