Around town restaurant roundup

July 2, 2009
Back to TopCommentsE-mailPrint
compass-rose.jpgSeveral tasty nuggets today:
  • Iozzo's Garden of Italy is slated to open July 17 along Meridian Street just south of Shapiro's and Greek Islands, in the former home of Leland's and Cafe@Ray. The owner's grandfather in the 1940s owned an 800-seat restaurant of the same name where the Hyatt Regency now stands.

  • La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant plans to open a new location on Lawton Loop Drive near 56th Street and Post Road in Lawrence. The chain has restaurants along Lafayette Road on the west side, along Washington Street on the east side and off Binford Boulevard on the north side.
  • Tomo Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar is slated to open later this month along Keystone Avenue north of 71st Street, in front of Wal-Mart.

  • Bert & Den's Grille & Chill has filed plans to open a 2,000-square-foot restaurant at Southern Plaza along U.S. 31 at I-465.

  • Bonjour Cafe & Bakery at 24th and Meridian streets has closed. It opened last August in front of the library services center.
    • ADVERTISEMENT
    • Indy RockJuly 2, 2009 12:30 PM
      That's a shame about Bonjour Cafe & Bakery, I imagine if we see more residential development along that corridor, places like those can survive better.
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • CorrNDJuly 2, 2009 12:45 PM
      Poor timing -- I just tried to go to Bonjour on Saturday for the first time and they were closed. I thought that seemed odd but figured they might have been a M-F type of place. Too bad that they couldn't make it.
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • LayneJuly 2, 2009 12:47 PM
      There is plenty of residential in Herron Morton, but Bonjour was overpriced, extremely slow, the selection of fresh-baked goods was lacking and the food was mediocre. I am sad to see another vacant building along this strip, but you have to produce a good product to succeed.
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • AaronJuly 2, 2009 12:58 PM
      Bonjour: I went on multiple occasions, as I live around the corner. However, the food was just average, the price was high, and they never seemed organized at all. On one occasion, I ordered a pasta dish from the menu board for a child in our group i.e. mac & cheese or spagetti, and was then told they didn't have any. I pretty much gave up on them after that.

      I think the location would be fine, just needs to be something with quick service at a reasonable price - or something less available - like a true bakery.
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • Indy RockJuly 2, 2009 1:50 PM
      Any news on the Library Square development from Buckingham Properties?
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • IndyArchJuly 2, 2009 2:50 PM
      You summed it up perfectly, Aaron. Bonjour was bland and overpriced. My wife and I live within walking distance and we really wanted to like it...we really did. But I am sorry to say that we made one visit and never went back.
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • Gary WelshJuly 2, 2009 2:51 PM
      Your roundup omits Cafe Zuppa, which opened at 320 N. Meridian earlier this month.
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment
    • MicahSeptember 5, 2009 10:19 AM
      THERE IS NOT ENOUGH RESIDENTIAL DENSITY TO SUPPORT BUSINESSES LIKE THIS ON NORTH MERIDIAN!!! IT'S BASIC ECONOMICS!! PEOPLE DRIVE BY BUSINESSES IN THIS AREA......THEY DON'T LIVE HERE----YET!!! I GIVE IT 3-5 MORE YEARS.
      Reply to CommentFlag Comment

    Post a comment to this blog

    COMMENTS POLICY
    We reserve the right to remove any post that we feel is obscene, profane, vulgar, racist, sexually explicit, abusive, or hateful.
     
    You are legally responsible for what you post and your anonymity is not guaranteed.
     
    Posts that insult, defame, threaten, harass or abuse other readers or people mentioned in IBJ editorial content are also subject to removal. Please respect the privacy of individuals and refrain from posting personal information.
     
    No solicitations, spamming or advertisements are allowed. Readers may post links to other informational websites that are relevant to the topic at hand, but please do not link to objectionable material.
     
    We may remove messages that are unrelated to the topic, encourage illegal activity, use all capital letters or are unreadable.
     

    Messages that are flagged by readers as objectionable will be reviewed and may or may not be removed. Please do not flag a post simply because you disagree with it.

    ADVANCED SEARCH
    Sponsored by
    ADVERTISEMENT

    1. First, the Athenaeum is going to have to get past the hurdle with the Lockerbie residents and the agreement that the parcel would be residential. Second, and in my opinion, this prime piece of property should include parking, PLUS, a black box theater(s), some market rate and affordable artist housing and a plan to renovate and reconfigure the second story theater. I would negotiate to add the DeHaan property surface parking lot into the development mix, place a one story surface parking garage on the DeHaan lot on the street level (for the Dehaan tenants use during the daytime) and add a second story to the garage that would become an addition to the current second story theater and then change the direction of the theater by moving the stage across the alley and on top of the DeHaan lot parking. You can add all the stage elements that are currently missing from the Athenaeum stage to make it more attractive for use by Ballet, Opera and traveling productions. Plus, the theater changes would probably help solve some of the soundproofing issues. Alas,it does not seem to be a part of the strategic plan to conduct a study to determine best use of the property. Seems like the current plan is a quick and easy move that ignores the property best use/potential and any strategic property planning for the effect on future generations.

    2. I recall that MSA's pilings are still in the ground and hard to remove. It’s not likely any proposal will include significant underground construction/parking because of this. Start adding 2 floors of retail, 8 floors of parking and 5-10 floors of possible hotel, and/or 10-20 floors of residential, and you are at 30 floors already with possible expansion of all the uses. But then again I could be wrong.

    3. Accoriding to their website there is no deadline to the Do Not Call list. What is this article referring to??

    4. On what planet are they entitled to this largesse from the stockholders? These people make multi-million dollar salaries: Pay for your own personal travel.

    5. It matters because they're already paid enormously fat salaries: Pay for your own personal travel. Being "taxed on it" isn't a valid excuse--so what? They're still being gifted a raft of luxury perks from somebody else's money on top of an enormous, lavish salary.

    ADVERTISEMENT