In a move that probably won't surprise anyone who tried the
food, J. Gumbo's is closing after a six-month run on the first floor of the Hampton Inn downtown on Maryland Street. In the
last year, the space has been three concepts: a Buffalo Wild Wings, BadaBoomz and J. Gumbo's. The Cajun joint with an impressive
beer menu likely won't be the only restaurant closing at the end of the year; real estate sources say several restaurants
are looking for buyers and negotiating to exit leases early (J. Gumbo's lease is expiring). Stay tuned for details. Which
restaurants do you expect to shut down?
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Welcome to Property Lines, Indy's source for neighborhood real estate news. Your host is Scott Olson, IBJ's real estate beat
reporter. Edited by Cory Schouten.
In a move that probably won't surprise anyone who tried the
food, J. Gumbo's is closing after a six-month run on the first floor of the Hampton Inn downtown on Maryland Street. In the
last year, the space has been three concepts: a Buffalo Wild Wings, BadaBoomz and J. Gumbo's. The Cajun joint with an impressive
beer menu likely won't be the only restaurant closing at the end of the year; real estate sources say several restaurants
are looking for buyers and negotiating to exit leases early (J. Gumbo's lease is expiring). Stay tuned for details. Which
restaurants do you expect to shut down?
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RKW's comments read like a modern "Chicken Little". As a Raintree resident for many years, "Yes, I'm ready for this." Matter of fact, I welcome The Farm because it's a development that compliments our town, brings new and desirable shopping & dining closer (specialty grocer, upscale shops, micro brew pub, etc), offers upscale condos for empty nesters who want to stay in Zionsville, is being planned and constructed by local, well-reputed firms and, of course, provides desirable non property tax benefits. We all knew the Pittman's were going to develop their property sooner than later. That one of the Pittman's will continue to live on the property helps assure The Farm will be everything promised. This also sets a standard for other developers as to the quality of future developments - which should keep an ugly Walmart at bay for decades. As we've no meglomaniac mayor, I seriously doubt Zionsville would ever aspire to over-priced statues or subsidized retail rents. And we already have a very nice public theater, the Zionsville Performing Arts Center, that meets our cultural needs quite nicely.
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Do we add (or subtract) these from the bounty we recieve from RTWFL, Daylight Savings Time, corporate tax giveaways, and the crack job IEDC is doing?? Or is Mike going to blame these on Mitch?
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Who makes Tater Tots? They would be a good sponsor, because $3 Million for the alleged "Greatest Spectacle In Racing" is taters. Tiny, tiny taters. But at least they are making up something of the losses accumulated over the years in this dying sport. Buttock in seat is certainly not doing it, nor eyeball on TV, as evidenced by the lack of both.
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We loved lakehouse and think the Arbor Village would be a great location. It is less than 2 miles from over 1000 rooftops in the 225,000 to over 1 million range. Many people could use the great fishers trail system to bike or walk there. Just an idea Scotty -- but maybe something closer to 3 Wiseman would good. The only microbrew in area is Ram (boring)
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True, it's an ESPN production, but ESPN is just another name for ABC Sports, or what used to be ABC Sports since ABC Sports no longer exists as a name. ESPN=ABC Sports= ESPN. ESPN is, according to Forbes "the world's most valuable media property" worth $40 billion. Despite that, they fired 400 people this week.
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bad location in castleton.Also,what about Mo's steakhouse downtown.
does anybody know how they are doing?
The food wasn't that bad, it was just redundant in a city with a place like Yats. And the lack of advertising, branding and occasionally questionable service wasn't going to win him any Michelin stars. But I'm sad that one of Indy's best beer selections is going away, and kinda disgusted with all the insults being leveled at the place from people who should know better.
Is Bertolini's still open in Circle Centre? I'd not be surprised to see them go.
I will be sorry to see them go
Give me a break. This isn't candyland.
Why should anyone blindly support a business just because it's local? If the operation isn't up to reasonable standards of excellence, I'm not supporting it.
Who wants a city full of mediocre restaurants? Not me.
You want some local restaurants worth praising and supporting? Here are a few from across the spectrum:
The Goose, Cafe Patachou, Taste, L'Explorateur, Siam Square, Sakura, Working Man's Friend, Judge's BBQ, and of course, Yats.
I'm sure the fine people here could add many more.
Il Mulino is still expected to sign their lease early next year with a grand opening in September 09. Bertollini's has the lease paid through March.
Their food actually wasn't half bad, and the beer selection is much better than the new downtown BW3's, which is much more corporate than the previous location. I just don't see how BW's does well with their undercooked chicken and crappy beer selection.
Ablerock: J. Gumbo's offered one of this city's best beer selections. Just because the food wasn't top notch doesn't mean the establishment was mediocre. I think it's inane to assume that just because a restaurant isn't among the top local restaurants in the city that it doesn't have any merits.
Mike, I hope you don't give up, but please find a new location and a truly unique food concept to go with your great beers. Good luck.
It is given that we can have more than one cheap cajun chain in town. However, keeping up with Yat's is sure to put any entrepreneur out on the street. Joe Vuskovich is the epitome of a restaurateur who brings his unique culture to his food, and spreads it around town in the bellies of his loyal patrons. If Yat's EVER goes out, I'm leaving town and bringing my troupe with me.
With that being said, I will gladly try any and every restaurant in town, as long as they have a Frank Sinatra cd in rotation on the PA. On the topic of music + food/drink = good time, any recommendations on a great jazz bar in town? Sure, you can go to many restaurants and enjoy good jazz music while eating, but I want to sit in the corner booth listening to live jazz in a dimly lit room while drinking my libation, and at least PRETEND I live during the Rat Pack era.
http://www.thejazzkitchen.com/
http://www.chatterboxjazz.com/
http://www.nickyblaines.com/
If we do then people in Cincinnati, Chicago and Louisville will be eating at their local Yat's, Patachou, or Bazbeaux and transferring their money into the Indianapolis economy; instead of Indianapolis residents constantly sending our money to Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, Cincinnati and Louisville. It's amazing that the Indianapolis economy has done as well as it has considering how much money we ship to other cities every time we go to these chain restaurants and other retail establishments.
How do you know Sakura and Ocean World are owned by Rev. Moon?
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Continuing the discussion, food isn't the only thing that makes a restaurant a success or not.
Interior design, atmosphere, staff, etc. all add up to create an experience and make an impression.
For example, I like a couple of the salads at When Harry met Salad over by IUPUI. BUT, the staff is zombie-like, the seating/interior design is generic and bland, and the place always needs a good mopping/wipe-down. I don't go there nearly as often as I would if they stepped their game up and created a pleasant place to eat.
I love places like Patachou, Taste, The Goose, and Siam Square because their food always excellent AND they pay attention to details. Each has created an environment that says they care about quality and have a sense of taste and style.
Extraordinary food.
Great atmosphere.
Positively a must do!
As for J. Gumbo's, the food was not bad and Mike's selection of beer was second to none. I think it is an important point about supporting Indy establishments. Things that are different aren't supported and things that are more streamlined aren't supported. All the while, everyone complains that there's not enough stuff in Indy. BadaBoomz had different American fare, but was not supported. J. Gumbo's is more mainstream - it wasn't supported. Make up your mind.
And as for people comparing J. Gumbo's to Scotty's - Scotty's is in an even worse location with some of the worst bar food I've ever had. The only good part about the location on 96th St is the crowd - which leads to the exhaustive wait times.
Downtown: Alcapulco Joe's, Bourbon Street Distillery, and the Elbow Room are some of my favorite comfort places. McCormick and Schmick is dynamite. R Bistro is hard to beat. Beer deals are hard to be at Rock Bottom and / or the Ram. And last for now, but certainly not least, Palomino Cafe is simply amazing. Good value for some truly excellent, consistent, great tasting food, with an atmosphere that's is almost impossible to beat.
I’m honestly surprised that Alcapulco Joe’s is still around……..I can get the same thing by heating up a can or Hormel chili over a bed of Fritos…….
Yeah! and you get salsa in a squeeze ketchup bottle! I looked around for the hidden camera the first and only time I went. Ugh.
I thought I'd give some love to Hoaglin's on Mass Ave. A great place for breakfast or lunch with an urban but low-key atmosphere.
P.S. More veggie-friendly places downtown, PLEASE!
Also, BW3 doesn't have a terrible beer selection. They go far beyond major domestics. BW3 will always do well because people like wings, beer and football.. it's a cash cow here in Indy.
The place is nice, the food is good, the service was good, but that seemed like a bit much for me.
P.S
Re: the salsa in a squeeze bottle thing. I can take you to any number of truly authentic mexican restaurants here in SoCal or NoMe that have that same little squeeze bottle of picante sauce. It's not salsa and I dont ever recall being told that it WAS salsa on any of the occasions I visited Joes...
I like Yats for quick and cheap, but the chicken creole at Gumbo-a-Go-Go (86/Ditch) is far better, and the peanut butter pie makes me make those yummy happy food noises. if you're northside, try them.
Favorite small local place: La Piedad in broad Ripple BUT!! You cannot order off their menu of combination plates, which are dulled down for Midwestern palates. The specials of the house: pollo loco la piedad, flautas, and especailly the carnitas are mouth-watering wonderful, and I say this as an Arizona native. The carnitas are the best thing I've ever put in my mouth, honest.
Best Mex is Javier @ El Sol, which is IN FACT open, and they do a great job. I just treated 150 to cocktails and dinner there the other night and had nothing but compliments! The Guac is killer and the 7.95 Steak Fajitas lunch rawks.
I had lunch at the Stinky Pickle in Castelton today and had never eaten there before it was great.
Bazbeaux always does the job.
chatterbox for jazz, if you can handle the ciggy smoke.
Speaking of ciggy smoke, my homies over at the statehouse say there is biggie momentum behind the new statewide push to ban smoking in EVERY PUBLIC PLACE and likely will kick in by summer. If memory serves I think the date was July1 09 being talked about. Drop State Rep Charlie Brown - the bills sponsor - a line and let him know you want the smokers out in the street. http://www.in.gov/legislative/house_democrats/brown_biography.html
I was at the Vogue last night watching Eagles of Death Metal and my clothes stunk so bad when i got home, and i had a sore throat this morning. smoking kills. i quit 6 years ago so i know.
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good luck in the future.
Hoaglin is another solid option for breakfast and lunch. We need a good non-chain sandwich shop downtown...like a new york style deli. It could also serve as a good bagel shop in the morning.
Anyone notice there's NOT a good place to grab just a quick bagel on Mass Ave or a quick sandwich (Subway and Starbucks do not count)? Everything is either sit down or call ahead for carry out (outside of Yats, but that's a different delicious beast altogether).
Also, as for the live jazz comments, definitely Jazz Kitchen or Chatterbox. Chatterbox is a great locally owned bar; a bit of a hole in the wall, but you're always treated well and the owner seems like a good guy. Nicky Blaine's doesn't seem to have live music anymore. They put couches where the stage used to be. I've been in there several times in the last year and still had to pay $5 cover for no music...was just there on Friday night (not by choice) and the service has diminished greatly, but their attitudes have increased, not sure that's a good thing!
Your friends are right, the new interior is not as successful as the previous design. The first incarnation was fresh and airy, much like their menu. The new look feels more like a nightclub/steakhouse than a brunch place. Aesthetically it's still more sophisticated than a lot of the restaurants in Indy, it just has the wrong vibe, imho.
Mike...
I'm sorry J. Gumbos wasn't a world class draft house. You don't get to blame the rednecks for this one.
How are people supposed to know it's a world class draft house when the name of the restaurant is J. Gumbos Down-Home Cajun Cookin' ?
It's a branding, image, and communication problem, not a clientele problem.
If the focus is the brew, then the focus needs to be on the brew, not the game of pool or cajun food. People are going to see the name Chalkies and go there to play pool, not drink fine beer. People are going to see the name J. Gumbos and go there to try cajun food, not drink fine beer.
I wouldn't open a restaurant named Fat Burgers and be amazed at why no one is buying any of my plasma screens.
If the focus of J. Gumbos was really the beer, then it should have been named something else and been advertised as a world-class draft house, not a middle-of-the-road cajun-joint in Indiana.
I can't remember who mentioned it, but Enrico's is pretty good. A surprising atmosphere - not what you would expect by looking at the outside of the building. A few other good locals - Keystone Deli, the Donut Shop, Marco's, Mississippi Belle, Just Judy's, Zest, and of course, Mama Carrolla's. Several of those are good spots for breakfast, some are not fancy, but you get decent food for a decent price and good service. Not sure if it's really local or not, Cancun on north Keystone. The place is always clean and has a good atmosphere - not sure about the food, I'm not really a fan of mexican food, but I'm told it's good.
Anyone know of a good Morrocan restaurant? I was sad to find out that El Morocco closed.
McCormick & Schmick's, chain or not, is good. Not so pretentious as Oceanaire and I've never had bad food or service. Also, best ever happy hour.
I think there are probably a number of restaurants that will go under, particularly those who have flaws already and/or have questionable locations. I could post my list, but don't want to contribute to the rumor mill.
The new BW has a terrible beer selection, and the same food. I won't be back.
I agree with everyone else--this was a brand issue, not an ignorance of beer problem. How insulting of the owner to say that he failed because folks here aren't smart enough to appreciate good beer. He just didn't know how to get those people to come to his restaurant. Open a bar if you want to sell beer.
We stayed for a while for the brews, but everyone was pretty ticked about the food and the workers' cluelessness.
In this case, we would have preferred good service over mediocre food. Friends from our of town couldn't believe the place would stay open.
Since we're arguing about local versus chain, there's a lot of locally owned places that are part of a chain. Many chain restaurants are actually locally owned by local people who pay a franchise fee to be part of the chain. Local people own them, local people work in them and the money stays local, except for the franchise fee.
Are we arguing about local versus chain? Or is it local ownership versus out-of-town ownership? Or do we just eat at whatever restaurants we prefer no matter who owns them?
On the other hand, El Sol de Tala is easily the best mexican food in the city. Their menu goes far beyond the combination plate menus of most mexican restaurants and has good modern mexican food. Also, best guacamole ever.
People go to chains because for the most part the chain has training and oversite for their staff and while it takes the personality out of the place it makes for a nice dining experience where you don't remember the food because you were too pissed off at the service.
To get the local food industry on track they should do what is done in Vegas and have a food service and hospitality program at IUPUI and get buy in from the convention, hotel and restaurants.
back to the BRT for me.
p.s. El sol is the rawker in gwack. :dude:
I had great Mexican from another place recently, don't know its name but it's 79th or so and Michigan in the same trip as Tuesday Morning.
Also, someone upthread mentioned Zest, which is fantastic.
My suggestion, though, is the Golden Ace. Across from El Sol. It's well worth the trip down east Washington St.
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