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Culinary Dropout, a restaurant chain that describes its aesthetic as “casually cool,” is building an 8,000-square-foot eatery in the Nora Plaza retail center.
Signs at the 86th Street construction site signal the planned arrival of Culinary Dropout, an American comfort food restaurant that operates 11 locations in five states. The Indianapolis location will be the restaurant’s debut in the Midwest.
A representative of Indianapolis-based Kite Realty Group, which acquired most of the Nora Plaza shopping center for $29 million in 2022, confirmed that the restaurant is on the way but declined to share a projected opening date or more information.
Known for presenting live music and offering games such as ping-pong, cornhole and foosball, Culinary Dropout initially opened in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2010. The restaurant’s roster includes six Arizona locations, two in Georgia and single spots in Colorado, North Carolina and Texas. A second restaurant is planned for Texas, and an Alabama location is on deck.
The Indianapolis restaurant, 1320 E. 86th St., is being built east of a PNC Bank and southwest of a Whole Foods Market. Job listings are posted online for the roles of executive chef and general manager. The building’s size of 8,000 square feet is listed in public documents. Large outdoor patios and backyard-style games are typical features at the chain.
Culinary Dropout is part of Fox Restaurant Concepts, a Phoenix-based company founded by 10-time James Beard Award semifinalist Sam Fox. Other Fox restaurants include the fast-casual Flower Child, steak-and-seafood grill the Arrogant Butcher and pizza-and-chicken specialist Dough Bird.
The Cheesecake Factory acquired Fox Restaurant Concepts for $308 million in 2019 and has been accelerating new restaurant development.
Kite’s redevelopment of Nora Plaza includes the addition of a West Elm home furnishings store that’s scheduled to open April 26 in a building previously occupied by Goodman’s Shoes and Lakeshore Learning educational supply store.
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Nice to see the direction Nora Plaza is going in.
Could’ve saved tons of money and just moved into the Granite City building. If this is how they’re spending capital, it’ll be out of business within 4 years of opening.