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A new Mexican restaurant is planned at 10 W. Washington St., where Rock Bottom Brewery served meals and craft beer in downtown Indianapolis from 1996 to 2020.
Encanto Alebrije is the new tenant of a 15,000-square-foot space a block away from Monument Circle. During the March hearing of the Alcoholic Beverage Board of Marion County, Encanto Alebrije co-owner Jose Cuevas said the restaurant will serve “authentic Mexican food” representing different states of Mexico.
According to the liquor license approved during the hearing, the Encanto Alebrije ownership group is made up of Cuevas, Adrian Arechiga and Cinia Kiesel.
A projected opening date for the restaurant is unknown. Attempts to contact the owners were unsuccessful.
Nicholas Wright, principal of Newbridge Commercial Real Estate Inc., told the IBJ that he served as the broker for Encanto Alebrije’s lease agreement. Wright represented the building’s landlord, Illinois-based Government Investment Partners.
Colorado-based chain Rock Bottom Brewery was a craft beer pioneer in Indianapolis. Rock Bottom arrived in 1996, following the 1995 opening of Alcatraz Brewing Co.—which opened in Circle Centre Mall as downtown’s first combination microbrewery and restaurant.
The city’s first business of this type, Broad Ripple Brewpub, opened in 1990 and continues to operate at 842 E. 65th St.
Alcatraz Brewing Co., part of a California-based chain, closed in 2011. Rock Bottom Brewing closed during the pandemic and did not reopen. Another Rock Bottom, on the city’s northwest side, closed in 2017.
During 2024’s NBA All-Star weekend, the Rock Bottom space became “The Suite,” a temporary hub of activity featuring food from the International Marketplace, a bar, music presented by the Chreece hip-hop festival, comedy presented by Made Man Improv and retail offerings from Cargo Streetwear Boutique.
The restaurant occupies ground-floor space in two connected historic buildings at the northwest corner of Washington and Meridian streets: the 2 N. Meridian St. building and the 20 W. Washington St. building.
The eight-story 2 N. Meridian building served as the longtime flagship store for retailer H.P. Wasson and Co. Designed by noted Indianapolis architectural firm Rubush & Hunter and constructed by the William P. Jungclaus Co., the Art Moderne building opened in 1937. The store was believed to be the first in Indianapolis to be completely air-conditioned and to feature an indoor sprinkler system.
The 20 W. Washington building was built in 1924 and originally housed Selig’s Dry Goods Co., which operated in Indianapolis from 1895 to the early 1930s. The building was originally designed by Vonnegut Bohn and Mueller and redesigned by Elias Rothschild and Co. in 1933.
The two buildings were sold in 2023 to Chicago-area-based real estate investment company Government Investment Partners in a $13.6 million sale that also included the 24 W. Washington St. Building.
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I hope it’s a little bit upscale more like Chicago’s Frontera. We don’t need another run of the mill mexican restaurant.
I agree. An Upscale Mexican Pl. in Metro Indy and especially downtown Indy is much needed. If this place fits that bill, it will be a huge success!
Daniel we had an upscale Mexican restaurant called the adobo grill at 110 East Washington street. You can Google it and still pull up their menu.
Maybe the demographics have changed in this place will be successful I hope so
Wasn’t there an upscale Mexican restaurant just a few doors further east that went out of business? And nada was another Mexican restaurant that just recently announced their closing.
Nada was really not that good. It was a cool spot but food was pretty average and way overpriced. I am not sure what other spot you are talking about but downtown needs a solid Mexican place
Adobo grill, 110 e Washington, it was an upscale Mexican restaurant.
Rhea, hard to believe, but the Adobo Grill closed more than eight years ago after eight years in business.
Jeff, I know but everyone keeps saying we need an upscale Mexican place downtown and we had one when downtown was much busier. And it still couldn’t survive. Of course every time I went in there it seemed like it was busy but who knows there may have been other circumstances behind why they closed
The El Rodeo chain made a try of it downtown as well on South Meridian four or five years ago, but it eventually closed as well. There are so many stock Mexican restaurants now throughout Indianapolis that the new one going into Rock Bottom will indeed need to be special to draw more than the downtown office lunch crowd (what’s left of it) and a few conventioneers.
John H. El Rodeo is awful!
They will have to upgrade the exhaust systems at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium to account for all of the people who eat there before the games.
What time is your set at Helium tonight?
Michael, the Colts generate a sufficient vacuum on the field.
Oaken Barrel also outlasted all the downtown competitors.
Downtown could use good Mexican. What’s taken over the old Acapulco Joe’s spot is truly mediocre.
El Toro Bravo is a daily fiesta and we freakin’ love it. If you want surf and turf go somewhere else. If you want a plane full of tequila shots or a tree full of margaritas delivered by a full live band, this is the place.
I think Los Arroyos on New York is excellent; just as good as the one in Carmel that is always packed but the downtown one never has a wait.
Agreed. Excited for this new concept as well though. Plenty of Mexican food fans to go around.
Downtown doesn’t even have average Mexican food. It’s probably too close to Taco Bell Cantina to last long, given the dietary choices of the average Hoosier.
Thank you, Reid Duffy. Care to give us some alternatives, or do you keep those as secrets lest one of us “common people” try to visit?
La Parada is the best downtown
Thumbs up for La Parada — not quite downtown, but close enough. Los Arroyos WAS good. Tlaolli on E. Washington is outstanding, like LaPa a little off the beaten path but well worth it. Pretty sure they don’t have beer or cocktails. La Margarita in Fountain Square has always been a good go-to but I think they’ve moved elsewhere. So yes, a good Mexican/Latin place without corn syrupy too-sweet margaritas and your Midwest standard fare of beans, rice, ground beef and standard tortillas smothered with cheese whatever would be a great addition in the heart of downtown.
Unlike some of the other folks posting here, I’d be in favor of a middle-range Tex-Mex kind of place. We used to live in Meridian Kessler and went to Luciana’s in Broad Ripple a lot, but haven’t found anything equivalent since moving to downtown. La Margarita in Fountain Square was good, but they have closed and moved. Of course, a real Mexican restaurant like Frontera Grill in Chicago would be awesome, but there are times when you just want something unassuming and inexpensive with big plates of chips and salsa.