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The Le Peep restaurant brand has exited central Indiana after more than 35 years of doing business, but breakfast and brunch continues to be served at seven former locations.
Maple is the new name of three restaurants in Indianapolis as well as locations in Carmel, Speedway, Greenwood and West Lafayette.
Owner Ali Hessaraki said the rebranding celebrates Indiana’s historic status as a leading producer of maple syrup. According to Purdue University’s College of Agriculture, no state produced more maple syrup than Indiana in 1919.
“Our team wanted to create something truly local, and highlight the rich history of Indiana,” Hessaraki said in a written statement.
Le Peep, founded in Aspen, Colorado, made its Indianapolis debut in 1988 with a restaurant at 8255 Craig St., east of Castleton Square Mall. That restaurant is now a Maple, along with six others owned by Hessaraki:
- 8487 Union Chapel Road, part of the Fashion Mall Commons retail center
- 6335 Intech Commons, part of Intech Park along I-465 on the northwest side
- 200 S. Rangeline Road, part of Carmel’s Indiana Design Center
- 1348 N. Main St., Speedway
- 210 S. Emerson Ave., part of Greenwood’s Main Street Shoppes retail center
- 521 Sagamore Parkway West, West Lafayette
A Le Peep that opened at 301 N. Illinois St. in downtown Indianapolis in 1989 permanently closed in January. The next Maple restaurant is planned for the first floor of McCord Square Apartments in McCordsville.
In addition to long-running menu offerings of skillet meals and pancakes, Maple restaurants are introducing a Maple BLT, featuring maple bacon, and Maple Madness fried dumplings accented by cinnamon sugar, caramel and maple cream cheese icing.
Hessaraki was part of an ownership group that purchased Le Peep Restaurants of Indiana in 2018. While Le Peep Restaurants of Indiana licensed the Le Peep name from the Colorado-based company, Maple is an independent group of eateries.
Hessaraki is the founder of Total Computing LLC, an entity that owns EZ Software Solutions, a point-of-sale software provider for restaurants and retail operations.
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1919, or 2019?
1919 is correct. It’s a nod to history.
Le Peep practically introduced brunch to Indianapolis and for a long time was basically the only game in town. But it has rested on its laurels for years, and you can tell by walking in its basically an assisted living home. The restaurants and the food hasn’t evolved for the times, and there are dozens of competitors competing in the same space.
It may be the whole goal of this rebranding is a revival of the Indianapolis locations, as seen in the new Maple menu items mentioned in the article.
Horrible name choice for change from a branding perspective….
These days Indiana doesn’t even rank in the top 10 states as a producer of maple syrup.
https://www.maplesyrupfarms.org/maple-syrup-production-facts.php