First-time Indy Chicken & Beer Festival getting big response, organizers say
A first-time downtown Indianapolis food festival featuring some of the city’s best-known restaurants and brewers is already nearly a sellout, organizers said this week.
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Former Colts player, Stacked Pickle owner Gary Brackett files for bankruptcy
Brackett, who played for the Indianapolis Colts from 2003 to 2011, got into the restaurant business after retiring from the NFL. He closed his Stacked Pickle sports-bar chain in May 2020 because of the pandemic.
Bloomington’s Social Cantina to open location in Carmel’s Midtown
Finney Hospitality Group has secured a 5,500-square-foot space for the watering hole and taco eatery, hoping to capitalize on growing foot traffic on Midtown Plaza.
Smokey Bones chain returning to Avon after 15-year hiatus, but with ghost-kitchen twist
When it reopens in Avon, the barbecue hotspot will serve its own customers while accommodating two virtual takeout-and-delivery-only concepts—The Wing Experience and The Burger Experience.
Asian fusion restaurant Oishii to fill vacant Mass Ave spot
The restaurant’s co-owner, Kanlaya Browning, co-owns 10 Thai restaurants, nine of which are in the Indianapolis area. Oishii will offer a fusion cuisine of both sushi and ramen.
Fast-casual Pickleman’s sandwich chain to enter market with Noblesville store
This will be the first Indiana location for Pickleman’s, a Missouri-based chain with 24 locations. The local franchisees plan to open a total of four Indianapolis-area stores over the next four years.
Hardesty helped pave way for new market, bistro by Monon Trail
Breadworks, a Greencastle-based bakery and restaurant, is opening an outpost this fall at the former home of Locally Grown Gardens on 54th Street, thanks in large part to a strong connection with late Indianapolis chef Greg Hardesty.
Bottleworks adding two-level restaurant for supper-club-style dining
Named The Fountain Room, the 6,300-square-foot restaurant from Noblesville-based Clancy’s Inc. will pay tribute to the property’s past as a Coca-Cola bottling plant.
Local businesses lean on subscriptions to build revenue, customer connections
The idea of having customers periodically pay in advance for products or services is nothing new. But within the past year, at least five Indianapolis-based food and beverage retailers have launched subscription services.
For first time, average hourly pay for supermarket, restaurant workers tops $15
Wages have been rising rapidly as the economy reopens and businesses struggle to hire enough workers. Some of the biggest gains have gone to workers in some of the lowest-paying industries.
Union Jack Pub in Broad Ripple relocating to nearby space
Owners Jay and Chelsey Wetzel announced on Thursday that they had purchased a building that would give the pub a large patio with copious outdoor seating.
Korean barbecue restaurant leaving Fishers Test Kitchen for new location in Castleton
Korave Korean BBQ, which opened at the restaurant accelerator in 2019, plans to exit the nest in September. The brothers who own the restaurant are also eyeing spots for another Indy-area location.
Bruster’s Ice Cream expanding in Midwest with new stores in Fishers, Evansville
Fishers resident Tiffany Schlueter is planning to open the state’s second Bruster’s Ice Cream franchise in an 1,800-square-foot space at 12350 Olio Road by early November.
Q&A: Joanna Wilson steps out of her home kitchen to open Punkin’s Pies
Punkin’s Pies Sweet Treats opened this summer in a hot pink shipping container at The AMP at 16 Tech.
New downtown restaurant to pay tribute to Hulman family
The Hulman restaurant is the result of a partnership with the IMS Museum, which holds rights to Tony Hulman’s name and likeness.
The Wine Market in Fountain Square taking over high-profile Pioneer building
The Wine Market, which opened on Virginia Avenue in 2017, is bursting at the seams. Its owners are investing more than $2 million to buy and renovate a new space in the heart of Fountain Square.
Celebrity chef Fabio Viviani to open Italian restaurant in Carmel
Chicago-based Fabio Viviani Hospitality Group is partnering with Giant Eagle’s Market District to open Osteria Carmel in the former Table by Market District space.
Sports bar Champps ends 20-year run in downtown Indianapolis
The downtown sports bar and casual dining restaurant opened in Circle Centre at the corner of Washington and Illinois streets in 2001 as Champps Americana.
Longtime restaurant operator Nick Iaria dead at 75
Nicholas “Nick” Iaria, the grandson of the founders of Iaria’s Italian Restaurant, is credited with turning the business into one of the city’s landmark eateries under his leadership from the 1970s to the early 2000s.
Award-winning Indianapolis chef Greg Hardesty dies at 52
Hardesty, described as “the godfather of the Indianapolis culinary scene,” is widely credited with having launched the careers of numerous Indianapolis chefs who went on to open their own restaurants.