Indianapolis Help

I develop cravings for Greek food that can't be satisfied easily in my home community of Chapel Hill, NC. In the spring, I ate in an Indianapolis Greek restaurant that was very good. If you're after that kind of thing, I recommend it: Santorini Greek Kitchen. They don't have much of a website, but this is from there: "We are located in Historic Fountain Square just 5 blocks east of the the Fountain, at 1417 E. Prospect. We have a well-lit parking lot directly east of our building. There is plenty of street parking, all around us."

1417 E. Prospect St, Indianapolis, IN 46203, 317-917-1117

It was easy to park there and not far from downtown, though it was a little hard to find without a map. Nice mix of Greek dishes, including a very good rendition of my favorite pastitsio. It's a classic kind of American Greek restaurant dining room, with friendly service.

Fountain Square is a south of downtown neighborhood that used to be German but is now a mixture of artists, Appalachians, and yours truly. It is run down and gritty, but that's part of its charm. Finding Santorini's is extremely easy. Take I-65 north to the last exit before downtown which is "Morris St./Prospect St." Turn right on Morris St. (which is one way), which runs into Prospect and becomes a two way street. A few blocks later you are there.

Whenever anyone suggests dining spots in Indianapolis, I always suggest Shapiro's Deli....there are two locations in Indy, but visit the original located just south of central downtown (on McCarty Street) -- http://www.shapiros.com

Gary, I'd be interested to hear what you did and what you thought of it.

Well, now that I finally can get online again- I had a great time in Indy.
We did a little walk around downtown at my urging because I think it is a very livable town. Then we hit many antique marts- I think 6 in all. Found some very nice stuff. One of them was in the shadow of the speedway so we got to see that.
We finally ate at Brugge Bistro. It was delicious. Two pates including a very light venison version. Pickled herring in wine with a spike of bird chilis. My friend had chicken and blue cheese crepes and I had a sandwich of duck confit and dried cranberries. And those wonderful fries! I had a dipping sauce made of grainy mustard and poplar syrup. I've never heard of poplar syrup and it was yummy. The server said it was like maple syrup- but the flavor profile is very different. I'm going to look aound for some and see what I can do with it.
He'll be here this Mon so we will do the same thing in Louisville. Should be fun.
Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.

Thanks for the info, Gary.

The poplar syrup may be a local product, in fact. I know that Goose the Market in Indianapolis carries it, along with other specialty Indiana syrups like shagbark. http://www.goosethemarket.com/ (By the way, I can't recommend this small storefront grocery highly enough - they do top notch house made cured meats and carry a surprisingly high proportion of locally produced foods. And they make awesome sandwiches. For the Louisvillian, they carry BBC brews too.). Give them a call. If they won't ship to you, I'm sure they'd be happy to tell you where they sourced it and you could order direct from the farm.

Thanks so much for the lead Aaron. Not to mention all the good tips- I printed them out and now have an Indy file.

No problem - if you have trouble getting poplar syrup, just let me know and I'm happy to go pick some up and ship it to you.

GaryF on Sat Sep 20, 2008 5:08 am
I had a dipping sauce made of grainy mustard and poplar syrup. I've never heard of poplar syrup and it was yummy. The server said it was like maple syrup- but the flavor profile is very different. I'm going to look aound for some and see what I can do with it.

Sounds like a wonderful idea for Christmas presents. Let me know when you find a source.