Indianapolis Help

I am driving up next Mon to spend the day with an old friend who will be there for the day. We are both museum and art lovers, but being Mon. everything will be closed except for the American Indian Museum. We also love antiqueing, but are up for just about anything. Oh- and last but not least- where should we eat?
He has never been and I have only been there twice, but I know with the collective knowledge from the forum will guide us well.

We really like Brugge Brasserie http://www.bruggebrasserie.com/brassin.html I haven't had anything on their menu that I didn't really like. Broad Ripple is a great area to explore after lunch at Brugge. I would send you to check out The Children's Museum but it is closed on Monday as well.

Petite Chou in Broad Ripple for Breakfast
R Bistro downtown for lunch (they are closed for dinner on Mondays)
Seconding the suggestion of Brugge for dinner.

As for things to do you might drive up to Zionsville to just explore the little shops there. It's tiny but really cute and quaint. If you want lunch while in Zionsville The Friendly Tavern makes a great burger and an apple dumpling with cinnamon ice cream that's fantastic.

When I visit my sister in Indy, we love to go to Taste for breakfast or lunch. Counter service and an eccletic selection of everything. Really delicious food and coffees, and I'm crazy to have enver tried any of their desserts cause they look out of this world good. They also have a beer and wine license and free dum dum suckers. I love mystery flavored dum dums.

As for location, I can't tell you exactly where, but it's near Broadripple.

I love mystery flavored dum dums.

OMG, Jackie, don't lie - you know mystery flavored Dum Dums are ALWAYS cream soda. Yuk.

Yeah, I know, Yuk to cream soda, I was trying to be cute. You blew my cover!

Jax, if we are very, very lucky, Stephen D. will create an amazing cream soda-flavored cocktail that both you and I can get behind, then we can renounce our cream soda-hating ways forever. My John contends that Big Red is not cream soda-flavored. I beg to differ.

What say you?

What say you?

I'm with you, and am pleased to review your stance on the taste.

What's so creamy about it? Corn syrupy.

St. Elmo Steak House. Big shrimp cocktail and big steaks. Downtown

For breakfast or lunch, Patachou (several locations), Taste, or Zest would be good. The Illinois St. Food Emporium isn't a bad sandwich shop either. If you'd rather go for grit and character, have your friend pick his favorite pork tenderloin sandwich place.

For dinner, you can't go wrong with L'Explorateur, Elements, or R Bistro. Scholar's Inn isn't bad either. The latter three are all downtown.

St. Elmo is second rate for steaks I think, but it is definitely worth grabbing a drink in the bar and having a shrimp cocktail.

The Eiteljorg Museum (the American West museum you mentioned) is actually pretty good if you are into that sort of thing. Both excellent traditional western art, contemporary western art, and North American Indian artifacts from all major regions. It is the best museum of its type I'm aware of east of the Mississippi.

If you haven't been to Indianapolis, a walking tour of downtown would be in order. My tour starts at the Artsgarden, a glass wintergarden suspended over the intersection of Washington and Illinois. Walk west o Washington to see the Indiana Theater, a terra cotta Spanish-Moorish movie palace. Turn north on Capitol Ave. to see the Indiana State House. It is definitely worth going inside. Turn east on Market St. and head to Monument Circle, one the best urban spaces in America. There is obviously the stunning Soldiers and Sailors Monument, as well as the Circle Theater (another movie palace and home to the Indianapolis Symphony), the art deco Circle Tower, the Columbia Club, and the 1857 Christ Church Cathedral. Turn north on Meridian St. Come to the Federal Court House (worth a view of the interior, though you need to go through metal detector). This is the first of a seven block neo-classical memorial mall that is also one of America's great urban spaces. North of the court house is University Park, followed by the imposing Indiana World War Memorial (the interior, both downstairs and the shrine room upstairs are absolutely stunning, but closed Monday), followed by Veteran Memorial Plaza (home to the obelisk and memorials to Korea, Vietnam and WWII, followed by the two block American Legion Mall, followed by the Central Library (both the old neo-classical main building, and a new modern addition). Flanking the mall on the west is the Scottish Rite Cathedral. On the east is the brutalist federal building, which was semi-cloned from Boston City Hall. This should keep you busy

If you drive down Mass Ave., be sure to check out the Eygptian style Murat Temple. You'll definitely see the massive new Lucas Oil Stadium on the way into downtown.

I hope this helps.

Wow!Thanks to everyone for the suggestions- that should keep us busy for the day.

I would suggest St. Elmo's too! Just keep in mind if you order the shrimp cocktail, that it really is HOT! Usually when a menu says something is hot, I think it is mild at best. Their shrimp cocktail set me on fire! It actually took me breath away, I was scared for a moment! But once I got a handle on the heat, it was great!

If you like to try local pizza places, try Bazbeaux on Mass. Ave., not too far from the Murat. It's in a quaint little area with some shops and other restaurants and you can get a personal size pie made whatever way you like it. Good for lunch. A good site for all things Indy is http://www.indy.org/. You can find stuff to do and places to eat by neighborhood.

I would suggest St. Elmo's too! Just keep in mind if you order the shrimp cocktail, that it really is HOT! Usually when a menu says something is hot, I think it is mild at best. Their shrimp cocktail set me on fire! It actually took me breath away, I was scared for a moment! But once I got a handle on the heat, it was great!

Best shrimp cocktail around and it is hot....in a really good way. St. Elmo's is an institution in downtown Indy...not the "best" steak, but a pretty good one.

You have to go to St. Elmos like everyone says, if just to sit at the bar and have a shrimp cocktail and a nice glass of wine. They grow their own horseradish in the basement of the old building wear it sits. You will never have cocktail sauce that good anywhere else.