On Eagle Creek Reservoir, which is not a phrase you expect in Indianapolis. Seafood and a Sunday brunch people plan around.
Kona Jack's Fish Market & Sushi Bar$$$ · Nora
Open since 1992 and still the default local answer to best seafood in a landlocked city. There is a working fish market attached, which is the whole point.
Salt on MassSeafood restaurant · $$$ · Mass Ave
No freezer in the building, daily deliveries, which is the thing every local repeats about it. Closest serious fish to downtown.
Day-boat fish flown up from the Gulf and the Keys, including species nobody else in town carries. Counter service, the lobster roll is the local award-winner. Closed Mondays, closes at 6.
Fish market with a fryer and a few tables. Cheap, fast, no atmosphere at all, and it is where people who actually cook fish shop. Closed Sundays.
Rick's Cafe BoatyardSeafood restaurant · $$$ · Eagle Creek
The only real waterfront dining room in Indianapolis, out on the Eagle Creek reservoir. Come for the sunset deck and order simply, that is the honest read.
4050 Dandy Trail, Indianapolis, IN 46254
Pizza in Indianapolis
FuturoPizza restaurant · $ · Cruse St
Funky pies and negronis, now in new digs on Cruse Street.
19 Cruse St, Indianapolis, IN 46202
Bazbeaux Pizza$$ · Mass Ave
793 reviews and an Indy institution since 1986, slices at lunch and specialty pies like the Tchoupitoulas.
King DoughPizza restaurant · $$ · Cole Noble
542 reviews for blistered wood fired pies from local flour, closed Monday, get the hot honey.
452 N Highland Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46202
Brooklyn CharPizza restaurant · $ · Noblesville
Dave Portnoy rated it 8.1. Suburban Indianapolis shop doing a charred, New York leaning thin crust.
14765 Hazel Dell Crossing, Noblesville, IN 46062
Goodfellas Pizzeria$ · Mass Ave
Dave Portnoy rated it 8.1. Mass Ave counter with big crisp slices and a late-night bar attached.
Steaks in Indianapolis
Harry & Izzy'sAmerican restaurant · $$$ · Wholesale District
Same owners as St. Elmo, same nuclear shrimp cocktail, without needing a reservation three weeks out. This is the one locals actually use.
153 S Illinois St, Indianapolis, IN 46225
Commission RowRestaurant · $$$$ · Downtown
Big chophouse and raw bar directly across from Gainbridge Fieldhouse, built with the Pacers. There is a speakeasy called Mel's in the basement if the night keeps going.
110 S Delaware St, Indianapolis, IN 46204
The Fountain RoomRestaurant · $$$$ · Bottleworks
Wisconsin supper club crossed with a jazz-age chophouse, inside the old Coca-Cola bottling plant. One of the best-looking rooms in the Midwest, and the food holds up.
830 Massachusetts Ave Ste 1480, Indianapolis, IN 46204
Geraldine's Supper Club & LoungeSteak house · $$$ · Fletcher Place
1950s supper club in an old ironworkers bar, live jazz most nights, 60-day dry-aged Delmonico. Closed Mondays.
1101 English Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46203
Bynum's SteakhouseSteak house · $$$ · South Side
Family-run since 1989, wood paneling, aged Angus prime and a 32 oz prime rib that sells out. Ten minutes south of downtown and worth the cab.
3850 S Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN 46217
BBQ in Indianapolis
Hank's Smoked BrisketsBarbecue restaurant · $ · Crown Hill
Twenty years of mesquite-smoked brisket and a room the size of a living room. Every local BBQ conversation starts here. Closed Mondays.
3736 Doctor M.L.K. Jr St Ste A, Indianapolis, IN 46208
King Ribs Bar-B-Q$ · Keystone
Running since 1990 on family recipes, hickory and apple and cherry wood. It is a walk-up and drive-thru window, not a restaurant. Get the tips.
317 BBQBarbecue restaurant · $$ · Broad Ripple
Thick-cut brisket, smoked half chicken, pork belly burnt ends with a peach bourbon glaze. Rebranded around a rotating local brewery tap residency, so the beer list changes.
6320 Guilford Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46220
Half Liter BBQ & Beer Hall$$ · SoBro
Texas-style, wood smoker out front, brewery on site and a 250-seat beer garden with fire pits backing the Monon Trail. The easy big-group answer.
Bar-B-Q HeavenBarbecue restaurant · $ · MLK Street
Open since 1952 on a grandmother's recipes, carryout only, rib tips and turkey ribs and a giant BBQ on a bun. Open until 3 a.m. on Fridays, which matters after a show.
2515 Doctor M.L.K. Jr St, Indianapolis, IN 46208
Chinese in Indianapolis
Foon Ying Chinese Restaurant$ · Northeast Indy
127 reviews at 4.4 stars and a Tripadvisor favorite for classic Cantonese American plates.
Tian Fu Asian BistroAsian fusion restaurant · $$ · Northwest Indy
369 reviews for real Sichuan alongside sushi, open to 11 pm Friday and Saturday, order the mapo tofu.
3508 W 86th St #1992, Indianapolis, IN 46268
Asian SnackChinese restaurant · $ · Lafayette Square
A counter inside the Saraga international grocery doing northern Chinese cooking. This is the one Indy food obsessives name first. Beef noodle soup.
3605 Commercial Dr, Indianapolis, IN 46222
Imperial PalaceChinese restaurant · $$ · Northwest Side
Strip-mall room on the Lafayette Road corridor that keeps showing up on local authentic-Chinese lists. Ask what is good rather than ordering off the front page.
5510 Lafayette Rd suit 230, Indianapolis, IN 46254