Dining Out in Indianapolis – January’s Blogs for Visit Indy

Some of you may know that I write for Visit Indy's blog, Doing Indy, where I get to share my favorite Indianapolis experiences. Most of my blogs revolve around food, but I have been known to do something crazy like take a sunrise hot air balloon ride or go to Indy Scream Park during Halloween. Hey, it's all for a good reason - I LOVE sharing my love of Indianapolis with any resident or visitor, and Visit Indy lets me do that through their blog This month's feature is Dining, and while I may not have been as frequent a writer on Solid Gold Eats, I've been writing a ton for Visit Indy. It started with Sweet, Salty and Sinful - A Guide to Bacon in Indianapolis, which highlighted several restaurants that serve up bacon in a unique way. We all know I'm addicted to bacon, so there was no real problem with this post. I know I left out the new bacon truck we have, although I've already received one review of poor quality bacon. That means they aren't using bacon from Smoking Goose, or any local farmer, because I've tried a LOT of local bacon, and it's all very good. Atmosphere and Ambiance - a restaurant guide came to me as a suggestion from a friend who wanted to find a restaurant based on it's surroundings and not just the food. You've probably thought about searching that way before when you go "I want to dine without kids" or "Where can we find a place with good music that's not a bar?" That's how I started writing this post.

Preview of Devour Downtown gives you the 411 on the event that's about to take over downtown Indianapolis restaurants. From January 21 to February 3, you can preview restaurants by ordering off of a select "Devour Downtown" lunch/dinner menus. Tuesday night we are going to Fogo De Chao, the "all-you-can-eat" meat restaurant, where servers walk around the restaurant carrying a variety of seared, smoked and roasted meats, allowing you to take as much as you want AS OFTEN AS YOU WANT. It's normally upwards of $60 per person, so $35 is a steal. A few of our friends wanted to go so John and I are making an outing out of it. However, this promotion is extremely popular, so we ended up with 9pm reservations. Oh well, it's worth it just to save the money! Between the Buns: 7 Sandwiches, Burgers and Rolls in Indianapolis was so fun to write. There have been countless "top 50" posts of sandwiches and burgers in the Circle City, so this was more about my own personal opinion than that of the city as a whole's. Therefore I added a few odds and ends, like the breaded tenderloin at the Mousetrap, which is huge and tender and crispy all at the same time, or the catfish po'boy at Bourbon Street, which is sweet and tangy and spicy and a perfect slap in the face to wake you up. Now you know I'm not one of them, but someone had to write the Healthy Vegetarian and Vegan Fare in Indianapolis post. While friends and family members abide by these rules, I do not, and so I had to branch out of my comfort zone for this post. I did eat dinner at Zest and order something vegetarian solely for the purpose of getting photos for this post, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I wanted to eat the plate of chile rellenos that was set in front of me. Somehow, going into this, I thought I would feel gipped and robbed of a good restaurant meal by NOT getting meat, but I was wrong. This Little (Indy) Piggie Goes to Market was fun because I really wanted to share my feelings about these awesome small business that I frequently shop at with other people. Wouldn't it be great if Goose the Market got so big, there were FIVE OF THEM throughout Indianapolis? I don't know a single person that would disagree with me. I also got to share my feelings about Good Earth, so often overlooked yet it's one of the oldest health food grocery stores in the city (way before Goose). Sports Lounge meets Pre-Prohibition Era at Severin Bar was an unforgettable experience. It's experiences like these that remind me why I love food. To get up close and personal with the creativity of chef's like this is something that few people will ever experience or really appreciate, and I'm so happy to be one of them. And, I also got a chance to work on my photography skills with this photo blog.

But wait, there's more! Oh yes! I have posts about hotel restaurants/bars and where to get your spice fix. February's focus is on diversity in Indianapolis, and I cannot wait for my upcoming adventures at Jamaican Style Jerk, Abyssnia Ethiopian restaurant, and Siam Square (for my birthday!) Follow my blogs at DoingIndy.com.

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