Hey guys, I'm coming into Indy next month on business and will be taking our customer out to dinner. If possible, I'd like to try and steer the restaurant to something that has a respectable tap list along with a great food and good atmosphere. If I can't get my cake and eat it too, so be it. On a side note, I know getting FFF in bottles is near impossible in Indy, what about on draft? Is it possible to find ZD, dread or gumball on tap?
You will be able to find FFF bombers and should be able to find Alpha King, Pride and Joy, and Robert the Bruce in sixers. ZD and Gumballhead are very hit and miss. It will be on tap somewhere, but you almost never know where unless you follow bars on twitter. How nice do you need this dinner to be? If the company is paying for it and you are taking a client to it I would recommend Black Market on Mass Ave. Amazing food and a small, but respectable tap list with great thought put behind what beers are on tap. You will be able to have a good conversation with the client there as well. Brugge Brasserie would also be a good choice for a client with good food/beer. 20 Tap/MacNivens/Rathskeller/Chatam Tap are all good places, but they are bar/pubs type places. If your client is that kind of client great, but if you are being mindful about that those might not be good choices. They are all rather loud places. Great bars, but potentially bad places for a client meeting.
Theo - We are on the same page. The company is footing the bill, while I'd like to to enjoy a tasty beer with dinner, making sure the customer is happy with the restaurant is more important. We need a place with really good food and be able to discuss business/non-business. Good to know FFF is doable. Anything else I should look out for?
I personally think our best restaurants in town for a business meeting with style would be Black Market or Bluebeard. Good beer at both places. If you want power meeting places that would be any of our ubiquitous steak houses. St. Elmo's, Mo's, or Ruth Chris downtown. I take clients to all of those places depending on the client. If you want a fantastic after dinner drink I would recommend The Libertine downtown. The have great beer, but have them make you an old fashioned. I love that place. In terms of things to look for I like Flat 12's Walkabout pale ale in sixers, Sun King makes a good pale called Osiris, and we may get a few out of town things you might not get. Nothing too crazy on the shelves right now that I can think of.
I'd vote for Brugge based on what you've outlined or... La Margarita in Fountain Square has had zombie dust on tap occasionally, but I can't recall other places that have had it regularly. That said I found La Margarita to be a pretty decent mexican food restaurant and a atmosphere similar to Brugge. LM has a pretty small tap list usually (6-7), but they should be decent offerings. Bonus is that End of the Line (good craft beer bar) and New Day Meadery are a couple minutes walk away. If you do find yourself at a bar with a healthy tap list like Twenty Tap I would recommend trying things from Bier, Daredevil, and Against the Grain.
I will also agree on Bluebeard and black market. I worry that Brugge and 20 tap tend to be pretty loud for a business meeting. If you all are sushi lovers h20 sushi in broad ripple is the top of the class for indianapolis sushi. They have recently added a few beers on tap that rotate and tend to be good (some 3 floyds sun king etc). One other option is north side social in broad ripple.
Oobatz on 86ths street near the fashion mall is my best kept secret. $2 pints on Tuesday....may be Weds, I'd call to check. But you will guarenteed find gumballhead pride and joy and robert the bruce. the food is reasonable...mnothing special, but they have ilke 30 beers on tap, which is unheard of for a family restauraunt.
Little update, the customer picked mesh on mass ave. Looks like a decent beer selection. I'll definiately get to try some things I haven't had before. This will be an early dinner, which are the best bars around Mesh and The Omni hotel for beers with my team? The customer most likely won't be around at this point.
Mesh is on Mass Ave, right? My favorite bar there in the Ball & Biscuit, though their beer offerings are limited. They make the best Old Fashioned I've ever had though, and I love the atmosphere. Closer to Mesh is Ralston's Drafthouse. Their beer list is substantial and good. Food is good too, but it can get a little loud. The Omni is a little further south than the areas I know downtown, but Mass Ave isn't too far from there.
The food at Mesh was really good, beer selection was fine. If the weather allows, the outside seating in back was excellent, but we got chased inside by a thunderstorm. I have been able to try several FFF beers on draft at MacNiven's.
If the customer leaves from Mesh you have some great walking options. Ralstons, Chatham tap, Rathskeller (awesome outdoor Biergarten if the weather is nice) Mass Ave pub looks like a dive, but they have good taps always, MacNivens, and even Bakersfield. The Omni is a little tougher. Many very busy bars by there that are dominated by the big brands. I honestly would walk the four blocks to The Libertine. Amazing mixed drinks, good beer selection. They are a bit more expensive, but I love it there. You are very close to the Claudaugh as well. They have enough to keep a beer guy satisfied. A place across the street is called Taps and Dolls. They have 50 taps, but I've never thought they took care of the beer. That could have changed in the years since I've been in there. I know it's a chain, but The Ram is a great place too. Andrew the brewer there has a good amount of autonomy. He usually has 4 or more of his beers on tap. Hopefully they might even have a barrel aged beer on tap.
Update: I want thank you guys for the advice, the trip went great. It started a little interesting, we met our competition at MacNivens for a beer to discuss our mutual customer and in the industry. It turned out to be a very good meeting. To the good stuff, I was able to have Alpha King, Dreadnaught, Saison Brett and Matilda Lambicus. All I can say was Alpha King was fantastic, along with Saison Brett. The bartender was very knowledgeable. I have to go back in December for two visits. I will definitely be going back here. BTW the Scotch Eggs were insane! We then went Mesh on Mass and had an awesome meal with the customer. Food was really good. I would highly recommend this place for anyone. I had Pride and Joy and Two Hearted. Over the rest of the trip I was able to have Upland Wheat, Sunking Osiris and Four Horsemen EPA. I'm coming back in December for some training for 3.5 days. I may bring some NY beers if anyone is interested in meeting somewhere. Just a thought.
