These Indy eats, hotels and attractions are ranked among the nation's best
The picks are in: Locals, tourists and critics alike agree there’s something special about the Circle City.
Several Indianapolis hotels, restaurants and attractions won awards and made it to best-of lists on travel forums and publications in the past year. Places like The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Zoo and other downtown locales are among the spots to hit, per sites like Yelp and Reader’s Digest.
Here are some of the highlights.
Best restaurants in Indianapolis
St. Elmo Steak House
127 S. Illinois St., stelmos.com
A nod from Open Table as one of the top 100 restaurants in the U.S. is just the latest on a long list of accolades for St. Elmo Steak House, the oldest steak house in Indianapolis and staple in local dining. The restaurant is best known for its selection of dry-aged steaks, spicy shrimp cocktail and collection of signature drinks.
Top Tables: These 2 Indianapolis-area restaurants among OpenTable's top 100 in the nation
Shapiro's Delicatessen
808 S. Meridian St., shapiros.com
Famous for its corned beef sandwiches, matzo ball soup and other kosher-style dishes, Shapiro's Delicatessen has been an Indianapolis institution for more than 115 years. According to Mashed, the restaurant is among those with the best pastrami in the country, and Food and Wine magazine awarded it the best sandwich in Indiana in 2021.
Tinker Street
402 E. 16th St., tinkerstreetrestaurant.com.
Tinker Street's small, seasonal menu and adventurous cocktails put it on USA TODAY'S 2024 Restaurants of the Year list. Since the menu often changes, IndyStar's Bradley Hohulin suggests asking your server for their recommendations, but says you can't go wrong with the fried Brussels sprouts, whipped butternut squash and smoked pork belly.
Read our review: This Indianapolis restaurant was named among the best in US. Everything to try when you go
Bluebeard
653 Virginia Ave., bluebeardindy.com
Lauded as the place for customers with “an appetite for adventure,” according to its website, Bluebeard is a farm-to-table restaurant with a menu in near-constant rotation. The restaurant is helmed by chef Abbi Merris, who was named a semifinalist for the James Beard Award honoring the best chef in the Great Lakes region this year.
Bluebeard’s menu changes every day and features a selection of soups, salads, sides and full plates for lunch and dinner. Signature grilled bread and a charcuterie board are available as snacks, and entrees include beef tartare, a hummus plate, shrimp toast and more – at least, among today’s items.
Indy's Best: These 2 Indy-area chefs make James Beard list
Vida
601 New York St., vida-restaurant.com
Checking in at No. 37 on Yelp’s Top 100 U.S. Restaurants 2023 list is Vida, an upscale Indy eatery famous for its multi-course tasting menus. The restaurant opened in 2016 and has earned AAA’s Four Diamond award every year since then.
Vida offers both a four-course dinner and a six-course tasting menu, with dishes that change seasonally and a wine to pair with each one. The restaurant locally sources its ingredients for options like duck breast and wagyu ribeye, and its in-house hydroponic wall of greens produces red onions, beets, apples and more to be used in various dishes.
More: Vida chef Thomas Melvin scores James Beard Awards recognition as best chef semifinalist
Livery
720 N. College Ave., livery-restaurant.com/Indianapolis
Another Yelp-honored restaurant, Latin American-inspired Livery made the cut at No. 91. Livery’s menu features a selection of starters like yuca fries, Spanish olive tapenade and sweet plantains, second courses like skirt steak and paella and a variety of specialty tacos. The Indianapolis location is a repurposed horse stable from the 1890s spanning two stories and accented by a mural that takes up an entire side of the building.
Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza
5646 E. Washington St. and 9165 Otis Ave. in Indianapolis, 401 Market Plaza in Greenwood, jockamopizza.com
The best pizza in the state belongs to Circle City, at least according to Reader’s Digest. The magazine named Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza as Indiana’s top spot in a ranking of each state’s best pizza place.
Perfect pie: Reader's Digest names the best pizza in all 50 states. Here's Indiana's
Jockamo offers starters, salads and sandwiches to add to its host of specialty pizzas. The restaurant’s “hangover pies” incorporate breakfast ingredients like scrambled eggs and potatoes, and a modest dessert menu features house-made carrot cake and key lime pie.
Greek’s Pizzeria
Multiple locations, greekspizzeria.com
We asked, you answered: According to IndyStar’s own Pizza Bracket Challenge, Greek’s Pizzeria has the best slice in the city.
Greek’s is best known for its specialty pizzas, which include a variety of ingredients and are covered with one of the restaurant’s house-made sauces. Chief among the pies is the Greek’s Special, which blends the shop’s signature sauce with a selection of cheeses, Italian sausage, Spanish onions, green bell peppers, baked ham, domestic mushrooms and pepperoni.
Bru Burger Bar
410 Massachusetts Ave. and 8711 River Crossing Blvd., Suite 150, bruburgerbar.com
Reader’s Digest’s reigning Indiana burger champ, Bru Burger Bar, also walked away the winner of IndyStar’s 2020 “Best Things” poll – earning a “best local burger” distinction among readers.
The burger joint blends chuck, sirloin and brisket in its signature patties and uses locally sourced produce to top them off. Reader’s Digest cited the garlic-three cheeseburger – topped with Swiss, mozzarella and American cheese, roasted garlic and truffle aioli – as a highlight, but other menu standouts include the Bourbon (bacon, peppercorn-bourbon glaze, horseradish Havarti cheese), the Mexicali BBQ (queso, pickled Jalape?o, guacamole, fried onion, chipotle barbecue sauce, lettuce, tomato) and the staple Bru Burger (taleggio cheese, bacon, tomato jam, caramelized onion, lettuce, mayo).
Best burger: Bru Burger Bar is home to Indiana's best burger, according to Reader's Digest
Best bakeries in Indianapolis
Sidedoor Bagel
1103 E. 10th St., sidedoorbagel.com
Did you think you'd find one of the best bagels outside of New York City in Indianapolis? According to Bon Appétit magazine, that's exactly what you'll get at Sidedoor Bagel.
Owner Josh Greeson started the business in 2019, selling bagels online while working as an employee at Amelia's bakery in Fountain Square. Sidedoor opened its brick-and-mortar location in 2021. You can't go wrong with one of the sourdough bagels and schmear, but you'd do well to up the ante with a bagel sandwich like the BECCY (Bacon, Egg & Cream Cheese Yo!) or the Turkey Run (your choice of bagel, garlic and herb cream cheese, Fischer Farms smoked turkey, tomatoes, greens and cucumbers).
Midwest vs. East Coast: Can an Indianapolis bagel stack up against New York?
Rise'n Roll Bakery
107 E. New York St. and 1115 E. 86th St., risenroll.com
Rise’n Roll opened its first location in 2004, when the founding Amish couple took their front-porch baking operation to a brick-and-mortar setup. The bakery has since expanded to 16 locations across Indiana.
The Underground Donut Tour tapped Rise’n Roll Bakery for several honors in its America’s Best Donut contest this year. The bakery walked away with nine titles, including greatest cinnamon sugar doughnut (its cinnamon caramel doughnut), greatest cream-filled doughnut (Boston cream) and overall fan favorite.
Signature doughnuts like the Bismarck crunch and the peanut butter filled are bakery staples, but that’s not all it has to offer. Rise’n Roll also sells sandwiches, wraps and salads at the deli as well as Amish goods and a house-made candy crunch.
More: Does this Indiana bakery chain have the best donuts in America? Voters said 'Yes'.
Best hotels in Indianapolis
Bottleworks Hotel
850 Massachusetts Ave., bottleworkshotel.com
Bottleworks Hotel – named Yelp’s best place to stay in the U.S. – defies time. Settled in what was once the largest Coca-Cola bottling plant in the world, the hotel combines classic and modern art and architecture for an experience spanning decades.
Each room at Bottleworks is decorated with art-deco inspired pieces and equipped with luxury amenities. The hotel’s top suite, the Pemberton Penthouse, includes a billiards table, a dry bar and a walk-out veranda overlooking Carrollton Avenue.
Best Indiana hotels: Bottleworks Hotel tops Yelp's list of best places to stay in U.S.
Ironworks Hotel
2721 E. 86th St., ironworkshotelindy.com
The second Indy hotel to make Yelp’s list, the 27th best place to stay in the U.S. is inspired by the industrial architecture of the 19th century.
Ironworks Hotel Indy lies at the intersection of luxury and comfort, according to its website. Each room is accented with brick, wood and other staple of the industrial era, and the top suites offer dual TVs and terraces with fire pits.
Best places to visit in Indianapolis
Indianapolis Children’s Museum
3000 N. Meridian St., childrensmuseum.org
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis has garnered praise from several publications in the last decade, including the New York Times, the Associated Press and Time for Kids. Most recently, USA TODAY/10Best's reader poll voted it the best children's museum in the country.
The museum is the largest children’s museum in the world, spanning 482,950 square feet and housing more than 130,00 objects, according to its website. It was founded in 1925 and has since expanded to a 29-acre facility welcoming more than a million visitors each year.
Plan your visit: Here are six things you should know about the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
4750 W. 16th St., indianapolismotorspeedway.com
Ranked as the second-favorite racetrack in the U.S. among TripAdvisor users, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a must-see.
Open since 1909, the IMS spans 506 acres and hosts famed Indianapolis 500 (which draws more than 300,000 fans each year) and other races in NASCAR and the IndyCar series. Even on days without the engines revving, the speedway is still open for business.
More: Planned $89 million renovation 'a complete reimagination' of IMS Museum experience
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, located just inside the track, offers several tours that take visitors behind the scenes, including a Kiss Bricks Tour that includes a lap around the track and View From The Top tour that culminates on top of the 153-foot-tall Pagoda. Its museum, which houses artifacts and memorabilia from decades of racing history, welcomes visitors every day of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Indianapolis Zoo
1200 W. Washington St., indianapoliszoo.com
Lions, tigers, bears and almost 200 more species make the Indianapolis Zoo one of the best in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report. The publication recently gave it the nod on its list of the best zoos in the U.S., placing it among top-tier zoos in cities like San Diego, Seattle and Philadelphia. The zoo was recognized for both its family-friendly exhibits and its conservation and research efforts.
Conner Prairie
13400 Allisonville Road, Fishers, connerprairie.org
OK, not technically Indianapolis, but worth a mention if you're in the area. The Smithsonian-affiliated living history museum, which offers experiences like 1836 Prairietown, the 1859 Balloon Voyage and various animal encounters, was named USA TODAY/10Best's eighth-best open-air museum in the country.
More: Some of the rarest animals in the world are at a living museum in Central Indiana
Did we miss anything? Contact Holly Hays at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Best Indianapolis restaurants, hotels, experiences