The restaurant list that gets shared every year is a great place to start, but I thought this might be a good supplement that can go into a little more depth.
I’ve broken the list into two sections: convenient to the con and worth a short uber ride. I know both types of places serve a purpose on gen con weekend, so I wanted to do my best to provide a good list that encompasses both convenience and quality.
Ram Brewery is the unofficial off-site hangout of gen con. The restaurant will be almost 100% gen con attendees during convention weekend, and pretty much anyone who is attending the con will feel at home here. Even though the restaurant in huge, it will be packed almost the entire day. One of the nice things is that there is both a “restaurant” side and a “bar” side. Bar seating is always packed, but it is open seating so you might be able to score a quick table if you keep a watchful eye. Ram is also super popular because it’s one of the closest restaurants to the convention center. If you’d rather wait for a table than walk a further distance, this is a great spot for you.
The food and beer here is good, but it’s pretty standard. If you were only going here for the food, it would be pretty hard to recommend during gen con just because of the crowd. However, Ram really sets itself apart during the con because they will do a themed menu, drink specials, and will play themed movies on the TVs instead of standard news/sports. I’ve seen everything from Spiderman the Animated Series to Troll 2 on the TVs during my time there. It’s a really fun experience to pony up to the bar and talk to other con attendees, check out the cosplay, and drink one of their huge mugs of beer. If you can get a seat, it’s hard to beat.
Steak and Shake is on this list for three main reasons: it’s cheap, it’s very close to the con, and it’s open 24 hours. Burgers, shakes, shoestring fries. If you’ve never been, I recommend you get cheese sauce on your fries and their milkshakes really are very good.
Patachou is a great breakfast / lunch spot as long as you have the right expectations. The food is amazing, but you’re not going to find your typical greasy-spoon menu here. Instead, you’ll find some of the best omelets you’ve ever had (I highly recommend the “Hippie with a Benz”), and amazing coffee to boot. One of the things I love about this place is that they have a coffee bar for those dining in where you walk up and fill your own coffee. There are usually 3-5 options at any given time. Also, their cinnamon toast is stuff of legend in Indy. If you have a sweet-tooth, it’s a must-order.
If Patachou sounds too fancy for your taste, you might find yourself more interested in Yolk. This restaurant will have a much more traditional breakfast diner menu, but all the food is high quality and done right. They have two locations near the con – the one with the shorter walk is likely to me more crowded, but they are both very easily walkable. They serve breakfast all day, but also have a lunch menu with good sandwich options.
Napolese is owned by the same woman who runs Patachou, and you’ll find the same quality here. This is some of the best pizza in the city, hands-down. You’re going to find wood-fired pizza here with all kinds of interesting toppings, and I highly encourage you to be adventurous. Everything they put on the menu just works. It’s also a fun place to go and enjoy wine because you can order by the quartino which gives you a great way to try and share different wines with your group without breaking the bank.
Yard House is my #1 place to go during Gen Con due it’s proximity to the con, the quality of the menu, and most importantly how easy it is to get a seat. You’re getting upscale pub food here, and the menu is huge. Also, I’ve never once had to wait for a table here during gen con. That’s not because the food is bad, it’s because this place is ENORMOUS. Also – Yard House has one of the best food happy hour’s in the city – half-off appetizers from 3:00 – 6:00 pm – and they have some amazing stuff on the happy hour list. If this place gets crowded during the con after writing this, I’m going to be very sad.
Nada is right next door to Yard House and offers some great Mexican Fusion food. Notice I said Mexican Fusion. What does that mean? It means you are going to get a lot of stuff on the menu you’re not used to seeing at a Mexican restaurant, and also that they will charge you more. However, in this case the restaurant itself is very cool, the food (especially the queso) is very good, and it’s really nice that you can walk here easily from the con and not have to endure a long wait.
St. Elmo’s is definitely Indy’s most famous restaurant. If it’s good enough for Ron Swanson, it’s good enough for you. St. Elmo’s is a very traditional steakhouse with top-notch food and service. However, their shrimp cocktail definitely makes the restaurant stand out and it’s absolutely a must-try for spicy food lovers. The cocktail sauce served here is 1) delicious and 2) will make you cry for your mommy. It’s crazy spicy (horseradish spicy, no pepper spicy), but works so damn well.
Harry & Izzy’s and Burger Study are included here as well. They are both run by the same owners, and all the restaurants are on the same block. Though each restaurant has it’s own menu, you can get the signature shrimp cocktail at all 3 locations. St. Elmo’s is best for a memorable dinner with an amazing steak, and burger study is best for lunch at the con that will feature an amazing burger and give you the chance to try the shrimp. Harry & Izzy’s fits nicely in between.
Weber Grill is a cool experience because everything is cooked on charcoal Webber grills. As you can imagine, this restaurant smells very good. I like to include this place because you can get a good burger or steak here, but it doesn’t draw the same crowds on con weekend as some of the other burger / steakhouses downtown.
Disclosure: Chatham Tap is my favorite bar in the city. Around here it’s known for being a soccer bar, but that’s just half the story. I’m not even a soccer fan and it still blows all the other bars out of the water. First, the food is WAY better than you’re expecting. Chatham has the best wings in Indianapolis, and I WILL FIGHT ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE. They also have amazingly good pizza and sandwiches. It’s nothing fancy, and I mean that in a good way.
Sitting at the bar at Chatham also just can’t be beat. The bartenders are all friendly, and it’s just a great place to relax and have a beer. If you want to go away from the con crowd for a bit, do yourself a favor and check this place out.
Forty Five Degrees in a great seafood / sushi restaurant in it’s own right. It has super modern décor and has been friendly to the LGBTQ community since it opened. However, the absolute best part of this restaurant is the killer special it runs on Sundays: from 3 pm to close, their entire sushi menu is half-off. The sushi rolls here are works of art, and man are they delicious. Coming here for half price sushi is one of the best deals in town, and is a GREAT way to end your gen con weekend.
Our group usually comes here on the closing Sunday of Gen Con to relax, recap the week, and have some great sushi. I believe you are required to order 1 drink per person to take advantage of the sushi discount.
MacNiven’s is another great neighborhood bar that successfully avoids up-charging or coming off as pretentious. They have traditional offerings like scotch eggs, bangers & mash, and haggis. However, I’d highly recommend their angus burger if you’re looking to try something different and tasty. The burger comes out as flat as a pancake and as big as your plate. You have to fold it over 3 times to get it onto the bun, and doing so turns it into this juicy burger that just hits all the right buttons.
Milktooth is probably Indy’s most awarded restaurant, and it’s well deserved. The food is out of this world. Having said that, there are a few things you should know. First, it’s REALLY busy on weekend mornings so definitely plan to wait if you are trying to secure a brunch slot. Also, it’s incredibly hipster. Like, the most hipster place I have ever been. If you don’t have a moustache or a tattoo of a moustache, you might feel out of place. If you can’t stand that vibe, steer clear. If you can handle that vibe, their biscuits alone make me weep soft tears of fatty joy.
Tappers is an amazing arcade bar that offers free-play arcade games and 25 cent pinball. It’s the perfect way to end a long day at the con. Also, if you’ve been here before, it’s time to visit again! Tappers just finished an expansion that nearly doubled the size of the bar, and added a ton of new arcade cabinets and pinball machines. They also now have retro console stations, trivia every Wednesday, and tournaments on a weekly basis. Finally, they added a full liquor license instead of just serving beer so you can get great cocktails too.
Unlike a lot of other "barcades" I've been to, Tappers stands out by actually taking good care of their machines. In all the times I've been there, I've never experienced mushy buttons, sticks messed up by beer spills, etc.
At this point almost everyone who attends Gen Con is familiar with Sun King. They brew the official beer each year, and they have a tent on Georgia Street just outside the convention. That’s great and all, but if that’s your only experience with Sun King, you’re definitely missing out. I highly recommend you go check out their brewery. There’s plenty of seating inside to get out of the heat, there’s a metric shit-ton of stuff on tap that is rotating regularly, and they now have an amazing food stand inside the brewery. The food stand, called “Oca,” offers amazing sandwiches, sausages, and pretzels.
They also recently re-did their seating and added a bunch of long tables that a perfect for gaming. They have a few games in the brewery for you to use, but this would also be a great spot to bring a game and hang out for several hours.
Find yourself running low on cash because you spent everything in the exhibitor’s hall within two hours of the con opening? Fear not. Loco is like a beacon shining on a hill ushering you into its safe arms. Also those arms are stuffed to the brim with queso, chorizo, and tacos al pastor.
Seriously. This place is a few miles away from the con, but you can’t beat the quality to price ratio. Everything on the menu is tasty and under $12. Plus, they have $2 domestic beers (you read that correctly) and strong margaritas that you can order by the pitcher.
Rook is right next to Tappers, so it’s a great 1-2 punch to eat at Rook and then go to Tappers for drinks. Rook has an ever-changing menu, but everything on it is just damn good. I have often made a meal out of the steamed buns alone, but their ramen and rice dishes are both crowd pleasers as well.
The food might seem a but pricey, but I promise it’s worth every penny. This is one of the best restaurants in the city.
Union 50 is my favorite place in Indy for a nice dinner out, and it has one of the coolest atmosphere’s in the city. It is definitely on the “upscale” side of the spectrum, so you will feel out of place if you show up here is cosplay, etc. However, if you want an awesome meal in a super comfy atmosphere, Union 50 rocks.
The menu is nice because you can get a traditional entrée, or you can make your own meal with all of their small plates / truffle fries / poutine. They also have live music starting at 9 pm.