Indianapolis advice needed...

The wife and I are spending a few days in Indy in late Oct.-early Nov. We are staying at the Union Station hotel. What are some places we need to visit, some good eating options etc. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I love downtown Indy, so I'd go there.

 

The St. Elmo.
The Slippery Noodle for post-Elmo libations.
That is all.
(Oh, the zoo's pretty cool, too.)

 

You will be within walking distance of a tremendous corned beef on rye sandwich. A bit pricey ($9.60) but well worth it. Joint is called Shapiro's. On McCarty St. about 3 blocks from the new Lucas Oil Stadium.

Rumor has it they have a pretty good football team there too. If you have money to blow, New England visits Colts on 11/4 in what may the game of the year in the NFL.

 

One of the best damned corned beef sammiches I've ever had. I'm hungry for one just thinking about it.

 

On the other side of downtown from your hotel on Massachusetts Avenue, there's a good pizza joint called Bazbeaux's. Get the Quattro. There's also a lot of boutiquey type bars and restaurants on Mass Ave. (including Scholar's Inn, etc.)

After I moved from Milwaukee, I lived in Indy for years and am there frequently now. Most of its good restaurants are spread all over the place, the city is really sprawled out. Indy is also notably bereft of neighborhood-ish type places I was used to in Wisconsin, but there's a few out there. The Acropolis on the south side, for example. Iaria's just southeast of downtown, etc.

For lunch, hit the City Market on the east side of downtown. Lots of places to choose from. Old timey atmosphere.

Broad Ripple is the chosen destination for bars, I've probably drank in all of them at some point. The Alley Cat and Casbah were my favorites, not even sure if the Casbah is around anymore. You'll need a cab, it's about 3 miles north of downtown Indy.

Make sure you visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, if possible. Even if you're not into racing, the sheer size of it will blow your mind.

 

I'm sure the locals hate it, but what's that brewpub downtown -- Alcatraz? I recall getting some damn good food there.

 

If you're into college sports, the NCAA Hall is a must-see.

 

I don't want to look it up, but IMS does a full-on tour during certain times of the year when you get to walk on the track, kiss the yard of bricks, go up in the scoring pagoda, etc. It's $25 a person, but pretty cool to do. They do offer on-track bus tours year round, I think.

My favorite place to eat was Arni's up on Michigan and 86th. But that was just me. I lived on the west side near the speedway.

 

Good god I miss Arni's. And Arni was a huge Cubs fan, which is nice.

 

If the Mrs. is into shopping, Indy has Circle Centre Mall... it's one of the better downtown shopping destinations in the Midwest and has plenty of good restaurants. Bertolini's is good (Italian, owned by the Morton's Steakhouse group) and so is Champps.

Weber Grill is a great place to eat. If you've been to Chicago, there's a few in that city and the food is excellent.

No shortage of things to do in downtown. They seem to have a handle on how to do it right.