Tag: Indy
Wildwood Market – Fountain Square, Indianapolis
I’m always looking for something different for lunch when working downtown. One of the many things I love about Indy are all the dining options. It seems like a new one comes online every week so it’s fun scoping them out and adding to them to the rotation. I had lunch with a foodie friend in Fountain Square a couple of months ago. While driving up Virginia Ave, on our way back downtown, we spotted Wildwood Market and had to stop.
If you’re familiar with Locally Grown Gardens in SoBro you should have an idea what to expect at Wildwood. It’s a similar concept where an old Service Station type building has been repurposed as a neighborhood mini-market. What makes these places different from the chain stores (7-11 or Village Pantry) is they specialize in locally sourced items and products with ingredients you can pronounce.
From a sheer number of items, and variety, this place is amazing. Dry goods, meats, cheeses, frozen items, and fresh bread, this place is a MUST VISIT to get all the goodies for your next picnic. Also a good place to pickup holiday treats for the foodies in your life.
A short while back Wildwood started offering a rotating sandwich and salad of the day for lunch. Priced at around $8.00 each and full of all kinds of interesting flavor combinations it was an immediate hit for me! In fact I’m going out there at least once a week to grab a sandwich and eat it on site (several seating options) or back at the office when things are hectic. Wildwood Market posts today’s specials on their Facebook Page every day around 11am so you have something to think about for the next hour.
Today’s Lunch Sandwich: Pastrami, Peppered Smoking Goose Bacon, Cabot Extra Sharp White Cheddar, Roasted Poblano, Creamy Red Pepper Vinaigrette, Mixed Greens On Rye Bread.
Pair that with a bag of McClure’s Spicy Pickle potato chips and an Oatmeal Pecan Carmel Cookie for dessert you have a great meal for around $12.50 (enough to split with a friend if you’re a light eater).
A word of warning. The sandwiches and salads are first-come first-served and when they’re gone they’re gone. I always try to get there by 12:30pm and have yet to walk out empty handed. I really need to start trying the salads as they have some great combinations as well but I can’t quote get over how good those sandwiches are!
Wildwood is open Mon – Sat 10AM – 8PM. They do a special breakfast dish as well as lunch on Saturday.
Have you been here? What did you think? Post your feedback below.
Wildwood Market
1015 Virginia Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46203
Shapiro’s Pastrami
A picture says a thousand words.
2014 Mass Ave Criterium
Took the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful weather today and head Downtown to watch some of the Mass Avenue Criterium races. It runs from Noon until around 9PM with all levels of racing including some public rides on the closed course.
As usual I had camera in hand & captured some of the action as well as some of the sights around the area.
Indianapolis Photo Walk – May 2014
Decided to take advantage of the nice weather today to venture downtown and see what I could find to shoot. I mainly focused on the Circle and Mass Ave. areas. Need to spend some time in the other areas of downtown and see what else I can find!
Strange Sight Downtown
Looking out the break room window today before lunch and there were hundreds if people getting ready to do Yoga on the south side of Monument Circle.
Turns out it was the “Monumental Yoga on the Circle” event by The Athenaeum Foundation.
Downtown Indy – California Pizza Kitchen
First of all I’d like to say “Welcome Back” to California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) after a long absence from Indianapolis. When the Keystone at the Crossing location closed we started missing the BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad immediately. We were randomly rewarded with that dish when we made it down to Texas or Water Tower Place in Chicago but that was few and far between…
The new CPK location in Circle Center Mall downtown is great. It took the place of Alcatraz and my sentiments appear to be shared by many online when I say this is a HUGE upgrade for the space. With a mix of indoor and outdoor seating CPK seats around 200 guests and does not seem that big (it’s only utilizing the ground floor of the 2-floors occupied by Alcatraz). It’s not a quiet place by any means so prepare yourself for some noise. The open kitchen can be seen from just about ever table as well.
We arrived around 6:30 on a Friday night & had a 5-10 minute wait before being seated. Initial service was prompt and courteous and our drink/app orders were placed. Service started getting a little slow after that. Nothing ridiculous but you could tell they were still getting everything working smoothly.
We ordered the following:
- Bang Bang Shrimp
- Kids Pizza – Pepperoni, Sausage & Mushroom (Son)
- Wild Mushroom Pizza with Chicken (Me)
- Kung Pao Spaghetti (Daughter)
- BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad minus Cilantro add avocado (Wife)
The shrimp appetizer was delivered quickly and was identical to when you get a PF Changs and Bonefish. It was just large enough for the four of us to each get a few bites. So far so good.
After a while three of the four entrees was delivered with the salad, of all things, being over 5 minutes behind the pizza and pasta. Once delivered it looked (and tasted) great. Kind of odd that the only cold item ordered took the longest to receive.
The Kids pizza was quickly devoured and reported to be great. The wild mushroom pizza lacked salt but once added was very tasty. The crust was tender and flavorful just like I remember it.
The Kung Pao Spaghetti was the surprise dish at the table. It was loaded with spice and surrounded by dried red chilies. The pasta was cooked perfectly.
The BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad looked and tasted great. Even with 3 of us sampling it my wife had about 1/2 left to bring home for the next day.
Overall I’m going to give CPK a 4 out of 5. The food was good but the service was just a little off. We’ll be making repeat visits, there’s no doubt about that, & hope to see the timing improve.
West Coast Tacos
People living on the east and west coasts have had the luxury of food trucks for years. In 2010 this concept, that’s all but unknown in the Midwest, came to Indianapolis. West Coast Tacos, managed by Arnold Park, John Ban & Trent Davis, has hit the city by storm.
The group uses Social Media to spread the word about their ever changing locations and menu items. The Twitter/Facebook feeds also provide a platform for their growing fan base to sing their praises and communicate with the staff.
The West Coast Tacos truck can regularly be found in Broad Ripple catering to the late night crowd; sometimes staying open as late (or early) as 3am. Other times they are roaming the city streets setting up at various locations for the lunch crowd. I wonder how many customers they recognize from one shift to the other…
I was fortunate enough to have West Coast Tacos at my workplace for lunch a while ago & was very happy with their offerings. In that case it was 3 soft tacos with their ever popular salsa. My second visit was in Fishers shortly after the debut of the Fried Rice Burrito. It was even better than expected!
West Coast Tacos definitely fills a niche in the Indy food scene and I hope to see more innovation like this in Central Indiana. The possibilities are endless for would be entrepreneurs, from BBQ to Pizza to Chinese food. The food truck has grown up and is bringing some fun and excitement to the area. Welcome guys & best of luck!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_truck