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Bar and entertainment guide to Indy's best pubs, clubs and live music venues and lounges, from the pros at PubClub.com..

Indianapolis PubClubbing
The Best Bars in the Dynamic Downtown

The fun and friendly people of Indianapolis pound 'em down downtown.

Others in the Midwest like to poke a little fun at Indianapolis by referring to it as "Nap Town," but with 20+ bars in the downtown district and another dozen or so in Broad Ripple, it may be best to twist the phrase around to mean it's going to take a long a nap the next day to recover.

Okay, Indy is no Chicago and it's certainly not New York or Las Vegas. But Cincinatti, Cleveland, St. Louis and other nearby locations need to be served notice that Indiana's capitol city is a capitol place to party.

Indy is trendy but it's also traditional and that's reflected in its diverse downtown locales and lounges.

The bars usually get going by 11 on Fridays and closer to midnight on Saturdays. In fact, lines suddenly pop up at a few places then disappear just as suddenly. Drink 'em if you got 'em is 3 a.m. A few places, the Slippery Noodle among them, have a "carry out" liquor license that allows them to sell unopened bottles of beer to go.

It is not legal to have open containers on the street. Nor is it legal to drink in cabs.

The dress code is largely casual, the lounges largely aside.

Cut loose downtown – so read on about where to do it.

PubClub has surveyed these downtown drinking destinations and provide our favorites for this guide.

But first, we present our "cut to the chase" list of for where to begin, where to spend "transition time" and where to end up at the end of the night.

Start out with one of Eric's self-designed martinis at Olives in the Omni Severin. Our favorite is the rum-dominated Caribbean but he's got a half-dozen others originals as well as the traditionals. Regardless of choice, it provides just the necessary kick to get the evening started off in the proper blissful mood.

Its location by Jackson Street providess the perfect lauching spot for stop #2. Claddagh's Irish Pub is just two doors down. Claddagh's has the most – and about the only – happening after-work crowd. It's a good warmup, or pull up for dinner. Unless the Pacers are playing; in that case head instead to Howl at the Moon on Georgia Street by Conseco Fieldhouse.

One bar is like being at a wedding reception in a German beer hall.

Now, how about a German beer hall? The Rathskeller in the Mass Ave., area, is the call. It has large brews in a large setting. The bar is cozy and in the adjacent area a band plays mostly 70s and 80s dance tunes. This is in a banquet room and with the people dancing and going crazy it feels like being at a wedding reception. In the summer, its outdoor patio is Indy Oktoberfest. The place is so fun it could turn into an all-night affair. (Tip: The Rathskeller can be a bit difficult to find, so take a $5 cab ride here, then walk back to the main part of town.)

Heading back downtown are a couple of stops along Mass. Ave., in the city's Theater District. Mac Niven's Restaurant and Bar is a Scottish pub that can be full but not packed. Any place with Sean Connery's James Bond movie posters – some even autographed – on the wall is a fine place for a couple of pints. The Old Point Tavern is Indy's second-oldest bar. Other than the fact that imports are oddly priced at $3.19 and it's bit smoky inside, there's nothing really much distinguishing about the place. But it's right there for a "transition time" drink on the edge of a cool part of town.

By this time, it should be prime bar time and that means heading back to the main part of town (mainly along Meridian Street) to the bars, dance bars and//or lounges, which are detailed below.

Bars [Downtown Indianapolis Map]

Look for Marylin; she welcomes in patrons to party.

I f it's Thursday, the cool crowd heads to the Theater District's Scholar's, an ecletic but casual wine bar and lounge that features half-priced martinis. The artistic decor alone is worth checking out, as is the menu; it has its own bakery plus it's known for its desserts. Thursday is also a good night at the Indianapolis Art Museum. It's free all day and has a cocktail hour from 5-8. In summer, the party moves oudoors by the fountain. Drinks – some called "artinis" – start at $5 and the adjacent Wolfgang Puck restaurant is open for dinner.

In the main part of downtown, the aforementioned Claddagh's is worth a look just about anytime. This is a multi-room clean Irish bar that can be especialy good later. There's bar seating – and leaning – of course, with several small areas with tables.

Next door on Jackson Street is Ike and Jonesy's. It's like a 50s diner that looks liike it has actually been here since the 50s. It has booths with old pinball machines for the tables, a DJ and small dance floor. It was first reported to us as a place where 30s+ divorcees go to forget their ended marrages. From what we saw, "30s" might be little generous but since it's a glorified dive bar it also brings in some 20-somethings, usually later. This is perhaps the best last call in downtown Indy.

Lounges

It's far from 'icy' in here – this lounge has a warm attitude.

Going upscale in Indy is easy and the swanky place to start is Nicky Blaine's. This old-style cigar lounge, located down a flight of stairs, lets you know its personality the minute the door is opened – there's a definite cigar smell that startles the senses (thankfully, fresh oxygen is pumped in every 20 minutes). Behind the bar are portraits of President Kennedy and President Lincoln. Behind the tables on couches in the main area and two adjacent rooms on either sid are powerhouse people. Or 20s-30s girls who love to stop in for a solid martini or two before – or after – they hit the other downtown bars. There are 30 martinis on the menu, 50 cigars plus signature coffees, scotch and cognac as well as live jazz on weekends. Hit it early, say by 10:30, or otherwise face a line ($5 cover weekends).

That's traditional and this is trendy: Two modern lounges are making theiir mark on Meridian Street at Jackson.

Ice Ultra Lounge is a multi-level lounge not unlike being a guest in really nice apartment. It may not be quite as popular as its next-door neighbor, but there no pretension at or beyond the door. It features a long, cool main area with a DJ and plenty of dance space in the back, beds for relaxing and a third-floor champagne lounge with full bottle service. The first floor is a restaurant with Euro-Asian cuisine and a sushi bar.

6 Lounge is the place to find the city's pro players playing when they are not on the basketball court or football field. It has white leather couches and a cool, hip martini bar-style vibe. And while there may be some "star looking" with athletes and perhaps a few other celebrity types in the place, it could do with a few more cheerleaders.

Dance Spots

Hot dance spots are not plentiful, but provide plenty of partying.

Casual but crazy. That fits the description of the two main downtown dance bars – they're too rustic to be thought of as clubs – Tiki Bob's and Have a Nice Day Cafe. The crowd is mostly young – early and mid-20s – and they are right at home getting sweaty on the dance floor, doing tube shots and enjoying the carefree atmosphere. Since the bars are side-by-side, it's easy to go from one to the other and back again ($5 cover at each). Like most bars in Indianapolis, the place is not fancy, instead having the well-worn feel of many memorable nights. The music is a mix of party tunes and some hip-hop.

There is also Subterra Lounge, a PubClub favorite. It's across the street – talk about easy club-crawling – and down a set of stairs. There emerges a frenzied, friendly environment with fun music, a small dance floor and a room full of happy patrons. Drinkers and dancers here are late 20s to mid-30s, fitting for the decor. And while that decor says "Vegas" the attitude screams "Indy." This is a fun place and is great for meeting people. Above Subterra is the Red Eye Cafe, which gets a decent-sized spillover crowd.

Live Music

Live music in one of the top blues clubs in the US is in downtown Indy.

As much as St. Elmo's Steakhouse is Indianapolis' signature dining destination, the Slippery Noodle Inn is where people in the know go to gobble up live music. This is the oldest bar in Indianapolis, is a former brothel, an alcohol producer during Prohibition and it still has bullets in an old brick wall from when former frequent patron John Dillinger used to take target practice (it's by the back stage). To say the place has character is to say it has damned good live music. Which, frankly, is the whole point here.

The Noodle has live music seven nights a week from some of the Midwest's best rock, blues and jazz performers, as well as select national acts. Rolling Stone magazine named it one of America's Top 10 Blues Clubs There are two stages and when one band is on break, the other one is playing on the other side of the multi-room bar. It has inexpensive drinks by downtown standards ($3.25 domestics, $4.50 imports and half-price on all drinks – including shots – on Thursdays), a down-home feel and a true music-and-blue jeans mentality. There is a $5 cover Thursday-Saturday.

It's rumored to have one of its expired, ahem, "employees" still roaming arond the building from its brothel days. Love it!

Away from downtown is the Music Mill, which attracts many music acts like Appetite for Destruction, George Clinton and Cowboy Mouth. It's located in Clearwater Crossing.

In the Good 'Ol Summertime

In warm weather months, afternoons are spent wastin' away at Rick's Cafe Boatyard on Eagle Creek Reservoir. An outdoor bar, indoor/outdoor restaurant and boat marina make it an ideal place for waterview cocktails. It's not really a pickup place, except perhaps on Saturday or Sunday afternoons and there's no complaining about the view.

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