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The owner of Mass Ave sushi restaurant FortyFive Degrees is planning a new eatery in a former bank branch west of Riley Towers Apartments.
Bill Pritt said he intends for Harrison’s Restaurant, a concept based on “good portions and fair prices,” to open by spring 2025.
Pritt, who launched FortyFive Degrees in 2008, said Harrison’s, 555 N. Delaware St., will offer affordable dining within two blocks of the Mass Ave cultural district.
According to property records, Pritt purchased the former Regions Bank branch for $1.25 million in February.
Pritt mentioned Marco’s, a casual Italian restaurant that closed at 2380 E. 54th St. in 2021, as an influence on what he has in mind for Harrison’s.
“A lot of these places around Mass Ave that are opening up are kind of pricey,” he said. “I think people miss the simplicity and the fair prices and the good specials.”
Harrison’s will take over a former Regions Bank branch on the southeast corner of the intersection of North and Delaware streets. The building, presently 2,600 square feet, will be enlarged by 1,000 square feet when a kitchen is built, Pritt said.
Beyond FortyFive Degrees, Pritt’s restaurant background includes ownership of bygone sushi spot Blu Martini, 4705 E. 96th St., and frozen yogurt shop Yogulatte, which operated next door to FortyFive Degrees from 2010 to 2019.
With his three-year term as board president of HIV/AIDS service organization Damien Center coming to an end this spring, Pritt said he’s eager to take on a new restaurant project.
“I’ve been very busy with all sorts of neighborhood and [not-for-profit] things,” he said. “I love the food and beverage business.”
Harrison’s will have a capacity of 130 customers inside and a similar number outside, Pritt said. About 40 employees will work at the restaurant, he said.
“I have a wonderful staff,” Pritt said. “Many of them have been with me for a long time and they’re ready to do some new stuff, too. If it was just me ready to do new stuff, I don’t know that I would do it.”
A chef for Harrison’s has yet to be hired, Pritt said.
The restaurant name is a nod to Benjamin Harrison, the U.S. president who lived on the near-north side of Indianapolis, and also a reference to the first name of Pritt’s nephew. Mostly, Pritt said, the restaurant name should represent the city without being too specific.
“I want it to scream, ‘This is a local place,’ ” he said. “But it doesn’t scream a certain food product or beverage product. I was limited at Blu Martini with my clientele. I always tried to sell more food up there, but I never really had success because the name was Blu Martini.”
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I’ve been saying that we need more of these types of restaurants as well. I hope it’s wildly successful.
This is good and I wish them success! I will admit, however, that I was hoping the property would be sold to a developer so we could get rid of this suburban-style bank in Downtown.
Agreed. Between this 1980s mass-market design and that one old hotel building getting threatened to build Indy’s 47th stadium, the latter wins every time.
If we’re going to have to spend money on a Major League soccer stadium can we please take it out of downtown and maybe help revitalize another part of the city?