The new market, which will also offer catering services, is in a strip center owned by locally based
Centre Properties and anchored by Beauty Brands and Panera.
Restaurateur Paul Murzyn has signed a lease for the 8,700-square-foot, first-floor
space at 201 S. Meridian St., a historic building with luxury condos upstairs.
The Bradenton, Fla.-based First Watch restaurant chain is scoping Indianapolis for franchisees to open as many as a half-dozen
restaurants, a company spokesman said today.
The local eateries are suffering along with everyone else, but those that have
the wherewithal are taking a chance by expanding into bargain-priced locations.
The economic slump is giving independent local restaurants a shot at prime locations that in good times would be snapped up
by chains.
The owner of the popular Broad Ripple Italian restaurant Ambrosia plans to open a location downtown on the first floor of the Hampton Inn along Maryland Street.
New restaurants include Iozzo’s Garden of Italy, slated to open July 17 at 946 S. Meridian St.,
in the former home of Leland’s and Cafe@Ray. The owner’s grandfather in the 1940s owned an
800-seat restaurant of the same name where the Hyatt Regency now stands.
Several local eateries are going through a growth spurt, adding locations despite central Indiana diners’ reputation for being
addicted to national chains. Ironically enough, the expansions could be the first step in transforming the local restaurants
into chains themselves.
Harry & Izzy’s, a spinoff to St. Elmo Steak House slated to open in mid-April at Circle Centre mall, is the city’s most anticipated
new restaurant in years–a casual cousin to St. Elmo,
with lunch service and a wider menu, including salads, pastas and pizzas, along with standbys like the famous shrimp cocktail.
Being an Indianapolis Colts fan doesn’t mean you will necessarily succeed at running a Colts-themed restaurant, but Blue Crew
Sports Grill owners Randy Collins, Dan Dilbeck and Everett Myers aren’t ordinary fans. They are three pillars on which one
of the National Football League’s biggest fan clubs has been built.
Boston-based Dunkin’ Donuts is salivating over the prospect of ringing up big sales in Indianapolis and wants to franchise at least 10 stores here within the next year as part of a national expansion.
