Indianapolis named one of the nation’s ‘most impressive’ cities of 2017

By integrabuildersBlog

After a year full of local accolades and national recognition, Indianapolis landed on one more “best of” list to close out 2017.

Just before the New Year, Thrillist published its round up of the nation’s most impressive cities of the year with the Circle City listed among the other winners. Other cities included Washington D.C.; Denver, Colo.; Houston, Texas; Seattle, Wash.; Atlanta, Ga.; and Las Vegas, Nev.

In his praise of Indy, writer Tim Ebner points out that innovative local chefs have made Central Indiana one of the top food destinations in the United States, and has long ago shed the need to point out that there is more than corn here.

“In 2017 Condé Nast Traveler named Indianapolis the most underrated food city in America. And pretty much anyone and everyone will tell you to eat dinner at Bluebeard and brunch at Milktooth, which was also dubbed the best breakfast in America this year,” Ebner writes. “Thrillist named it among America’s surprisingly excellent food cities, a designation it could probably claim every year, given that it is, after all, Indianapolis.”

He said that much of the credit for Indy's culinary rise is owed to the Hoover family, pointing out that Café Patachou founder Martha Hoover added to her restaurant empire in 2017 with the opening of Crispy Bird, and that David Hoover opened Bar One Fourteen, a 14-seat restaurant "that quickly became the toughest table in town."

But Ebner said that those looking for some of the areas finest grub should be sure to head to Greenwood and Southport where a new crop of restaurants finding homes in strip malls now offer "one of America’s densest pockets of Burmese food."

"Indiana, already home to the largest Burmese population in the US, took on thousands of Rohingya refugees in 2017. They’ve largely settled just south of Indianapolis in an area that’s quickly being called Little Rangoon," Ebner writes. "Visit the family-owned Chin Brothers Restaurant, as well as Kimu Restaurant and Mimi Restaurant for staples, like Mohinga (a Burmese fish soup), as well as Singapore and Hong Kong-style noodles and Australian lamb stew.

"With this array of local and worldly offerings, it really should go without saying, but: truly, enough with the corn jokes already."

Citing IndyStar