Inside any of the six Scotty’s Brewhouses dotting the Indiana landscape, overgrown frat boys never go thirsty. Neon signs cover the walls, and TVs inside bathroom stalls tout “U-call-it” and Bud pitcher nights.
Owner Scott Wise may shout to the masses with Brewhouse. But his Three Wise Men and Lakehouse concepts whisper to the farm-to-fork crowd with words like “organic,” “local,” and “handmade.”
As a 39-year-old entrepreneur employing 1,200 Hoosiers, Wise remains realistic. “I love what restaurateurs like Greg Hardesty and Neal Brown are doing,” he says. But, he adds, Brewhouse’s volume makes regional sourcing tough: “It’s like a factory, man. It cranks out so much food that I would pillage a local farm.” So he started small. At Three Wise Men, the pizza dough is made in-house with beer from the onsite brewery, and pies are topped with meats and cheeses from Smoking Goose, Moody’s, and Swissland. The Lakehouse uses local bread, eggs, and produce. As he prepares to add a Brewhouse in Fort Wayne, we hope Wise’s mindfulness finds its way north.
>> SCOTT WISE’S FAVORITE THINGS
(1) Bike riding: “I’ve ridden my bike, with my dad, three times from San Francisco to San Diego.”
(2) Exercise: “I work out two hours per day, six days a week.”
(3) Chicago road trips: “I love Big Star, Avec, Publican, and Gilt Bar.”
(4) Fantasy football: “I’ve played with 13 college friends for 10 years.”
