The Bulldog Tavern’s SoBro loss is Marrakesh Moroccan’s gain. Since pinball/hockey bar The Sinking Ship went under mid-pandemic, the big restaurant space at 4923 N. College Ave. has been dark. Back in 2022, we noticed the Bulldog Tavern had applied for a liquor permit at the address but saw no movement after that. Fast forward to the present, and Axios reports Marrakesh Moroccan, a spot promising “good Moroccan food and a great atmosphere,” is gearing up for launch “soon,” with the Bulldog currently in the process of transferring that long-dormant booze permit to Marrakesh owner Fouad Zoubaa.
Ten Cuts just made the southern suburbs a little meatier. The locally owned Brazilian churrascaria at 1001 N. State Road 135 in Greenwood (317-319-8625) held its grand opening last week, with all-inclusive pricing of $55.95 per adult on the weekends, $49.95 Monday–Thursday. (Kids 6-12 dine for $23.95; those under 6 eat for free.) An opening night guest tells me the restaurant easily rivals bigger chains such as Fogo de Chão and Terra Gaucha, which is high praise indeed.
Paris Baguette has big Indy plans. The South Korean bakery chain has franchisees in several surrounding states but has yet to crack the Indiana market. That’s set to change, says a representative for East Coast–based restaurant owner Wei Zhu, who owns PB outposts in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Zhu now expects to bring four Paris Baguettes to Zionsville, Carmel, Fishers, and Greenwood and is scouting exact locations as we speak.
Oregon-based drive-thru coffee shop The Human Bean just opened a second Indy location. The company, which is known for its compact, kiosk-like booths, opened its first Indianapolis shop with local franchisee Melinda Rowan in 2021. Rowan also owns the new outpost, which opened Wednesday at 10545 Pendleton Pike.
TeeJay’s Sweet Tooth has closed for good. The inventive ice cream shop at 8660 Purdue Rd. was known for wild mashups like a cotton candy burrito and a doughnut ice cream sandwich, making it a destination for folks who like their sweets with a side of creativity. In a Facebook post, owners Taylor DeBruce and Jerome Tiah say, “The decision to close has not been an easy one, but we believe it is the right step for us at this time.”
Turchetti’s Salumeria wants to become a household name. George Turkette, the founder of the much-loved meat company at 1801 S. East St., tells the Star he’s seeking investors to scale the company into a national wholesale business, stocking sandwich shop and grocery store shelves around the country. Turkette says competing with big brands such as Boar’s Head and Applegate Farms has always been his goal, hence the closure of his popular Fountain Square deli, also named Turchetti’s Salumeria, last fall to focus on the meatpacking game.
La Margarita has officially shut its Fountain Square doors. We’ve known since January that Indy’s longest-running family-owned Mexican restaurant was set to shutter its current location, but that didn’t make the handwritten note taped to its front door any less jarring this week. The brand is set to reemerge inside a food court in the still-under-construction Factory Arts South building at 1011 Massachusetts Ave.; its owners say they’ll also open Daisy Bar, once a spinoff of the main La Marg business, in the Factory Arts structure this spring.
The Sanitary Diner will spring back to life. Once owned by referral service Angie’s List, the retro diner has stood empty since 2018, when the startup vacated its huge Elevator Hill campus. Per Historic Indianapolis, Angie’s List moved the 1937-built structure to the Cruse St. parking lot in 2010, where it served employees of the company only. The prefab building is set to open to the public for the first time this century, developer 1820 Ventures announced this week, reborn as another location of LiftOff Creamery, an ice cream shop with locations downtown and in Irvington and Greenwood. That isn’t the only sweet plan for the area, as pop-up bakery Three Dolls & Co. is plotting a storefront just around the corner at 1008 E. Washington St., opening date TBD.
