Photograph by Tony Valanis
The majestic Art Deco–inspired Coca-Cola bottling plant along downtown Indianapolis’s Massachusetts Avenue languished for decades after its heyday. But after a $300 million revamp, the 12-acre grounds became the multi-use Bottleworks District in late 2020, home to a boutique hotel, a food hall, an independent movie theater, and an eatery that exudes casual elegance—The Fountain Room. Filled with raised clamshell booths, marble bar tops, and cascading chandeliers, this two-level restaurant playfully bills itself as “Mass Ave’s Finest Supper Club.” (It’s also Mass Ave’s only supper club.)
Executive Chef Andrew Popp merges the best parts of a retro steakhouse with the big-shouldered comfort of a Wisconsin supper club. The menu focuses on family-style sides, freshwater catches, and massive steaks. The lobster bisque alone is worth the drive, silky with sherry and amaretto, every spoonful dredging up mind-blowing amounts of claw meat. The Coca-Cola pork ribs are predictably delicious, a sticky yet refined callback to the Bottleworks bubbly backstory. End your meal with one of the restaurant’s potent cocktails, such as the Fountain Room Classic. Made with Maker’s Mark, Coca-Cola simple, Bohemian Bitters, and Luxardo cherries, it comes with an ice cube embossed with the restaurant’s fountain motif. Classic, indeed.
The Fountain Room, 830 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis, (463) 238-3800
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