While anticipating being stuck at the Holiday Inn/waterpark on the outskirts of Indianapolis one day, I looked ahead for a good place to eat and read some good reviews about a little place called Pearl Bistro. Not a terrible rating on Yelp, within a few miles of the hotel, and they even offered a Restaurant.com gift certificate at the time (those are no longer available).
The first time I tried to go there for dinner, I found out they’re only open for brunch and lunch on Mondays. Next time I was in Indy, which was quite a few months, I finally got a chance to use my gift certificate and it took me a few tries to find the place because it’s stuck in the back of a strip mall area. Don’t let its location fool you because it’s still a quaint little place with some stained glass windows looking out on a shaded courtyard. Probably 5-8 tables in the whole place. Real small and intimate.
While reading the menu and looking at the small list of options, I was excited to find out the owner of the restaurant left her career as a biologist to pursue her passion in the kitchen. Cool, right? The service was pretty good and I decided to go with a glass of red wine and the ‘Chicken Italiano.” I don’t remember exactly what was in it or how it was prepared, but look at the image above and know that my taste buds could’ve died and gone to heaven it was so tasty!
The menu here is small and always changing by season and based on local ingredients, so don’t expect a real quick meal or very inexpensive pricing. However, it’s a nice place to have a quiet, enjoyable dinner with fantastic tasting food.
[ official site ] [ Yelp ]
