3316 E. 86th St.
Indianapolis, Indiana
Rating: **
It is sort of an annual tradition that I get together with my father and brother and Indianapolis roommate this time of year to celebrate their birthdays in style at some obscenely expensive steakhouse. This year we decided to hit the newest entry on the Indianapolis beef scene - Sullivan's Steakhouse. This is one of the first in a new chain owned by the same folks as Lone Star Steakhouse. I'll admit that their pedigree had me a bit worried about quality and I didn't care for the fact that it is a chain. But hey, Morton's and Ruth's Chris each have over 30 locations, so it's hard to count that against them. Plus this place had gotten stellar reviews in the local media - though with the rampant grade inflation in Indianapolis reviews, this really did not count for all that much.
It is a bit disconcerting to walk into Sullivan's. The place is located in a fairly non-descript outlot building in front of the Keystone at the Crossing mall on the North Side. The building is plopped down right in the middle of a parking lot (though Sullivan's still has valet parking - figure that one out), and you are expecting something to strip mall-esque. But the inside is very upscale. Soft jazz music (taped, not live) fills the air. Pictures of boxers adorn the wall. (The place is named after former heavyweight champ John L. Sullivan). There is lots of dark wood trim and detail work on the walls and ceiling. My brother said that the place looked like it was really old. They were definitely trying for that feel, but the decor is just a little too polished to really have been around that long.
We had a reservation and were seated promptly. Though the restaurant was packed the whole time we were there, the line in front never got too long. A tribute to the staff. Still, showing up without a reservation would probably not be a good idea.
The special soup of the night was French Onion - one my absolute favorites - and we each had a bowl. Dare I say it was spectacular. I was beginning to believe that this place might live up to its billing. Unfortunately, the soup proved to be the highlight of the meal. The rest of the appetizers did not impress. The shrimp cocktail was standard and the crab cakes tasted a bit like bits of compressed Stove Top stuffing without the flavor.
Salads were complementary - and the only thing that did not come a la carte. The standard salad is a wedge of lettuce with their homemade blue cheese dressing. A couple people had that, but I substituted the tomato and onion salad (and then to compound matters subtituted blue cheese for the stanard vinagrette dressing). When my father heard this he got the same. The straight ahead lettuce did not impress those who had it. My tomato salad was ok, but Sullivan's used diced onions instead of whole slices - an almost inexcusable lapse. The blue cheese dressing was very good however. The mild flavor complemented the tomatoes nicely.
Moving on to the main event, the steaks (wet aged Black Angus) were about what I expected. They were big and full of flavor. Mine was prepared a perfect medium rare, but my brother had ordered his well done and got something that looked a lot closer to mine than it should have. He ate it without complaint. While the steaks were good, they did not really jump out and grab me. This could be because I'm getting jaded after eating at so many different steak places, but I rather doubt it. This place just isn't in the major leagues with their cuts of beef. It is still definitely a few steps up from Lone Star though.
The side dishes were pretty uninspiring. The sauteed mushrooms were good, but not that good. The horseradish mashed potatoes should probably be chalked up as a failed experiment (and I'm a huge horseradish fan). I would rate the creamed spinach as above average.
Dessert was a highlight. We had souffles. Honest to goodness souffles that you have to order 45 minutes in advance. We got one chocolate and one Gran Marnier to split and both were spectacular. A not to be missed part of the meal.
When the check came, my father grabbed it before I could, so I don't know what the total damage was. But I'm sure it was astronomical. This place bills itself as being cheaper than other premium steak places, but if they are, it's not by much. Especially not for some items. The lobster tail price that night was $50, more expensive than I've seen almost anyplace else.
All in all, I would have to say that a person is going to splurge, go to Ruth's Chris or St. Elmo's instead. Both are clearly a cut above Sullivan's are in the same price range. I only recommend Sullivan's if you're just too sick and tired of the other places to go there again.
Now that's a nice problem to have if I've ever seen one.
For more information on the topic of beef, you can check out my page devoted to Chicago steakhouses.
Sullivan's Steakhouse
3316 E. 86th St.
Indianapolis, Indiana
(317) 580-1280
Genre: Steakhouse
Rating: **
Price: Entrees about $25
Reservations: Required
Credit Cards: Yes
For an explanation of the ratings, see the rating system page.
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