Rathskeller

September 18, 2008
Visited on a Tuesday evening and sat at the bar. Big place with multiple dining areas. Cool old bar area with high ceilings with german and beer flags on the wall. Bar is a bit small. Beer selection focuses on Germans and is entirely european save the swill. Some good beers but nothing rare. They did have 5 organics available if that’s your thing. Beer prices are not cheap. Food consists of the usual german menu suspects with more traditional american fare. Food quite pricey for what it is and while not bad the german items I had were not amazing.

April 4, 2008
Have been here numerous times and always a good time. Very good beer selection, fantastic German food, attentive, prompt service, fun bartenders, relaxing atmosphere, and definitely worthy of a visit even if German food isn’t your kind of food.Just go for the beer.

January 30, 2008
Eh...too trendy a place for me, really. I hate crowds, and this place is PACKED on the weekends, even the outside area (on a cool night you will still be sweating buckets from the body heat alone). Outrageous prices, so-so food, terrible service every time I go. They also charge my credit card a tip every time I go. I don’t mind tipping, but don’t appreciate a 25% tip automatically charged to me when my party is only two people. They have some really really good beers on tap, but everything else ruins it, especially when I belong to the private bar across the street.

January 22, 2008
My kind of place...easily my favorite bar/restaurant. Greatest beer on tap (Spaten Optimator) - Unbelieveable food, authentic feel and very charming. The gem of Indianapolis. Someday/Somehow my brother and I plan to buy this place...but I won’t change a thing!

June 8, 2007
Corner building with street parking in front and lot parking in back. Clean older brick building with bar on on the lowwe level with the bar on the left and tables on the right for food and beverages. Large beer patio area in back with a stage. German beer list of bottles and on tap. All were solid drinkable brews. Freindly bartender. Did not eat, but the menu of German foods looked very good. Good location and I will stop again.

May 17, 2007
What an unusual stop. It’s like the basement of an old high school or church. I went there on a Monday night, so it was kinda slow, but my guide, Ali, indicated that it turned into a meat market at other times. Just had one beer, but the biergarten was second only to the Penn Brewery in Pitt. The cold sausage sampler with cheese was killer - the braunschweiger is tremendous. My buddy got the hot sausage sampler - which I bludged from - and the franks were stellar. Highly recommended. I did have to give the barkeep a hard time about getting a real beer glass to take out onto the biergarten. He said something about ’no glass’ and I pointed out that the bottle that I was going to be pouring from was glass -- he let me slip after his intellectual dishonesty was manifest -- I guess the owners are kinda stingy with regards to their glassware.

January 21, 2007
Very excellent German restaurant. The Faust-themed fireplace makes for a fun and interesting atmosphere. Good selection of beer. Excellent food.

July 16, 2006
Very fun atmosphere, and free bands in the biergarten. Also, service is quick and friendly. Good selection of German beers, but the big negatives come from the prices ($6.75 for approx. 16oz of common german beers like Warsteiner and Weihestephaner). Also, food is way overpriced (although I only tried a couple of side dishes, which were decent tasting).

October 16, 2005
Atmospher is great. It is in a very old brick building just off of downtown Indianapolis. Very tall ceilings, europen banners, and trophy heads mounted on the walls. They serve good german fod and have a great list of German beers on tap and in bottle. Additionally they have a nice selection of Belgian beer on tap and bottle and a sizeable English beer list. A huge outdoor beer garden complete with a shelled stage where they often have live bands. The beer garden is even open in the winter by the addition of a large tent, fireplaces, and heaters. Highly recomended if you are in Indianapolis and looking for a great beer bar.

June 27, 2005
Decent German food and a nice selection of beers. They even have a couple of contract brews of their own. A large open space in the back where they have live music many nights. Fun place, but plastic cups when you are outside.