4 best Indy restaurants we wish made USA TODAY's Restaurants of the Year

For the third year, USA TODAY Network food writers from across the country have looked inward (and downward, to their stomachs) to compile a Restaurants of the Year list representing a diverse array of peak flavors.

Bluebeard, long revered as one of Indianapolis' finest dining destinations, earned the nod for the Circle City, following Mass Ave Thai bistro and cocktail bar Bodhi in 2025 and upscale eatery Tinker Street the previous year (for this reason, Bodhi and Tinker have been exempted from this list). But Bluebeard is by no means the only Indy-area restaurant serving exemplary, inspired food. Presented in alphabetical order, here are five spots we'd have been happy to see named one of the Restaurants of the Year.

Center cut ribeye, featuring Scotland Bridge Mill’s Bloody Butcher’s grits, macadamia nuts, and berry marscapone, $51, from Tinker Street on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2025, in Indianapolis.

9th Street Bistro

Noblesville is hardly in the middle of nowhere — true "small towns" don't have massive cuboid G League stadiums plopped in the center of their cornfields — but it still feels somewhat remarkable that a place like 9th Street Bistro would exist right in the city's quintessentially Americana downtown. But that's where chef Samir Mohammad and his wife, Rachel Firestone Mohammad, set up shop in 2021. Ever since they have pushed customers' comfort zones with a globally inspired menu.

With decades of experience at acclaimed restaurants across the United States, resorts in Indonesia and a handful of Coast Guard galley kitchens in between, Samir curates seasonal menus that balance international intrigue with Midwest comfort. Rachel helms the ever-helpful front of house crew, stewarding diners in the restaurant's eclectically decorated 35 seats through unfamiliar territory like foie gras meatloaf and funky fish flake tarts. There are plenty of familiar flavors to be found, too, but if you've gone to the trouble of snagging a reservation, I say you might as well take a swing on something new.

Beholder

Chef Jonathan Brooks didn't invent the concept of putting things like oysters and Wagyu steak on the same menu as potato skins and a patty melt, but he sure does a good job of it. There's a choose-your-own-adventure element to Beholder, whose revolving offerings in the past year have included a lovely shaved kohlrabi salad with pork belly vinaigrette, Iberian pork with tamarind sauce and a fried onion-topped meatloaf bánh mì ostensibly designed for a hyper-specific sandwich enthusiast (me, for example). There's seemingly no dish too ambitious or too geographically far-flung for Beholder; even better, chances are you'll still be able to order it with a side of fries and some house-made ice cream for dessert.

Delicia

Delicia's menu probably won't win over many purists of Mexican and Central American food. That said, Delicia's menu absolutely can win over anyone who deeply loves Mexican and Central American food. If you can set aside hardline scruples about what certain traditional dishes should look like, you're in for an excellent meal at this broadly Latin-inspired SoBro spot. Beautifully browned Venezuelan corn cakes and bits of grilled Spanish octopus with herby, lemon-spritzed potatoes headline the appetizers, while the birria short rib with crispy rice, peanuts and pepper strips in semi-sour cream delivers pretty much every flavor you could want in a hefty entrée. Just as I'm deeply grateful for the many taco trucks and carnicieras that sell simply adorned corn tortillas for $4 a pop, I'm glad Delicia exists as a place where one can enjoy a big, fancy dinner with plenty of the same flavors, albeit with comfortable seating and a fair bit more tequila.

Oakleys Bistro

No conversation about the evolution of Indianapolis' dining scene is complete without Oakleys Bistro, which has plated up ambitious, genre-pushing food in the same northwest-side strip mall since 2002 under chef Steven Oakley. The veteran chef's expertise shines both in straightforward bites like his renowned shrimp corn dogs, as tasty as they are charming, or any number of dishes that somehow take a new angle on a flavor you'd swear had already been done to death (imagine: pork belly, but you scoop it on bread). If you haven't made it to Oakleys, consider this a wake-up call. Whatever you enjoy about your favorite ritzy spot, there's a solid chance Oakleys has already been doing it for decades.

For more standout Indianapolis restaurants — including several that are a smidge more affordable — check out our list of Indy's 21 defining restaurants.