Dining Out: St. Joseph Brewery (Downtown Indianapolis, IN)

 

As a testament to the quality of the St. Joseph menu, here's a shot of my 2YO eating their beer cheese dip straight out of the bowl with a spoon

Exterior: 5/5

Entrance seen from the sidewalk

The interior entrance, still sporting beautiful stained glass

The St. Joseph Brewery & Public House was founded, according to their website, in 2015. The building in which they're housed is much older - it's a former church built in 1879 and the cornerstone was laid by Bishop Silas Chatard himself. The space served various religious purposes over the years, and the old-school Catholic beauty still marks the outside and the interior of the restaurant. You don't get a great glimpse of the whole facade unless you walk a little way away, because it's tall, but even the bit you see right from the sidewalk is pretty.

Ambience: 4/5

The main dining area

The choir loft can be rented for events

Lots of space at the bar, too

Given its original purpose, the main dining area in St. Joseph is cavernous. The ceiling is high, the floor is wide, and there's lots of room to maneuver between tables. We got there at around 11:30am on a Saturday and there were only a couple of other parties in the restaurant, but by the time we left things were getting a lot more packed. Even with all the people, though, you felt like you had all the space in the world around you. The only thing about the interior that raised my eyebrow was that there were boxes sitting around in public view, kind of stuffed into former church fixtures but still very much visible in a way that distracted from the majesty of the place. Other than that, it was a joy to be there.

Variety: 5/5 

The Italian Sandwich

Chicken Caesar Crunch Wrap

St. Joseph is a brewpub, and you're going to get brewpub food here: pizza, tacos, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and a grab bag of entrees. The thing is that it's INTERESTING brewpub food. Like, the starters include Crab and Goat Cheese Jalapenos. Pizzas include a Fig Jam & Prosciutto offering. There's a Lamb Burger and another burger with pastrami and tonkatsu sauce. You can get whipped feta on toast from the sandwich selection. One of the entrees is meatloaf, but it's made with bison. Like, this is cool food. They take the standard offerings of their genre and add their own flair - neat stuff.

Quality: 5/5

Beer Cheese & Bavarian Pretzel Starter

Beer Flight

Every single thing we tried here was really good. We were especially impressed with the quality of the little things: The mustard dip that came with our pretzel appetizer wasn't just the burn-the-back-of-your-brain stuff you usually get with German food; it was smooth and creamy but still had the zing you wanted with your bread. Our sandwiches were flavorful. The potato salad I got with mine wasn't the mayo slop you might expect - it was mostly potatoes and they were cooked impeccably. I should give special attention to the beer, since it's a brewery: We tried four of them and enjoyed every single one. (I was particularly enamored with the Pink Pulpit Club sour gose that had been created especially for Pride.) All in all, they're cooking their hearts out at this place and it's really paying off.

Kid-Friendly: 4/5

Alfredo Sauce & Penne Noodles

Kid's Hamburger

The kid's meals at St. Joseph were $7 at the time of this writing, which was an amazing bargain for both the quantity and quality of food you get. The servings were easily adult-sized. You can see in the photo above that the Kid's Hamburger is roughly the size of a Kid's Head. They didn't skimp on quality, either. The littles get the amazing fries that came with the adult meals, and their entrees were delicious too. The staff was clearly used to serving kids - they had a highchair for us in seconds flat and they were patient when our 5YO himmed and hawwed around about what he wanted. Now, I should note that my kids' reactions to the food were not rapturous. The 2YO threw one of her noodles on the floor and yelled "No like it" at an embarassing volume. The 5YO took about two bites of his burger and then said he was full. I tried both dishes and thought they were delicious, so I'm chalking the kids' reactions up to the fact that we were on our way to the Children's Museum and they wanted to GTFO of the restaurant. All other things being equal I think they would have had a great time.

Would Eat Again?: Green Light

I simply must try more of the St. Joseph Beers. They were so impressive. And if the wonderful quality of LITERALLY EVERYTHING WE ATE was any indication, everything else on the menu is worth a try. It's easy to rack up a high bill here, if only because you keep wanting to try stuff, so keep an eye on your tab. But do go try it anyway, because you'll remember the meal fondly for a long time afterward.