These are the most exciting Indianapolis restaurants opening in 2020

As 2019 winds down, we barely have time to reflect on so many new Indianapolis restaurants before it's time to start filling our bucket lists with eating places coming in 2020.

My roundup of the 30 best restaurants opening in 2019 signaled a year of ingenuity. Top-tier Indianapolis chef Greg Hardesty decided to cook what and when he wanted at his culinary arts Studio C. Prolific Cunningham Restaurant Group, better known for multi-location Bru Buger Bar, opened its own culinary studio, downtown Indy's CRG Test Kitchen, complete with two chefs' tables.

West-side Pakistani spot Chapti fashioned a secret door leading to the hidden spicy fried chicken gem Shani's. A tenacious pitmaster shipped post oak from the Lone Star State to fire true Texas-style barbecue at tiny Old Gold food truck behind Metazoa Brewing. 

The 2020 list of newbies seems shorter but only because 13 of 2020's newcomers are inside two food halls. All together, they'll add 29 eating places as restaurateurs across the country turn to quick-service formats to cope with labor shortages. 

We'll also see three major Indianapolis chefs — Carlos Salazar of Rook, pastry master Pete Schmutte, formerly of Cerulean and Beholder, and Abbi Merriss of Bluebeard — take on fresh concepts.

Restaurants will continue to populate Carmel and Fishers, where chain-weary crowds demonstrate an ever-growing appetite for better places to eat. The two suburbs have become the area's hot spots for restaurant growth, even attracting a new offering from the owners of St. Elmo Steakhouse.

That's not to say chains are dead, but in 2020, we'll see an international spin on fast food. 

Read on for most anticipated restaurant openings.

Root & Bone

704 E. 46th St., rootnbone.com

Past "Top Chef" competitors and well-known Miami chefs Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth had planned their steak and seafood concept Stiltsville Restaurant and Bar at this landmark Meridian-Kessler location that once hosted Kroger Grocery and Bakery Co. and most recently Big Al's used furniture store. They decided this American restaurant with Southern flair was a better fit for an Indy market in love with comfort food.

When the 170-seat restaurant opens, probably in 2020’s first quarter, McInnis said, expect dishes like fried chicken biscuit sandwiches with pepper jelly, mac and cheese under herbed biscuit crumble and grilled pumpkin with ginger barbecue sauce and pink peppercorn marshmallow fluff. The 24-seat full bar will serve signature cocktails including Old School Medicine’s blend of turmeric, ginger, elderflower and sage-infused gin.

Root & Bone locations in Miami and New York City feature rustic wood and brick surfaces, neutral tones and charming housewares scattered about.

Leviathan Bake House

1101 N. College Ave.

Around Indianapolis-area professional food circles, pastry chef Pete Schmutte is often called “the best chef in the city” thanks in a large part to intricate desserts he showcased at the late contemporary restaurant Cerulean and more recently at Beholder. Schmutte has been known to put caviar on a white chocolate tart, and he once prepared a jarred dessert that looked like a mini terrarium wonderland.

Schmutte has been talking about opening his own place for a few years. At this 40-seat bakery/café at the former R2GO specialty food market near Mass Ave., Schmutte teamed up with Gallery Pastry Shop alum and Ivy Tech culinary arts instructor Matt Steinbronn and others yet to be named to create a place proffering naturally leavened breads incorporating freshly milled grains.

Expect fancy pastries, too, like the beloved chocolate mousse and espresso bombe Schmutte served at Cerulean, alongside simple cookies, albeit with a twist like, maybe, ginger chocolate chip. Pop in mornings and afternoons for croissants, breakfast sandwiches, coffee and light soup-and-sandwich lunches. At night, consider Leviathan a dessert bar.

Curry Up Now

curryupnow.com

Fast food has come a long way since White Castle slung its first burgers in the 1920s. This Indian fusion chain scouting for a downtown Indianapolis location to open in the fall serves tikka masala, saag paneer and cilantro chutney, but you can get them stuffed in burritos and tacos or as a poutine.

Go semi-traditional with the meat sweats thali platter of Kashmiri lamb, butter chicken and kadai chicken on cauliflower rice. Indian street foods include traditional samosas but also a deconstructed version that’s a sort-of a spicy garbanzo bean stew.

Indian fast food:It's a thing in Indianapolis

Curry Up Now began as a San Francisco food truck, founded in 2009 by husband and wife duo, Akash and Rana Kapoor. Locations are in California and Georgia, but more than 40 others are under development across the country,  the company reported.

Gold Leaf

1901 E. 46th St., goldleafindy.com

Hang out with friends, share small plates, have a few beers or a glass of wine, don’t spend a lot  of money. That’s the idea behind this 60-seat eatery budding just east of Arsenal Park.

Nothing on the food menu will cost more than $10, and beer and wine by the glass is priced at $5 to $8.

On Instagram:Follow Liz Biro's culinary adventures in Indy

Chef Kristine Bockman is a trained butcher who spent much of her cooking career at Italian restaurants in New York City and catering in Seattle. She’s also been a Smoking Goose sausage maker.

Nibbles in the loungy café she has in mind include lemon-glazed pecans, provolone-stuffed meatballs in tomato sauce and grilled pork loin kababs on a bed of tabbouleh. Spoonfuls of crème brulee, mini cream puffs and salted carmel pot de crème are on the sweets menu. By day, Gold Leaf will offer full coffee service, quick breads, breakfast sandwiches and lunch boxes featuring sandwiches and salads.

Lil’ Dumplings

9713 District North Drive, Suite 1210, Fishers, fisherstestkitchen.com/the-food/lil-dumplings

Chef Carlos Salazar’s Asian-fusion food at Rook is a big reason why the Holy Rosary/Fletcher Place area is foodie destination. He starts testing his dream restaurant for the north side at this stand opening in early 2020 at Fishers Tests Kitchen at The Yard at Fishers District.

Despite the name, the stand won't be a dumpling-centric project. Lil’ Dumplings is Salazar’s nickname for his kids. His plan is global street food like Szechuan hot chicken steam buns and lobster corn dog fritters drizzled with bacon fat honey.

The half-pound smashed burger, a blend of beef chuck, brisket and heart, plus pork fat, will land on the Japanese pancake called “okonomiyaki” instead of a bun. Dressed with yuzu kosho mayonnaise, local Tulip Tree trillium cheese, Smoking Goose bacon bits, cucumber pickles and traditional okonomiyaki sauce containing ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, the stack is a total “knife and fork burger,” Salazar said.

One dumpling special will always be on the menu, maybe more, depending on customer demand. Salazar whas been testing a bready oyaki-style dumpling fat with rib-eye and carmelized onions. “It’s a take on my favorite sandwich, the Philly cheesesteak," Salazar said. "I love Cheese Whiz.” 

If all goes well at Fishers Test Kitchen over the next two years, Salazar plans a full-service restaurant where nibbles may be delivered to tables via dim-sum-style carts.

Kan-Kan Cinema and Brasserie

1258 Windsor St., kankanindy.com

The team that brought Indianapolis top restaurant Bluebeard and Amelia’s Bakery, and helped develop famous Milktooth, is working on this family-friendly theater/restaurant/bakery combo set to open in February in Windsor Park.

Bluebeard chef and James Beard Awards semifinalist Abbi Merriss will helm the brasserie where locally sourced ingredients will end up in brasserie-style dishes like steak frites and tartines. An Amelia's Bakery cafe is under construction next door.

Order food and bring it into one of three theaters on site, seating a total of 240 people. The nonprofit Indianapolis Film Project Inc. will run the theaters spotlighting indie, local and foreign films along with some more mainstream titles.

Hinata

130 E. Washington St.

This Japanese kaiseki experience was originally scheduled to open in November 2019. The date has been moved to spring 2020 as chef Akinori Tanigawa relocates from Japan to introduce Indianapolis to the Japanese multi-course feast of small plates eaten over a couple of hours.

Steak might be roasted in a salt crust. Little sandwich-like nibbles called “monaka,” are usually sweet in Japan. Hinata’s may be savory with avocado and caviar between crisp mochi shells.

Owner Nobuharu “Nobu” Nakajima is in the manufacturing business, but he missed the food in his native Japan so much he decided to develop Hinata just east of Mile Square’s Fogo de Chao.  

Blu Point Oyster House & Bar

5858 N. College Ave.

Construction delays pushed the opening date of this seafood restaurant from spring to fall 2019. Now, owner Gino Pizzi, the man behind Indy’s popular Italian restaurant Ambrosia, is banking on early 2020, maybe as soon as January.

Pizzi ran an oyster bar by the same name years ago in Broad Ripple. Expect raw East Coast oysters, clam bakes, lobster rolls, chowders, clams casino, oysters Rockefeller, mussels steamed in red chili broth and from-scratch linguini with fresh clams.

Another Blu Point location also opens in 2020 at The Garage food hall, part of the Bottleworks District project on Mass Ave. Also, keep your eyes open for a new Fountain Square speakeasy named Bar Fontana from the Pizzi family in early 2020.

Gallery Pastry Shop No. 2

130 S. Pennsylvania St., gallerypastryshop.com

Owners Allison Keefer and pastry chef Ben Hardy said they had hoped do bring their perfect macarons and Insta-worthy European pastries to Mile Square by the end of 2019. The new schedule has the dessert bar opening in spring on the bottom floor of Hyatt Place/Hyatt House hotel, across from Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Big picture windows will light every delicious bite at the 70-seat shop. Sip dessert-inspired cocktails at the full bar. A bruleed pina colada topped with a crackly sugar shell, perhaps? Or a boozy milkshake whizzed with housemade champagne gelato? 

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Hit counter seating around an open kitchen twice as big as the one at the original Gallery near Broad Ripple. Watch pastry chefs craft eye-popping sweets or join them for a cooking class. Dessert tastings in the works pair a different cocktail with each of several sweet courses.

The HC Tavern & Kitchen

9709 E. 116th St., Fishers, atthehc.com

The owner of Indy's famous St. Elmo Steak House originally thought he'd put an off-shoot of his Downtown restaurant Burger Study at The Yard, but he decided to install this completely new restaurant concept instead.

A "purposeful selection of American classics," will populate the menu, Huse Culinary Group CEO Craig Huse said. Menu testing of late has focused on king crab salad, escargot and cheesy lobstercargot, classic smashed burgers, rib-eyes alongside blue-cheese-crusted roasted tomatoes and s'mores mousse pie.

The final mix of steaks, seafood, salads and sandwiches will be served in an upscale setting featuring a 30-foot-wide, 9-foot-tall mosaic depiction of the north side's roundabouts. It's composed of nearly 72,000 tiny tiles. Opening day is scheduled for February.

Fishers Test Kitchen food hall

9713 District North Drive, Suite 1210, Fishers, fisherstestkitchen.com/the-food

The culinary incubator at The Yard at  Fishers District nurtures three restaurant concepts when it opens in early 2020, maybe as soon as February. Besides Lil' Dumplings, mentioned above, look for Korean barbecue fusion at Korave, where chefs plan bulgogi poutine and fried chicken dumplings.

California cooking inspired comfort food planned at West Coast Nook. Vegan chili with panko-crusted carrot fries and roasted chicken ciabatta sliders with red pepper goat cheese and onion jam are some of what's on the menu.

The test kitchen also hosts The Signature Table, a culinary performance space where up to 15 guests can watch cooks in action at special events like tastings and cooking classes.

Pier 48 Fish House & Oyster Bar

11549 Yard St., Fishers, eatpier48.com

Seafood delivered within 24 hours of being harvested, New England family recipes and regard for protecting the environment are the cornerstones of this Carmel-based FK Restaurant Group concept. Two locations opened in 2019, in Broad Ripple and downtown Indianapolis.

At The Yard at Fishers District, seafood, steaks, pasta, salads and sandwiches on the list include fried fish, lobster rolls and a couple Italian family recipes like pork and Black Angus meatballs on pasta. Squid stuffed full of bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, olive oil and parmesan cheese is simmered in marinara sauce. 

The Garage food hall

850 Massachusetts Ave., bottleworksdistrict.com/garage

The rambling, 500-seat food hall, akin to Cleveland’s West Side Market or L.A.’s Grand Central Market, is scheduled to open in spring 2020 inside two old garages at Mass Ave.’s former Coca-Cola bottling plant. Twenty-six vendors will serve a wide range including lobster rolls, tacos and poké bowls.

The Tartine Station owners plan a mash-up of Palestinian and Filipino influences in open-face sandwiches. Gaucho’s Fire owners plan Brazilian street food like steak and provolone smothered fries with chimichurri. Azucar Morena will do arepas, and Furious Spoon will bring off-beat ramens like Duck Duck Noods with duck confit in duck fat broth. 

Livery

13901 Town Center Blvd., Noblesville, livery-restaurant.com

Mention the name of this restaurant and someone is bound to say, "I love the empanadas there." Latin-themed Livery was a new concept for Cunningham Restaurant Group when the eatery first opened in 2016 on Mass Ave. It quickly gained a following thanks to sharable plates of those empanadas, lamb tamales and carnitas taquitos; colorful cocktails; and five distinctive dining spaces including a roof-top patio, all inside a renovated 1800s-era stable.

Livery's next stop is Hamilton Town Center in Noblesville. The opening is scheduled for summer.

Rize

12955 Old Meridian St., rize-restaurant.com

One of Indianapolis' best brunch restaurants arrives at Carmel's Gateway Plaza by summer. Cunningham Restaurant Group opened the first Rize in 2017 at Ironworks hotel on the north side. A Fishers location debuted in November 2019. 

From-scratch dishes incorporate local ingredients. Pickled red onions and basil pesto go on sunny eggs draped over chicken and potato hash in tomato fennel gravy. Fig mustard lands on Canadian bacon, slightly funky triple-cream cheese slices and an orange and pine nut persillade. Orange glaze coats hefty cinnamon rolls. 

Follow IndyStar food writer Liz Biro on Twitter: @lizbiro, Instagram: @lizbiro, and on Facebook. Call her at 317-444-6264.