Binkley's Kitchen and Bar — Restaurant in Indianapolis

We’ve been going to Binkley’s for about four years now. When we first went, we had a fantastic experience and were thrilled to have a good, local dining option. Unfortunately, the experience has only gone consistently down hill. My husband, our daughter, and I went last night to enjoy a nice meal after a long week. He ordered a panini, our daughter got pizza, and I got the fish tacos.

Our service was painfully slow. After being seated, we waited about 10 minutes for someone to acknowledge us. We have a two year-old and come prepared with entertainment but these 10 minutes were cutting into valuable non-fussy time. I get it, not everyone has kids or understands so I chose to be patient, having been a server during high school. No reason to damper the evening.

Our food arrived incorrect after a modest wait. Again, it’s just food and not a huge deal in the big picture. Server corrected the issue and we moved on. My fish tacos were not the most pleasant looking but I dove in anyway because, honestly, they’re never an exceptionally sexy dish.

Upon the first bite, it tastes like something is off. This is cod, not a flavorable fish by any means, but this tastes extra fishy and smells like the dumpster behind a fish market. Stupidly, I wrote it off as just not being very good. It didn’t occur to me that it might be bad.

Plus, I’d already had to get the food corrected once. I didn’t want to be “that” customer. So I continued. I couldn’t finish them. I just politely ended and stole a bite of pizza from my daughter.

As we’re going about our evening, very shortly after leaving, I begin having symptoms. I’ll spare the disgusting details but every single symptom I have is in line with food poisoning. I’d never had food poisoning before. I just assumed it was a particularly crappy flu with some bonus symptoms. Luckily, it’s beginning to subside (again, in-line with FP symptoms as they are short-lived once you no longer have the offending food in your system). I am the only one in the house to get the symptoms and the only one who consumed part of the fish taco meal. Everyone else, mercifully, is unaffected.

As I’m not a medical doctor, I’m unqualified to confirm whether my symptoms are from food poisoning but I can absolutely confirm that I will never step foot inside Binkley’s again. If you decide to, be cautious about eating foods that can be mishandled. I would strongly urge you to consider going to a number of other nearby places such a Fat Dan’s, Hopcat,...

My wife and I went to Binkley’s on Friday 4/11. We had just left a show at TurnTable up the street. We entered the door at 10:45pm. There were 4 employees at the host station, one looked to be a manager. We were greeted and told the staff we were heading to the bar. We sat ourselves at a table in the bar. The lights seemed very bright for a bar on a Friday night. There were 2 people at the bar and 3 other tables in the bar. We were approached by a server. I can’t tell you his name because he did not introduce himself nor did he offer us any information about the bar. The server did not offer a drink menu or a food menu. We came for the late night menu as Binkley’s has always been a staple for late night food in Broad Ripple…not our first time here. My wife and I each ordered a drink from the bar. When the drinks were served we asked for a food menu only to be informed that the kitchen was no longer open. It was 10:50pm on a Friday. I think one of the staff members we encountered at the door could have told us the kitchen was closed. We would have left immediately. I think the server could have told us the kitchen was closed when he approached the table. We would have left immediately. The server walked away. My wife & I finished our drinks. When the server returned he was in street clothes. My impression was that the server had already done his checkout for the night and was only waiting for us and others to leave. At no time were we told the bar was closing. I asked for the check, we paid, and left hungry and disappointed with the “hospitality.” Not sure we will ever return after that. I understand it may have been a slow night & the staff was ready to be done. What I don’t understand is why no one on the staff that we spoke with including our server never told us the kitchen was closed or the bar was closing until we asked for a menu. Again, it was not even 11pm. Guess we should have went to one of the many other local establishments in Broad Ripple that were serving food. Next time, we will. Also, pretty sure the dining room is open and serves food until 11pm on Fridays & Saturdays. At least that is what is listed on their web page. We wasted our time and money...

Seriously, where shall I start? My husband and I were on a long drive home and needed to get dinner along the way at someplace that wasn't closing soon. I Google mapped our location and searched for restaurants that were open nearby and this place came up. Well it wasn't just a stroke of luck...we felt like we hit the food lottery with this place! Every single part of the meal was so good. Let's start with my husband's beer. The Terre Haute Brewery Springs Feels was a wonderful, non-bitter, citrusy beer. Made me wish I had ordered one. Then here comes the Louisiana Cajun Dip which turned out to be the best restaurant spinach artichoke dip we've ever had! This was not your run of the mill GFS dip. This was obviously house crafted and perfectly seasoned, not too hot, just right! We both ordered the Fish and Chips dinner. You could taste the effort put into every single item on the plate. So much so that each part could have been a standalone star on its own right. The fish.... wonderfully battered, perfectly crunchy with a flaky well finished center. Then the house made tarter sauce elevated and already great fish to another level! Then let's talk about the fries, long, 3/8" square house cut potatoes with the skins still on, perfectly crispy on the outside with a light, fluffy potato middle. Now we're down to the coleslaw. Fresh, crunchy hand grated cabbage and carrots with a lovely, creamy dressing. As earlier stated, each one of them could be a hit on their own, but together these were a culinary grand slam! By the time we were finished I wanted to go back to the kitchen and hug every one of the cooks! They should be so proud of themselves because they were certainly firing on all cylinders tonight! Then the cherry on top was perfectly attentive service from our waiter, Kent! Great job Binkley's, from top to bottom, front to back! We're already talking about when we can plan...