Root & Bone - Indianapolis — Restaurant in Indianapolis

Overall, I would say this spot deserves a solid 4 but nothing more. I went there with 3 other people in my family and was met with this air of contempt and disgust. From the moment we walked in, I could tell that the staff in the front wasn't happy that we were black. I will add though that we were under-dressed compared to the others in the restaurant given the attire was a little less than business casual. We weren't super casual but we all wore something comfortable and easy to throw on. This may have played a role but it felt like it was more than that.

After hearing from my mother, the others in the restaurant probably had the same energy as the staff in the front because she told me that the group next to us gave her a look when we sat down. At that point, we all thought that the food would be terrible given that almost everyone was white in the restaurant. I don't mean to harp on this white vs black thing but if you are a minority then you know when you aren't welcomed somewhere. Personally, I DID NOT CARE. I wasn't driving somewhere else. The attitude that I gave off allowed the rest of the family to try and enjoy it anyway.

The waiter was great and the food was good. We all enjoyed what we ordered. We ended up giving the waiter a 22% tip but let him know how we felt when we first walked in. He offered to get a manager but I declined saying I/we just wouldn't eat here again. A manager can't change a racist mindset or view. A few things to understand is that they probably thought we would be loud, messy, and not give a good tip. We weren't loud, I put all the plates and trash together so it was easier on the waiter, and the tip was great given it was over 20%. I don't know how much the other group left as a tip but they definitely didn't try to put their table together to help the waiter. The irony huh.

One of the people in the front did try to be nice as we left but like at this point...........do we look stupid? My comment obviously got to the back and you tried to redeem yourself. It also seemed like they did that one thing where they give you the waiter that "closely" aligns with your type of group. Nonetheless, he was great regardless. I'm not going to bomb this restaurant in a review just because their staff might be prejudice or the people that go there might share that POV aswell. You just got to understand what you are putting yourself into when...

I work in the food industry and normally travel a lot, and get to try restaurants all around the midwest, but rarely ever explore my own city of Indianapolis. After being in lockdown the couple of months, finally ventured out in my own town, and was not at all disappointed! Everything here was great! Friendly and attentive wait staff and management, an absolutely pristine kitchen you could watch food being cooked in, and obviously very, very talented chefs. I first class meal without at all feeling pretentious. Just really amazing food. We started with some appetizers, and were absolutely blown away with the suggested scallop dish. The depth of flavors with the roasted corn and peppers adding some heat complemented just perfectly cooked scallops. Only minimized by the brilliance of the scallops, the BLT fried green tomatoes were perfectly tart and crisp, complemented by a sweet and savory jam and bacon. Add, in the biscuits and it was really just heaven. Main course of Fried Chicken and ribs with grits, mac and cheese and green beans for sides. The ribs were very good, just the only thing we had that wasn't jaw dropping excellent. The sauce on those ribs though were really something special, my friend purchased a tub to go. Green beans were great, grits were great, and the mac and cheese was absolutely perfect. The Chicken though... was just wow. Just REALLY absolutely amazing and unlike any fried chicken I have ever had before. Such a simple staple elevated to something you really can't even describe. Depths of different flavors from a 2 day sweet tea brine, a light crisp salty and savory breading, and dusted with some type of lemon "fairy dust" I will call it, and you just have this amazing mixture of sweet, salty, savory, and sourness all coming together for an amazing taste experience. I don't drink, but my friend had several cocktails that were all made with fresh juices, that he swears were amazing. We finished off with some key lime pie that rivals some of the best I have ever had in the Florida keys themselves. Maybe it was just getting out for the first time in a long time, but this was just one of the best restaurant experiences I have ever had. Indianapolis is lucky to have Root and Bone join our ever growing list of culinary greats, and I look forward to...

The food and drinks are excellent. We haven’t had anything on the menu that isn’t exceptional. And service is USUALLY amazing. The regular servers we have had that have been there a long time, are top tier. And the manager is terrific, really like him a lot. We are super low maintenance, when we see it’s busy we try and order quickly and eat quickly to get the table back to them. We are very sensitive to servers and how hard it is. We also LOVE the food here. However, I recommend asking who’s section you’re in and if it’s Robin DO NOT sit in her section. There are multiple complaints on the reviews here.

The first thing she said to us was kids menu doesn’t have free dessert at brunch. Okay, we don’t typically care about that. Then she disappeared for about 10-15 minutes and we were all super thirsty. We waited and waited and she was literally no where in the restaurant (not busy with other tables). Finally I got up and asked someone to find her bc we all needed refills and I was even happy to do it myself. The other servers had filled waters at least one full round at all the tables (they are all people we have eaten with and are terrific). She finally came out 5-10 minutes later and filled all the empty water cups, and then started clearing plates and we asked nicely can you please refill the other drinks and she snapped back “I can only do two things at once.” Yet we never asked her to clear plates and my daughter wasn’t even done with her food. Then she came back and again trying to be helpful, we put the cups closer for her and she snapped “Yeah I can see the other cup.” She was really rude and condescending in tone, and the food was so good but that can really ruin a meal. Then we waited forever to get the check so we decided to skip dessert and leave.

This experience is a 2 star rating but I don’t want to hurt the kitchen and other servers who are really good. I also want to defend restaurant bc one server shouldn’t ruin it for the whole place. We do come a lot so if you can avoid her then, you should have a wonderful experience. (And yes we still tipped 18% but typically tip...