State Street Pub — Restaurant in Indianapolis

Owner left his bar completely unattended after the final band finished playing this past Friday night show. My friend & I had a great time meeting him as I introduced myself to him, the bartender he cut Mia (she was great), and the bands were also great and the people we met were very cool. Happily paid $20 entry for the show upon arrival. We were excited, it was both our first time here. Bought ourselves merch from Flesh Panthers (2nd band that played from Chicago), purchased a cassette, shirts, and a vinyl between my friend & myself. Then the place cleared out. Like completely empty. The bartender (owner) just vanished. I’m sure the locals and regulars know what we did not know that proceeds in this message. My friend & I waited in the completely empty bar for 15 minutes or so. Called out for them in the kitchen, checked bathrooms, and the parking lot. Couldn’t find anyone. Waited a bit longer until it got kinda creepy as even the parking lot was emptied out. So I grabbed my card and we left. Owner claims we should have known he was out back? He didn’t tell us that. He didn’t warn us what so ever that he was taking a break. We don’t know where that was, which I explained to him in the response messages on Instagram, but he wouldn’t have none of that. Zero accountability on his end.

I live in Brip, and almost every bar there preauthorizes my drinks, so I assumed that I would be charged. Was going to make sure of it come the next morning. My mistake in this assumption. Don’t make that mistake that I made. We just felt weird being in there completely alone for that long, and we really had to get going.

So, before getting up at six am to drive four hours for a wedding today, the pub followed me and direct messaged me. I followed them back bright and early this morning and messaged back explaining our side respectfully. The owner Mark was super nice and just asking what had happened at first. I eagerly replied wanted to pay the tab right away and by any means since it wasn’t pre-authorized. Even sent him a confirmation text as soon as I sent it the Venmo.

Then he proceeded to switch gears….telling me if he see’s me again it’ll be considered trespassing. I asked him why and he went on and on trying to make this misunderstanding way bigger than it ever needed to be. Trying to make me out as some big criminal & not taking any accountability for his complete lack of coverage at his bar & complete lack of communication for his prolonged absence.

Look, it’s his bar. He wants to act that way then fine, but I try to be an understanding guy and I am fully aware of my mistakes here & wanted to make this right as soon as I could, and did. Had this not shown up in my account summary we would have called the bar and got in touch with how we could pay.

Mark will not accept any responsibility for his abandonment of HIS bar on a friggn Friday night. It was also our first time there, and he just expected us to know he was “out back,” on a smoke break? I told him we didn’t know where that was, and it was our first time there. God forbid I grab my card from behind the now abandoned bar, but it’s apparently totally fine to search around the rest of the bar where customers may or may not be allowed.

Rather than chalking this off to a misunderstanding, he banned me, called me names & now has even influenced other people to leave bad reviews on MY photography page? Like, my business has nothing to do with our situation at your bar in any way at all. Unbelievably unprofessional in every right & it’s persisting…Stinks too because yeah like I mentioned, we had a great time. Don’t leave your bar unattended for that long without letting people know what you’re doing and this could be easily avoided. I am not confined to your space because you chose to take a break in silence. I shouldn’t have grabbed my card, and I do apologize for that. The world is a pretty ugly place already, so simple misunderstandings should not be escalated in this manner & blown out of proportion. It’s just...

State Street Pub is one of the best places on earth. When you enter its doors, you are entering a different realm of existence where experimentation is expected, culture is created, and beauty knows no boundary. It is connected to an international network of artists, musicians and freaks, its ethos is woven from the fabric of human creativity and curiosity stretching back millennia. The very friendly owner Mark has been booking shows at SSP for a decade and is great to talk to about cool musicians and bands of today and yesterday. The kitchen staff put their all into every burger (and plate of "stoner fries" piled high with toppings of your choice), and the rotating line up of regulars could be your new best friends, if you can keep up with animated discussions on American subcultural histories of the last ~70 years. And, if that's you, this might just become the place where everybody knows your name.

State Street Pub is more than a pub, more than a venue, its a place where Indy's artists, thinkers, and iconoclasts come together. It exists in a human continuum alongside the cabarets of Bohemia, the clubs of Paris, the coffeehouses of Greenwich Village, the warehouses of Detroit. Where the student of classics converges with the vaudevillian and neither...

Amazing hidden gem. Perfect spot for the city’s sharpest musical talents. You will see some amazing music here.

The food menu is small but perfect, high quality American fare. Burgers, topped fries, they have a black bean that slaps for all the veg’n types, delicious. What more do you want?

Beer and wine only but this is definitely more of an “eat, have a few beers, and enjoy some real music” type of place rather than a SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS spot.

There are bands playing usually and they are loud but there’s a lovely patio/beer garden area for when you need a break. That said, the sound engineering is usually amazing. It’s loud but not so loud you can’t tell what going on, just appropriately loud for the type of act performing, and very clear. They hire talented sound people. They also usually have disposable ear plugs available.

So definitely swing through. Be sure to come...