Borage — Restaurant in Speedway

Borage’s interior is attractive & inviting. Borage’s Exterior is the same. The parking lot, with disabled parking, is adjacent to the entrance. And a convenient “over-flow” parking lot is across the street.

The kitchen/café is to the Left as you enter. To the Right, is the bakery/market/coffee/tea/liquor beverage bar. The latter, offers abundant light, airy seating & contains a Market with a bit of everything prepared by Borage to enjoy In, or Take-Home & bake.

But this review isn’t about Borage’s decorating or its ambiance, it’s ALL about the food!

We been fortunate to partake of literally 100’s of meals prepared by Borage’s owners Josh and Zoe when they were at Indy’s “Milktooth” & now at their own café, Borage! Because daily specials co-exist with the menu’s stable offerings, we’ve been offered an interesting & changing array of entrees, that keep us coming back for more!

My best compliment, is what I concluded from my previous experiences with Josh’s and Zoe’s offerings. That is, the Chef’s preparations, or the Pastry Chef’s ones that I’ve enjoyed the MOST, were the LAST ones that I sampled! It is that difficult to prioritize, I gave up trying to do so and now just enjoy the experience!

Lastly, we could wax eloquently about Zoe’s pastry offerings. They equal or exceed the kitchen’s offerings (which is saying a lot!) depending upon which one we last tired! I enjoy an after meal sweet. But I’m not a fan of “teeth-hurting” sweetness and Zoe’s offerings are never cloyingly sweet; they’re just sweet enough to satisfy and fulfill that bit of sweetness following a meal...or SIMPLY BECAUSE!! ADDENDUM (approx. 4-mos. later): Far too many meals to enumerate later, my above review stands with the following four additions:

First, even Borage's daily specials are “SPECIAL”!

The specific ingredients of the specials are constantly being tweaked, improved & changed. Not only is this apparently a fun challenge for the Borage’s Chefs; but it is also a fun & inviting change for those of us who frequently visit!

For example, we’ve seen the yummy “Meatloaf Sammy” rotate on & off the daily Specials Menu. But Sous Chef Issac tweaks this entrée…because….why not?! He does so with a different bread, or a different spread on the bread; or an added, or different in-house prepared fried veggie, or a bit different in-house pickling of differing veggies, etc.

This sums-up what Borage offers that others don’t, which are scratch-made, kitchen-chef, bakery-chef, coffee, tea & adult beverage bar creations, that continually include a personal challenge to the chefs & baristas to differ; based on what fresh ingredients are available, or just because the same-ole, isn’t sufficiently satisfying for the Borage team, or good enough for Borage's patrons!

Second, the constantly changing soup offerings are NOT to-be-missed! Yup, they're that yummy!

While the (‘80’s/’90’s) Seinfeld Show’s “No Soup for You” episode lives-on in infamy, the MANY & ever-changing Borage’s daily 2-different (meat, or meatless) soup offerings have for us, ALL been: “No Soup for You” superb!

Third, not only are all of the various breads house made, which we knew; we discovered that the jam we put on those different breads is also house made. And like everything else, the seasonal ingredients (like quince for instance) & hence, the flavors of the jam are constantly changing. Who the heck else does that, but Borage?

Lastly, this review may sound like I have a vested interest or familial relationship in Borage & the Borage team. I can assure you that’s not the case. My only interest is purely a personal appetite & taste-bud...

If you're foraging for something new, Borage will make you feel like you've won the secret hot spot lottery. Like visiting a gorgeous eatery in the UK or Europe, but tailor made for Indianapolis. If you want to experience where we should be at in our foodie endeavors, please experience this place!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of taking my son and daughter to brunch there. I thought it would be the perfect place to celebrate my oldest getting a new job. It did not disappoint! Every aspect of the outside and inside of Borage is eclectic and inviting. Bright floral murals, comfortable seating in the cafe inside and out, and a view of wild flower gardens that I hope will continue to mature and grow with this wonderful business. I don't write a lot of reviews, but this place is worth sitting down to.

We ordered one of their specials, the French Toast Bread pudding, a breakfast biscuit bowl, and my younger child ordered their cinnamon roll with lemon cream cheese icing. Their signature espresso and matcha drinks were on point with beautifully curated flavors. As our food arrived we were told that they were out of cinnamon rolls but presented not one but two complimentary replacements. Their pumpkin chocolate chip Basque cheesecake, and chocolate croissant big enough for two. My child was so looking forward to the cinnamon roll, but her face lit up at the sight of both items. It absolutely made her day. Our brunch was lovely, and Olivia was the perfect server. So calm and attentive. Even noticing that my daughter's chai was not being consumed and offered sweetener. I was blown away. It's the first time a server has ever noticed my sugar baby's need for a sweeter chai. I was so glad that it then was drank instead of wasted. Just a small touch, but so intuitive. Olivia, you're the best! It gave me a moment of "Unreasonable Hospitality" that I think Will Guidara would smile about.

The marketplace with exposed kitchen and spacious coffee bar was a feast for the eyes and palate. A wonderful mix of local wares, culinary treats like house made stocks and pie shells, fresh fruit and veg in mismatched vintage bowls, and house plants in all sizes just to name some of my favorite bits. This area was so fun to explore, and had a sweet seating area with vintage lounger and repurposed bench seating options. Staff on both sides were kind and relaxed which I much appreciated. A welcome change from so much of the city. I will gladly continue to come out from the south side, winding along 16th street to Speedway to grab more of their beautiful pastries and cold case offerings. They are doing it right over there. Down to the pep talk on the kitchen door for staff. This place is a TREAT, Indy. Don't let...

Very nice! I found this place from an Instagram video, and it did not disappoint! They came very close to 5-stars for me, but missed the mark in a couple key points. Please take my 4-star rating as excellent, I just wasn’t “wow”ed, which is my threshold for 5-stars.

5/5: Food tasted AMAZING! The egg sandwich was one of the best tasting sandwiches I’ve eaten in a long time. It was a tad smaller than what I was expecting but could not have tested better.

5/5: Servers were fantastic , took care of us in every way, fast and courteous!

5/5: Overall vibe of this place is terrific. Servers dancing to the music, cool looking food, etc. we liked just being there!

4/5: Y’all need some A/C! It was very sweaty in there, we actually almost left because of how warm it was. Even a fan or something would have helped. Truthfully I’m hesitant to go back in the summer specifically because of this.

3/5: Cinnamon roll. Yep, I said it. This is what they’re supposedly known for. I wonder if I just got unlucky with a bad batch? Bread was dry, icing/cream was barely applied, and the entire thing tasted more like a sour/sweet cream with no cinnamon taste at all. This probably would have originally been a 4 had I not seen the cinnamon roll video from Instagram that actually brought me here, so….my expectations were already high and I absolutely did not get the soft gooey icing covered delicious cinnamon roll that was featured in the video. I’ll try it again the end time (when it’s cooler out).

2/5: Sorry to do this, but the whispering “barely understandable” front hostess needs to speak much more boldly and clearly. She mumbles so soft nobody can hear her. Not only did I need her to repeat herself several times, but while sitting in the waiting chairs, it was a little humorous watching the chaos of people not knowing what to do because her instructions were simply not decipherable by a majority of people coming in. Yes it was crowded and a little noisy, but that means you speak UP! She was super nice and friendly, but as they say….”first impressions “, and ours was very frustrating.

Overall, we’ll...