Downtown Indy's Bourbon Street Distillery is closing
The last delectable breaded tenderloin will be served Jan. 6
After 15 years in business, Downtown’s Bourbon Street Distillery will serve its last delectable breaded tenderloin this week.
Declining sales and an owner ready for retirement are reasons why the bar and restaurant at 361 Indiana Ave. will shutter Jan. 6, said Katie Bray, daughter of proprietor Cindy Brant.
Bray’s late father, O.B. Brant, bought the property in 2002 to fulfill his dream of owning a great neighborhood bar. He had retired from working as a chief financial officer for a California insurance company, Bray said. Cindy Brant is from Indiana, and the couple had moved to the state from California to be close to her relatives.
"Family, home" are the words Bourbon Street manager Carrie Bowman used to describe the place where she started as a bartender 13 years ago. "It’s been around so long. Everybody loves each other. I mean the customers, it’s just, I would say, like 'Cheers,'" Bowman said, referring to the fictional bar featured in the long-running television series "Cheers."
The Brants bought the building and its land, both of which will be put up for sale when Bourbon Street Distillery closes, Bray said.
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Although the menu features New Orleans favorites such as jambalaya, po' boy sandwiches, crayfish etouffee and blackened fish, the breaded tenderloin sandwich is the most popular item along with the hickory-smoked pulled pork sandwich with barbecue sauce and chipotle mayonnaise, Bowman and Bray said.
Although the last day is near, cooks in the kitchen continue cranking out the kind of from-scratch food that made Indy native Matthew Johnson more than a loyal customer over the past 11 years. He is the most regular of all the regulars, Bowman said.
"I eat here two, three, four times a week," said Johnson, an IT worker at the Indiana state capital. "The tenderloin is my favorite thing. It's my favorite tenderloin in town."
Follow IndyStar food writer Liz Biro on Twitter: @lizbiro, Instagram: @lizbiro, Facebook and Pinterest. Call her at (317) 444-6264.