One of the coolest things about Mrs. K. and I stopping into various restaurants for their Happy Hour is we get to go to places we generally would not try because our budget would not be happy with us.
Recently we checked out one in that category – Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 3316 E. 86th St. This establishment has a reputation for fine dining; Happy Hour at Sullivan’s is 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The location is in the Fashion Mall lot, adjacent to Seasons 52, which I reviewed previously. We sat in the bar room, which was very smartly appointed with polished wood walls, dimmed lighting, and many tables (no booths) with high seated chairs. Each table had a handy switchable, moveable lamp that was a nice aid for reading the menu.
Their Happy Hour features three tiers of food items: plates for $20, $15, and $10. For our first visit we opted for one $20 item, Crab Cake Sliders described thusly: Two Abundant Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes, Napa Slaw, Roasted Garlic Tartar Sauce, Brioche Bun, Roasted Garlic Parmesan Fries; and one $15 item, Shaved Prime Steak Sliders: Caramelized Onions, Gruyère, Roasted Garlic Parmesan Fries.
Both were excellent choices – and we shared the sliders, one each for Mrs. K. and two Steak Sliders plus one Crab Cake Slider for me. Along with the yummy Parmesan Fries (offered in good sized portions and cups of ketchup) it was more than plenty for our dinner. We left the remainder of our fries because they gave us a bunch.
We added wine to our order, both of us picking the Chardonnay from their surprisingly limited offering of “a white and a red and a sparkling”. I didn’t catch the brand on the wine we had, but it suited us well enough. Three glasses at $8 per (one and a half each) saw us through.
There were lots of other choices on the three staged menu. I was tempted by the $15 Angus Burger and we could have picked the Angus Sliders from the $10 tier. There were also plenty of drink options with $5 off pricing on Select Martinis and Select Craft Cocktails.
The complete Happy Hour menu can be found here. By comparing the list of Happy Hour prices to the regular menu offerings, I discovered that Sullivan’s lowers the price by $2 on the listed fare for their Happy Hour.
Our tab came to $60, so with the appropriate tip for the attentive servers it came to around $72. That is a bit more than we hope to spend in the future, but our choices were plenty good, and we think if we return we will concentrate more on the less costly tier and have one glass of wine each.
Being so close to the mall, we stopped in after the meal to have a brief walk and wound up in the food court at the new Amorino Gelato Al Naturale. This place offers a large variety of desert selections – from cups and cones to cakes, hot drinks, macarons, and even waffles and crepes. The gelato comes in 26 tempting flavors and we decided on the Hazelnut Chocolate (listed as L’Inimitabile) in a cup to share. It was plenty for us at around $6 and it was delicious!
Ken Klingenmeier offers this new series of columns, called “A Seat at the Table,” wherein he will review Indy-area restaurants – specifically their Happy Hour offers. Keep reading The Reporter for future restaurant reviews.