This week’s Happy Hour adventure brought us to Nora, where Culinary Dropout is located. This relatively new establishment at 1320 E. 86th St. offers Happy Hour (HH) from 3 to 6 p.m. every Monday through Friday.
The restaurant’s impressive modern interior features a large bar/lounge area with comfortable open booths and high seated tables, as well as a two-sided bar. We were greeted by a very friendly hostess and led to one of the booths. Our server Devlin was right behind her to take our drink orders. Culinary Dropout offers a good variety of HH drinks – including the typical one red, one white, one bubbles wine selection ($5). Luckily, the white was a Chardonnay. Mrs. K asked for a taste, and it easily passed muster with her. I thought I’d try one of the $8 cocktails and ordered a Perfect Margarita. It was good (a bit tangy) and short – albeit worth the price.
The HH eats menu, labeled Snacks, lists a good number of choices ranging from $6 for a large House Salad or House Potato Chips and Dip, to $13 for the Antipasti Plate or BBQ Pork Belly Nachos. We decided on the House Salad, a Meatloaf Sloppy Joe ($9), and Spicy Korean Pork Ribs ($9).
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Sushi is also available in four varieties for $10 to $13.
Our salads came first, which Devlin kindly split for us into two good-sized portions. They were very fresh and crispy in a nice Buttermilk Ranch dressing. Next came our Meatloaf Sloppy Joe, which was also served in two portions for us. The sandwich was tasty but did not have any distinctive qualities to me. However, Mrs. K thought it was very good. Finally, the Spicy Korean Pork Ribs arrived – full of distinction! The order was three pretty meaty ribs and “Spicy” is the optimum word for that item. It was all arranged atop a mound of Sesame Slaw, which was very good.
Devlin left a dessert menu card for us to peruse and her ploy worked! We were tempted to try the Mississippi Mud Pie ($11) and it was a delicious treat. Here is the menu description: “chocolate ganache, espresso fudge, whipped cream, toffee crunch.” The espresso fudge added a lot to the rich chocolate experience. Highly recommended!
Culinary Dropout is one of those instantly comfortable places. We shared the lounge area with a good number of people (we arrived at 4:15 or so and there were a dozen or so people there) and the dining room area was filling up as we enjoyed our HH meal.
Our tab came to just over $50, plus tip – but $11 of that was our dessert.
Given that there are several very interesting HH menu items we did not try, and noting the extremely friendly staff and surroundings, Mrs. K and I will gladly be back later this year to enjoy Culinary Dropout’s hospitality and offerings.
Ken Klingenmeier offers this series of columns, called “A Seat at the Table,” wherein he reviews Indy-area restaurants – specifically their Happy Hour offers. Keep reading The Reporter for future restaurant reviews.