Conner’s Kitchen + Bar
350 W. Maryland StreetI know I’ve talked about how much I enjoy work trips on this blog. Every so often, I’ll get asked to go on an overnight trip and I almost always jump at the opportunity. Those days are always some of the longest…clocking in at 14+ hours working but it’s work doing something I really enjoy so I like taking them.
A co-worker and I were sent to Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago. Long days were an understatement. We both worked until 11:30 PM Monday night then had to be on the road by about 5:30 AM Tuesday morning. We worked until almost 7:00 then headed for the hotel.
We were staying at the Marriott downtown. We got checked in then went our separate ways for the night. Co-Worker had some friends also in town so she met up with them. I just wanted to grab something for dinner then go to bed because we had another 14 hour day with a four hour drive home ahead of us.
I chose Conner’s Kitchen + Bar for dinner. It was right inside the Marriott Indianapolis Downtown on Maryland Street at South Missouri Street. The backside of the hotel is right across the street from Indiana Government Center and it’s pretty close to the Indiana State Capitol building as well. There is a parking garage available for both overnight guests and for restaurant patrons off of Missouri Street.
The main entrance for Conner’s Kitchen + Bar is an exterior entrance on Maryland Street. There’s a patio right off the entrance and if you go in this way, this is where you will find the host stand.
I didn’t realize there was an outside entrance because I was coming from my room. There’s also an entrance from the Marriott lobby with a bar and a few table. When I first walked towards Conner’s, I thought this was the only dining space they had. It wasn’t until I walked in that I figured out this was actually a pretty big, kind of fancy space.
I should have just sat at this back bar but I decided to walk towards the host stand. I had to walk through the main dining room which was pretty full on this Tuesday night. The restaurant definitely doesn’t have a “hotel restaurant feel.” If you don’t come through the lobby, you may not even realize you’re in a hotel.
I kept going until I found the front bar. I asked the host if it was ok if I just took a seat there. There was only one other guy sitting at the large bar so I took a seat.
While the dining room has more of a modern chic restaurant vibe to it, the bar area is more sports bar chic. There is a wall of TV’s at one end and a few pub tables in addition to the bar. This area gets a little more light from the windows overlooking Maryland Street.
I looked over the tap list really quick when I sat down. There were a few Michigan beers but I was in Indiana so I picked an Indiana beer. My choice was the Dragonfly IPA from Upland Brewing Company out of Bloomington, IN. My Untappd app says this isn’t the first time I’ve had this beer. I have to take it’s word because I don’t remember having it.
The menu at Conner’s is kind of what I would expect at a downtown restaurant. It’s a little bit fancier pub food. They do some pretty basic things but they do it with a downtown flare.
My pick was the Brush Creek Wagyu Burger. This amazing sandwich is 1/2 lb of Wagyu Beef from Brush Creek Farms in Wyoming, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, American cheese, and a “secret sauce.” I asked to add bacon to my burger but the bartender misunderstood what I said and actually brought my “extra ketchup.” Even without the bacon, this sandwich was so, so good. The beef is divided up in to two patties and both are so juicy. American cheese always makes me chuckle on fancier burgers but I also get why they use this processed cheese instead of something good…it melts so well. The cheese just melted in to all the crevices of the burger. It really doesn’t matter what else they put on this burger….it’s delicious at such a basic level. The meat is everything in this sandwich.
The sandwich came with, what the menu calls, crispy fries. That’s a pretty accurate description. They fries are shoestring and they are quite crispy. The plate was full of fries which helped with the kind of high price tag.
My meal for dinner was a little over $30 before tip. Lots of factors here. The downtown location inside a Marriott is obviously one. The other is use of extremely high quality ingredients.
Conner’s Kitchen + Bar would be a great date night venue for J and I. We’re pub food people but we also love when they fancy it up. That’s what Conner’s is. It’s a great place I never would have found if we hadn’t been staying at this hotel. It worked out great. I had a great sandwich and a beer then was able to get back to my room all in less than a half hour.
SW Michigan Dining 