A Nite of fun on Massachutes Ave. (pt 1)

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Being in Indianapolis since November and needing a much deserved nite of fun, my husband took me out to enjoy the well known strip called Massachusettes Ave. Here is where you will find a mixture of places to have a great dinner, grab a drink and have some entertainment. This street has a collection of cute boutiques that range from sweets to fabric stores and antiques. Places on this street you may have heard of is the Flying Cupcake, YATS (Creole food), Tini an upcoming Martini bar, The Chatterbox, The Mesh and many others. They are all next door to each other. All you need to do is park and get there before closing time for some of the places. We met our party at 8:00pm on a Saturday and the Flying Cupcake was closed much to my disappointment. Our company for the nite included my husband’s brother Kevin and his friend Thom who were familiar with Massachusettes Ave and led us for the night. They suggested we eat at the Mesh, which was awesome.

The Mesh would prove to be an awesome experience for our first meal on MASS AVE. You want to be dressed a little on the nice side for this place, not too dressy but not the usual party with jeans and sneakers attire. Ladies, do wear makeup and wear your girly trinkets to feel at ease among the crowd. These things are important to know to us lady travelers! Back to the restaurant itself, I believe the concept behind the food at The Mesh is to use local ingredients for your meal. I started off with a glass of Mascato wine for $6.00 and my entree was $17.00 which was Shrimp Diablo over mushroom risotto. I was skeptical of what it would taste like but let me tell you, I would gladly pay for it again! It was delicious!! The presentation on my plate was gorgeous. My husband had a salmon steak over mashed potatoes that were drizzled with a tasty sauce. Our total bill was $40.00. I have paid much more for the same quality of food in places like San Antonio, TX, Hollywood, CA or even New York City. We decided to save dessert for the Guinness filled truffles made exclusively for The Chatterbox by a local chocolate shop simply named The best Chocolate in town.

The Chatterbox is a well known spot for locals to listen to Jazz. It’s in a very narrow tight space.You are not going to get your drinks served in pretty glasses and the decor is nonexistent as every space is filled with signatures from patrons who visited. What you will get is great Jazz music and very friendly people wanting to simply enjoy the music or company of friends. If you arrive after 7pm you will pay a $7.00 charge which I believe is for the musicians. Drinks are priced in two categories: before the music and + music. You will see there is about a .50 cent increase to the drink price with + music once the band begins to play. As I mentioned before the space is narrow so if you don't like being touched by strangers then you may want to find another place. The exclusive Guinness infused truffles are sold 3 for $5.00. I truly enjoyed th relax atmosphere of this place.

My view of Mass Ave in Indianapolis is that its kind of like Soho district for New York, meaning you get artsy cool places to hang out at mixed with specialty stores. However the prices are very diffrent as I found that it was reasonably priced with good quality stuff which is much more expensive in New York. Before I end this entry I have to say one of my highlights of the ight was a cute cat in a little boutique. I'm not a cat lover but he won my affection as he greeted me everytime I passed the store as if we were friends adding charm to Mass Ave. I will be back to Mass Ave, its too fun notto return!

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