The Ball and Biscuit

Side note--please excuse the quality of my photos at the present time. :( They are currently all being taken with my iPhone. Hopefully this will be changing shortly!!

Interesting title for a blog post? Well "interesting" is exactly what I thought the first time I heard about this restaurant in downtown Indianapolis. Over the past few years, Grant and I have grown to love and appreciate local restaurants. Growing up in Muncie and with parents who aren't exactly "foodies", we were pretty much only exposed to chain restaurants and fast food when we dined out. As we grew up and branched out a little bit, we discovered just how awesome of an experience dining out can be.

As soon as Grant heard about The Ball and Biscuit, he was talking about going there. I didn't know much about it and quite frankly, I was terrified of going downtown so I was deterred from trying this new place at first. When I moved to Muncie I felt like I had moved to "the big city" so driving on one-way streets on small, narrow roads was very scary to me. And there is also the fact that I have never parallel parked in my life. Yes, people, you heard right. I somehow managed to skip that class in drivers ed. and when I took my driving test we were conveniently in the middle of an ice storm (were my parents crazy??) and the instructor let me slide on the parallel parking and to this day I have never done it. So anyways, back to the restaurant :)

The unusual name for the restaurant actually comes from the name of an old microphone, the STC 4021. The microphone received this name because of it's unusual shape and less than exciting formal name. The owners of the restaurant, Zach Wilks and Trevor Belden, liked the idea of the homage to vintage music and therefore The Ball and Biscuit was founded. While it is a bar and you do have to be 21 to get in, it definitely has more of the laid back vibe of a lounge rather than a rowdy bar. It was fairly early when Grant and I got there last weekend, around 5:30. We went there to eat as well as to enjoy cocktails and I wanted to really be able to see the place and take in the atmosphere.

We chose to sit at a table in the more open area of the bar. The front of the restaurant is 2 large windows which were opened up and looked out onto Mass Ave. It was an absolutely gorgeous evening.

B&B Champagne Cocktail

St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur stirred with The Bitter Truth Orange Bitters and House Bubbles

We started out with cocktails. I chose one of their signature cocktails, the B&B Champagne Cocktail. It was delicious. I love champagne and the subtle taste of orange was delicious!

Bulleit Bourbon and Coke

Grant chose a more traditional cocktail, Bulleit Bourbon and Coke. I didn't try it, but he said it was wonderful :)

Their menu consists of small plates meant for sharing. We decided on 3 different plates, the Po Boys sandwiches, Creole mac and cheese and a cheese plate. The verdict??

Trio of Po Boys sandwiches

These sandwiches were amazing! One each of pulled pork, chicken and beef served on a toasted bun topped with cole slaw and chipotle mayo. Yum. We each ate half of each sandwich but I could have easily eaten all three myself!

Creole Mac and Cheese

This mac and cheese was spicy and delicious! We are pretty big fans of mac and cheese in general and this one definitely tops the list! It had just the right amount of spice to it without making your nose run!

3 cheese plate

The cheese plate? Sadly, I was underwhelmed. Maybe I just have too high of expectations when it comes to cheese (I could never be vegan) but from the presentation to the overall taste of the cheese and crackers it was just very sub par. We chose a Spanish goat cheese, taleggio, and an aged cheddar and it came with a jam on the side. The aged cheddar was probably my favorite which was surprising to me because I very much enjoy goat cheese. The crackers were somewhat tasteless and just really didn't accompany the cheese very well. But overall, our meal and experience was fantastic! 

Whether you are wanting a delicious meal or just a place to relax and enjoy a couple drinks with friends, The Ball and Biscuit is a wonderful place to do it!