Bourbon Street Distillery

I love Bourbon Street because it’s a step up from a dive bar… you don’t have to be dressed up to be there and the food and drinks are affordable. What gives it the step up is their food! For being a no-​frills bar, their menu is pretty diverse and their food is great! For $ 20, you can easily have dinner and a couple beers (check their specials!). Their upstairs patio is really nice in this beautiful weather. A quick walk from the IUPUI campus, this spot is always a favorite after a long day of classes!

Why do servers in Indianapolis hate their lives so much these days?!? This bit*h of a server came out to the patio and said «what do you want?» And I asked for a beer menu and she said «I don’t know where they are», so I was like… «Uhhhhh I guess I’ll get a water then???» And she just walked back inside and never came back out with our waters so we just left. Why would you work there if you can’t put a fuc*ing smile on your face and do your go*dam* job!!! Rant over

I went here last froday with a friend after a day at the zoo. Super friendly service, cold beer and good drink specials. I had the blackened catfish po boy. Really good! Very salty, but that’s the blackening seasonings. The bread was very good, which is the heart of a po boy. My friend ordered the patty melt which looked good & was cooked to order. The stairs are shady. My friend is going through chemo and is having balance issues. It’s a good thing they had two handrails.

Definitely sit outside! I ordered the blackened catfish with a side of mac and cheese. The catfish had a nice spice to it and was the perfect portion. Everyone in my party was satisfied with their food, the portions for the pork chops and fish and chips were HUGE!!! Awesome beer selection. Definitely satisfied.

I was in no way impressed with the Bourbon Street Distillery… perhaps because I am from New Orleans and get to experience the real Bourbon Street whenever I feel like it. The real Bourbon Street is much, much better…
A friend and I stopped in when we were in Indianapolis for business. We were staying at the Courtyard Marriott across the street and liked the idea of a short walk to grab dinner and drinks.
I had the BBQ ribs special with red beans and rice… I went with the ribs after the bartender went on and on about how good the pit master was and how delicious his ribs were. I really didn’t enjoy them… they were way too tough and had what tasted like a cheap, store bought BBQ sauce slathered all over them.
The red beans and rice, which is a staple in New Orleans, were terrible. They reminded me of a canned red beans and rice I used to buy when I was in college… and that’s not good. The problem with the dish is hard to describe, but they tasted nothing like typical Louisiana red beans and rice. I really didn’t enjoy any of my meal and I had to explain to my co-​worker, who is not from New Orleans, that the food at this place is in no way representative of the awesome food we have down in New Orleans.
Aside from the food, the place really isn’t particularly appealing in it’s other aspects either. I noticed that it wasn’t particularly clean (now THAT’S something that is similar to Bourbon St.), and the beer selection was not good. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough…
BOTTOM LINE: In no way representative of Bourbon St. or anything else New Orleans. Unless you have no other option, I’d look for another place to go.

The food was amazing. It tasted like legit Cajun food. The restaurant itself was dirty and smelled like piss.

Its a dive bar with great food.
Best tenderloin sandwich in Indy!

I wandered into the Bourbon Street Distillery after a few recommendations and was pleasantly surprised. Even for a Friday afternoon, the bar area was pretty full but the vibe was still pleasant and not too loud. The bartender was friendly but didn’t hover which I appreciate and, as a particular bonus, each of our cocktails were particularly strong.
I had the mac and cheese (I didn’t expect much in the way of vegetarian options at a Cajun place) — creamy and fortifying after a few stiff drinks!
The only real bummer was the chilly, windy day which made it impossible to enjoy the outdoor area.

This place is fantastic!
Me and my brother had lunch upstairs today. Amy was our bartender and she did a phenomenal job. Amy was extremely funny and honest. She recommended the pork tenderloin. She said it was voted top 5 in Indiana and it did not disappoint. My brother had the pork chop which was straight money.
If you want the special get here early. It’s a true special. They might have 30 orders all day.
This was my first time here. I highly recommend this place, even though parking can be rough.

Good food and staff. The atmosphere was a good part of the enjoyable evening. I had the Reuben, which was 3 star, but the staff brought it up to a 4.

First time I came here I got the catfish po boy and it was RIDICULOUSLY salty. To the point where I couldn’t finish eating it. My friend got the reuben and said it was good though.
Next time I came here I got the salmon with crawfish étouffée. I thought the salmon was good (with the mango chutney on top), but nothing special. I did think their crawfish étouffée was the bomb. Mainly because I love spicy things, and this one has a kick to it!
I also dig their sweet tea, and whats not to love about sitting out on their balcony relaxing in the sun!!!
I’d come back again, open to trying different items on their menu.

I was really surprised by the good tasting food here. It may be a somewhat dingy bar, but the Cajun-​style fish is worth coming back for.

Love this spot. Perfect industry place with daily drink specials, great late night food and an elevated downtown patio.
That being said, rate this place for what it is — a double decker dive bar with friendly staff and excellent food. Perfect spot to end a night or chill on an off night especially when the upstairs patio is open.
Need to try more of the menu but I will say the étouffée is a must w a lil Louisiana tabasco. The oysters are huge and a good value. So far sooo good !

First of all, if you are reading this review and have never been here, this is NOT a distillery. It is just a bar/​restaurant that doesn’t even deserve consideration as being a place to get great liquor options in Indy. That being said, it is still worth a stop in if you are looking for some good food in a divey type atmosphere.
The entirety of my visits here have come for lunch or the occasional dinner. They are a nice stop for lunch during the work week because the kitchen is always quick to get your food out so it is possible to eat here and still make it back on time. Fortunately, it is now smoke free, although I don’t think anything else has changed in the last at least 6 years that I have been in town. Their menu is slightly more unique than the most typical pub grub, and everything I have had here has been great. I am particularly impressed with their BBQ offerings. The best part is the prices make this place a very affordable stop. The service has always been pretty good here, and the ladies working are always really nice.
The atmosphere is definitely more of a dive bar than a sports place, and it definitely isn’t upscale. They have a neat old building, but I am not too sure what the history is. I imagine it has a story behind it that is worth hearing about. There is both an upstairs and a downstairs with seating on each level, along with a patio along the sidewalk and a balcony the hangs over the front of the building. The upstairs patio is the best place to sit, in my opinion. It isn’t the nicest views from the outside seating, but it still gets you some fresh air. Their beer selection is only ok, with a lot of it coming in bottles, but they do carry a lot of specials on different nights of the week.
I’m not really sure this is a place I would go out of my way to stop in for a night when I wanted to go out, but it is a great place to get a good lunch or dinner downtown for around $ 10.
This would be a 4 star review from me if they got more stuff on tap, and if they stopped using Styrofoam cups for every single person that sits down.

Bourbon Street is the epitome of an Indy dive bar. Great drink specials that are cheaper than most downtown simply because of the location.
Friendly bartenders and there’s always an interesting crowd. Great for people watching. I like sitting upstairs or outside.
Food is surprisingly good. I come more for the drinks but the burgers and tenderloins are not bad.
Great place to meet for drinks or to start your night out downtown. Definitely consider myself a regular here.

Why yes I was able to finish a whole tenderloin with cheese by myself thank you very much.
Ate on the upstairs patio, which was weird because the whole thing was shaking and swaying. I don’t know that it’s actually attached to the building? Not terrible for me, still fun to eat out there, but I can see it being off-​putting for some folks probably.
Service kind of on the slow side.

This is an example of a place that never bothered to change. It seems like it is straight out of the nineties with the way it is decorated and the way the food is presented. For example, the salad is like banquet food with a little dinner roll and foil wrapped butter on the side. The entrees had a little piece of greenery with a tomato on top to «decorate the plate.» VERY dated.
Also, who EVER thought it was a good idea to add cheese to a grilled fish salad?
The food was okay. I guess it was a little better than average pub food, but not good enough to bother spending money here in the future.
What was truly atrocious was how unfriendly the staff was. She stopped in the middle of our order to answer another colleagues question. She then came back and we had to start all over again. She then stopped by a third time and said she forgot what we ordered. Just a small example of bad service during the visit, but I could point out many examples of bad service directed at us and also other patrons at the bar.
Just not good enough to bother! This place will probably disappear at some point because they seem like they are proud of just being mediocre at everything.

Common pub food at best
tenderloins promoted-​better many Indy places
Service-​constantly different, usually not good
Management & Ownership-​from employee view, very bad
Location & beautiful building-​beautiful, casual & comfortable

Stopped in with the co-​workers for lunch and tried the rainbow trout special served with Étouffée and rice. Interesting and very tasty combination! Definitely worth ordering again. Our waitress was friendly and really fast another plus.
Will be back for sure!

Update:
May I just add the pork tenderloin sandwich to the list of good foods they have here. It is laughably large (seriously, the bun looks so tiny compared to the meat slab) and tender/​crispy/​chewy/​tasty all at once in your mouth.
Now, I guess I’ve been lucking out when coming here, but I’ve never experienced bad service, even though I had seen it was a common complaint in other reviews. Never, that is, until I came here the other night with out-​of-​town friends. We had had dinner elsewhere and were looking for a nightcap, so we wandered into BSD. Problem is, not a single person acknowledged us once we got to the bar. I stood there with my group’s drink orders on the tip of my tongue for around ten minutes, and never even got to order. It wasn’t busy, so I don’t really know what was going on, except that I somehow became Anne Hathaway in Princess Diaries just waiting for someone to sit on me, thinking my bar stool was empty. Seriously, it was the weirdest thing. After being passed over multiple times by the bartender, we left.
I’ll most likely be back because this place is close and convenient, but its perfect track record with me is now a little tarnished.