In Defense of Broad Ripple

I was replying to a post on Musical Family Tree about Broad Ripple and realized I should post this here as a blog post.

I find BR is still very vibrant although I wasn't raised here and only knew it a little in the early 90s. To me it's a real community. I can hardly walk a block without seeing someone I know. It reminds me of how Bloomington was in the mid-90s (for me at least). The Bton vibe of BR is something I really like, and it's probably due in part to so many Bton ex-pats living and working there.

It is more professional these days, maybe fewer kids but I still see tons of "real" punks running around, rebelling against something or another. They definitely seem to have something against bathing and changing clothes. Not sure what it ever did to them.

There are bums, street musicians, hipsters, Carmel moms, professionals meeting for lunch, movies being made, artists and photographers, old folks meeting for coffee, etc. It's a pretty vibrant place during the day.

I'm a big fan of Broad Ripple in general, I helped start up BroadRippleBuzz.com since I thought BR needed an online community to capture all the insanity. It hasn't really taken off yet but I hope it will over time.

The Patio is now Spin and doing pretty much the same thing. Trying survive on live music and frustrating the music scene in some way or another.

We just had the Broad Ripple Music Fest. There were 15 venues in the greater BR area. There could have been 30 to be honest if we had really pushed. There are plenty of places to play if you dig around a little.

Here is what I recommend people check out in Broad Ripple, there are many more but this is a good start.

Indy CD & Vinyl- probably my all time favorite record store if for no other reason than the owner is awesome along with the employees, they have a great selection of new titles, remember what you like and take care of people. Luna is much the same on College. 2 great Independent record stores.

India Garden- best buffet ever.

Monon Coffee- I start about half my days there, they have the best staff of any coffee shop I have been to. Everyone there knows each other, friendly scene and not too busy you can't hole up and get stuff done.

Good Earth- a great place to get vitamins, supplements, etc. Tim, a buddy that works there, always take care of me and tells me what to buy. Used to Ben Shine's job but he moved on to Fire Belly, a Broad Ripple ad agency.

About Music- a cool little music store. I've gotten some good gear there- a Fender amp and Jazz Bass. Very friendly too. Reasonable prices.

Bruge- awesome Belgian brew pub with really good food. I recommend the fish soup and the pomme frites (french fries).

The Wellington- a great little bar that is easy to miss and often packed beyond movement on weekend nights. They have great drink specials during the week for their pints (nice selection too). You feel like you've been transported to an English pub. Great vibe.

Naked Chopstix- my all time favorite sushi bar. I shudder to think how much I have spent there on tiny pieces of fish and rice. Get the Corona and Playboy Rolls.

Just Pop In- a cute little shop that serves gourmet popcorn. Great snack food.

Petite Chou- the best of the Cafe Patachou chain. Love the expanded menu. I recommend the omelet (actually not as good here as the Penn location) or the soup and tartine combo or the crepes.

There are so many more I may add later...please add your favorite spots!