21 things to discover in Irvington
Editor's note: The annual Discover Irvington festival is May 9. Along with special menus at local restaurants and sidewalk sales, the neighborhood will debut its Acoustic Blues Festival.Washington Street is the main retail strip, but there are pockets of interesting places off the beaten path. We asked resident Jason Larrison to give an insider's tour of the neighborhood, where his family has lived for 15 years.
"Whether you are a newbie, a hope-to-be, or you just want to pretend-to-be, here are some places to visit in order to truly be an Irvingtonian," he says.
Getting to and around the neighborhood
Irvington is an easy neighborhood to reach. Washington Street stretches from Downtown through Irvington to I-465 on the Eastside. It is easy to reach by car and by IndyGo's route 8. But the best way to discover Irvington is by bike. The Pleasant Run Greenway connects Irvington to Garfield Park and the Michigan and New York Street bike lanes connect Irvington to Downtown. Don't have a bike? Buy a Surly "fat bike" at Indy Cycle Specialist (5804 E. Washington St., indycyclespecialist.com).
Fashion & Home Decor
If you want to be an Irvingtonian, you need to look the part. James Dant (5624 E. Washington St., jamesdant.com) stocks everything to keep a man looking dapper. Consider a United State of Indiana or Dead Ace Co. tee with a pair of Billiam Jeans. Next door at Izzy and Es. (5622 E. Washington St., facebook.com/izzyandes), women can find contemporary fashion including tops from A'reve and Poppy Lux. For children, Kingston's Kloset (206 S. Audubon Road, kingstonskloset.com) sells chic resale clothing for boys and girls.
In spite of the historic neighborhood designation, Irvington is home to modern design. Inhabit (211 S. Ritter Ave., inhabitliving.com) sells many home décor items, including the customizable Builtby lamps. The lamp will look great on an antique table from Day-Ja-Voo (5545 E. Washington St., day-ja-voo.com) next to a vase from the Antique Mall of Irvington (5501 E. Washington St.) filled with flowers from George Thomas Florist (5609 E. Washington St., georgethomas.com). You can buy the flowers for half price every afternoon during flower happy hour.
Dine & wine
A great way to start the day is with a deep dish quiche and French press coffee at Dufour's (5648 E. Washington St., dufoursinirvington.com); grab a table by the window to enjoy the people watching. As the day goes on, stop in Your Local Deli and Market (5543 E. Washington St., yourlocaldeliandmarket.com) and grab a cup of the mushroom soup. Across the street, take a seat in Jockamo's Upper Crust Pizza (5646 E. Washington Street, jockamopizza.com) for a carnivorous Slaughterhouse Five pie and breadsticks with the thick and rich creamy parmesan dipping sauce. Wash it down with a Saucy Intruder Rye IPA or Street Lamp Blonde at Black Acre Brewing Company (5632 E. Washington St., blackacrebrewing.com). When dinnertime comes, stop in Chef Dan's Southern Comfort (5539 E. Washington St., chefdansindy.com) for a catfish sandwich and red beans and rice; or visit the Legend Classic Irvington Café (5614 E. Washington Street, thelegendcafe.com) for Maybe-Your-Mom's Meatloaf with mashed potatoes & gravy, and a pint of craft beer or a glass of wine. And finish your day of gastronomy with a Strawberry Banana Royal ice cream sundae from Wyliepalooza Ice Cream Emporium (5535 E. Washington St., wyliepalooza.com).
Art and music
From the time of its founding, art and music has played a major role in Irvington's culture. Rotating art shows can be found at the Bona Thompson Center (5350 E. University Ave., irvingtonhistorical.org) and at Coal Yard Coffee Shop (5547 Bonna Ave.) along the soon-to-open Pennsy Trail. For the bibliophiles, find a book at the Irvington branch of the Indianapolis Public Library (5625 E. Washington St., imcpl.org) or in Bookmamas Bookstore (9 Johnson Ave., bookmamas.com). Inside Bookmamas is Irvington Vinyl (irvingtonvinyl.com), a store with more than 15,000 used and rare records.
Musicians play at the Irvington Farmers Market (irvingtongardenclub.com) on the second Sunday of each month during the summer in Ellenberger Park (5301 East St. Clair St.). Irving Circle Park (5703 E. University Ave., irvingcirclepark.org) kicks off its summer concert series June 6 with local favorite Audio Diner. And the historic Irving Theater (5505 E. Washington St., attheirving.com) hosts concerts, poetry readings, open mic nights and the occasional showing of a certain cult film about a sweet transvestite from Transexual, Transylvania.