Open

• sweetgreen | 157 E. New York St. | This popular salad bowl + healthy food chain officially opened its second Indy location downtown in the Ardmore building near Mass Ave. For every bowl sold during the grand opening yesterday, sweetgreen donated a bowl to its local impact partner Second Helpings to help Hoosiers experiencing food insecurity.
• Oishi Sushi & Ramen | 600 Mass Ave. | There’s a new sushi and ramen spot on Mass Ave. taking over the space of former Pizzology + it’s run by the co-owner of nine local Thai restaurants. Pro tip: If you sign up to order online, you earn a $5 reward.
• Sandbox VR | 850 Mass Ave., Ste. 150 | Looking for a new experience? Step into a virtual reality at this new spot in the Bottleworks District. For Halloween, you can battle your way through a zombie apocalypse or defend earth from an alien invasion.

Photo by @sushiofindy

Closing

• Dottie Couture Boutique | 8659 River Crossing Blvd. + online | This local fashion boutique that has been around for 13 years is getting ready to close its doors and online shop this Fri., Oct. 14. Pro tip: You can shop its liquidation sale online using code DOTTIE50.
• Thunderbird | 1127 Shelby St. | After nine years of serving up hundreds of unique drinks, Thunderbird announced its closure in Fountain Square. New Year’s Eve will be its final night of operations.
• Fork & Function Cafe | 2442 Central Ave., Ste. C | The owners of the cafe space decided to close it after two years of service. However, they say, “Fork & Function Events, in addition to Indy’s Kitchen, continues to grow and we are thankful for your support as we refocus our business goals and passions.”

• 58th Annual Haunted House | Wed., Oct. 12 - Sun., Oct. 30 | Various times | The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis | $9 + Museum admission | Explore a wacky and twisted world of games in the Children’s Museum Guild’s annual haunted house.
• Heartland International Film Festival | Wed., Oct. 12 - Sun., Oct. 16 | 2-10 p.m. | Various locations | $14.00 - $25.00 | Catch 100+ independent films, filmmaker Q+As, and even films with the Circle City as the backdrop.

• The Haunted States of America | Fri., Oct. 14 - Sat., Oct. 15 | 6-8:30 p.m. | Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, 1230 North Delaware Street , Indianapolis | $14.95 - $17.95 | Visit the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site to experience Candlelight Theatre’s newest haunted offering, The Haunted States of America by James Trofatter.
• Indiana Pacers vs. Houston Rockets | Fri., Oct. 14 | 7 p.m. | Gainbridge Fieldhouse, 125 S. Pennsylvania St, Indianapolis | $6.00 - $162.00 | Cheer on the Pacers as they take on Houston in a newly renovated fieldhouse.

• The Taylor Party: Taylor Swift Night | Sat., Oct. 15 | 8 p.m. | The Vogue Theatre, 6259 N College Ave, Indianapolis | $10.00 - $25.00 | Dance the night away at this Taylor Swift-inspired party.

• Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars | Sun., Oct. 16 | 1 p.m. | Lucas Oil Stadium, 500 South Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis | $48.00 - $379.00 | Catch the Colts as the team attempts to bring home another win.

• 73º | Scattered thunderstorms | 60% chance of rain

• Plans for a new $85 million hotel at 1 N. Pennsylvania St. are set to move forward after the city commission approved the project to receive financing help. The upscale Kimpton Hotel in the historic Odd Fellows building will feature ~164 rooms, a ground-floor restaurant, a rooftop bar, and 4,500 sqft of ballroom and meeting space. 🏨 (IBJ)

• Remember the food truck park concept we told you about? Well, The Truckstop Food Truck Park is getting ready to open its first location in Terre Haute (1319 Lafayette Ave.) on Tues., Oct. 25. In the meantime for Indy folks, it’s hosting a pop-up at The Speak Easy (5240 Winthrop Ave.) on Thurs., Oct. 13 + 27.🍴

• A sports-themed restaurant is planned to open early next year in the site of former troubled bars After 6 Lounge and Taps & Dolls. Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux will take up 8,000 sqft on the first floor of 247 S. Meridian St. + will offer an American and cajun menu with 30-40 different beers on tap. 🍺 (IBJ)

• Soon, it will be more expensive to eat and drink in Fishers. The City Council approved a 1% food and beverage tax Monday night + the extra cash will be used to fund a $170 million event center that will house the Indy Fuel minor league hockey team. The new tax will go into effect Thurs., Dec. 1. 💵 (WISH)

• Indy’s only kids-dedicated cooking school is set to open its second location in Zionsville this weekend. Sprouts Cooking School opened its flagship location in Carmel back in 2017 and has served 15,000+ Hoosier children with its single-session and special family cooking classes, a MemberChef program, seasonal cooking camps, and cooking-themed birthday parties for ages 3-13. 🍳

• Colts fans, are you traveling to Nashville to watch the team take on the Titans on Sun., Oct. 23? The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp is offering a deal for fans who purchase their tickets through visitmusiccity.com. You can use the promo code MusicCityFans to receive $25 off upper section tickets + $50 off lodge and lower section tickets until Thurs., Oct. 20. 🏈

• Ever wondered where Indy ranks among the biggest and most expensive homes in the US? According to the 2022 American Home Size Index, Indianapolis homes come in at No. 12 with an average size of 2,027-sqft at $140.45-153.55 per sqft. 🏠

• Are you participating in Sober October? Indianapolis ranked No. 8 on a list of the most sober cities in America, according to real estate data company Clever. It found Indy to be less interested in drinking with a score of just 66.4 out of 100, which is 13% lower than the average city in the study.

• There’s no better time to watch a scary movie than this month. Wishlisted looked at data from Rotten Tomatoes + Google Trends to find the most popular Halloween movie in each state. It found “Host” to be the most popular movie for Hoosier horror fans. 👻

• If you love this newsletter (and supporting local) as much as we love strolls in Highland Park, morning lattes from Provider + Saturdays spent biking on the Monon (which is a lot) — we’ve got something for you: INDYtoday just launched a membership program. Learn more + sign up.

• Fast-track those holiday shopping plans. For the first time, Amazon is hosting a second Prime Day with the Prime Early Access Sale today, Oct. 12. Some of the best deals we’ve seen: $120 off a Shark cordless vacuum, $100 off a Vitamix One, and $180 off a deep tissue massage gun.*