Steve"s ALS Restaurant Review #15

THE MERIDIAN

Decades ago there was a small, family owned restaurant on North Meridian Street in Indianapolis.  Dodds Townhouse was a popular eating spot, especially nice for dinner before Starlight Musicals.  It was family friendly, and made certain to hire neighborhood teenagers (mine included) to hostess and bus.

Time passed, and as these things go, the owners grew weary and ultimately Dodds was no more.  New owners took over, spruced up the aging house that the restaurant called home, changed the menu, and the name.  Thus was born The Meridian.

We tried it a couple of times early in its existence and for reasons that I cannot now remember just didn’t care for it.  But, we were recently looking for someplace different to celebrate our anniversary and decided to give The Meridian another chance.   

We arrived wearing socks and shoes.  We left with just the shoes—because the restaurant blew our socks right off.  We had changed, The Meridian had changed, or some combination of the two occurred.

We loved it.

This is an old structure, and clearly had to be retrofitted in order to provide the access that you and I need.  There were two van accessible parking spots at the entrance to the parking lot.  I did not see any other handicap parking, but the lot itself is large, and there is valet available.  The ramp leading into the restaurant was easily maneuverable, but as is almost universally the case, my wife had to open the door for me.

The interior of the restaurant is spacious with lots of room between tables that made it easy for me to maneuver my power chair to the table to which the hostess left us.  I stayed in my chair for the meal, and the hostess was gracious about removing the chairs on my side to allow me access.

The menu is not large, but you will easily find something you like.

I’m stopping this review for a moment to indulge in a personal pet peeve.  I am so tired of restaurants with menus that contain items I’ve never heard of and seem created by chefs whose goal, I am convinced, is to make me feel stupid.

But that’s just me.  Now, back to the review.

Our server, Christian, was superb.  He was friendly, very knowledgeable, never obtrusive, and did everything with a flair.  My wife and I split a beet salad, which was prepared in such a manner that I could spear the beets with a fork and easily enjoy the salad.  My wife ordered salmon and stated that it was the best she has ever eaten.  (this is saying a lot, my wife really, really likes salmon)

I had a strip steak.  I’ve begun asking that the kitchen cut up my entrée before it is served, and have found this works well with steak.  The kitchen did a great job.  My steak arrived in perfectly sized bites.  After all, it’s important that one’s dinner also be accessible.

For dessert, my wife enjoyed a strawberry and rhubarb confection while I had small doughnuts that came in a bag filled with sugar and cinnamon.  Christian shook the bag thoroughly before placing the doughnuts on a plate.  These were delicious and manageable, some by fingers and others by fork.

The restroom was small, but serviceable.  The door was very heavy.  I had to make three attempts to exit and a very nice person assisted me in entering.

C ONCLUSION: The Meridian is a very pleasant, special occasion, restaurant.  The food, service, and atmosphere could not have been more delightful.  Access to the restaurant was good, but getting in and out of the bathroom makes the score lower than it should be.

3 1/2 power chairs

(I’m now using a power chair and relying less and less on eating utensils.  I hope you find these reviews helpful as you manage our condition.)