Do you like Irish pubs? This one is great. The bangers and mash are wonderful. I love the hard cider. Several locations in Indy.
http://claddaghirishpubs.com/pub-and-restaurant/locations/

Have you tried The CheeseCake Factory? Don't let the name put you off. It has really great food. It is a chain however, and I think you may have them in Florida too.

For great bar-b-que try Squealers:
http://www.squealersbbq.biz/index.php

Have a look at any of the 5 star listings here:
http://indianapolis.metromix.com/browse/restaurants/6,4?

How about trying the Beef and Boards Dinner Theater? http://www.beefandboards.com/

I grew up outside Indy, lived downtown for 5 years, but moved to Detroit 3 1/2 years ago, so my info's a little outdated (I do get home every few months, but don't necessarily eat out very much).

Bosphorus Cafe, which is on the far SE side of downtown, is one of my favorites. They serve Turkish food. It was on par with the local Middle Eastern places here in Detroit the last time we were there (which has been two years). www.bosphoruscafe.com

Rathskeller isn't bad, and the Biergarten might still be open.

I also dearly miss Yats! but you can probably get passable New Orleans food at home (we can't- there's something about Detroit that makes Creole/Cajun food suck. Even the Sauce Boss's gumbo is bad here).

Hi Bellhouse,

Sorry, I don't have any recommendations for you about Indianapolis, but I've been reading some of your prior posts and would love to hear about your experiences in Normandy and the Luxembourg aread. If you are interested in communicating about these, you can email me at toolhandal@hotmail.com. Thanks.

We always visit Claddaghs Pub when visiting Indy. Good atmosphere, love fish and chips, shepards pie.

Thanks for all your help. The Bosphorus Cafe sounds particularly fun - we don't have a Turkish restaurant here, but then pub food is always good. I'll work my way through the 250+ reviews on the metromix site - the first two I saw were Thai and Japanese - sigh - maybe if I go up by myself to visit Brent!

Tom18 - unfortunately the Normandy and north trip didn't work out. We had planned it primarily for our boys, but the oldest decided to drop out of college - and since he was working he couldn't go - plus the economy in SW FL was in freefall - so we shelved it (still planning to do it eventually) and went to California instead.

Will second cocontom's recommendation of Yat's. Definitely a student self-service hangout vibe, but enjoyed the food there a good bit. Cheap prices, too.

Will look it up - thanks.

Wow - since we lived a couple hours away from NO for a couple years, I never would have thought to go to a Cajun restaurant anywhere out of Louisiana - but this sounds good!

The Bosphorus Cafe was wonderful - thanks so much! As soon as we got back last night I pulled out a cookbook that a Turkish friend gave me! Brent said we definitely have to go back there next time we visit. We debated Yats, the Rathskeller, the Irish pub and the Brugges Brasserie (a Belgian restaurant in Broad Ripple that DH and I had been to when we took Brent up to school. Brent decided that since Yats was affordable for students, we have an English pub at home, and his roommate had brought him back some German food last weekend when his parents were in town, he wanted to try Belgian. DH and I were more than happy to go back - yum. Sunday lunch we went to Skyline for some Cincinnati style chili (DH is from Cinci). A great trip and great food - thanks all!

There are indeed a few Skyline Chili parlors in Indianapolis, though all are in the suburbs or otherwise outlying areas of the city. Not fun to try and reach if you don't have a car.