As my friends at Visit Indy will tell you, our little Circle City has a lot to offer. From hometown cafes to State Fair delicacies to downtown’s finest dining, Hoosiers really know how to eat! But do you know how to stick to a budget while you enjoy the great experiences Indiana has to offer? In addition to the ways to save on fine dining that work anywhere you live, Hoosiers have a few unique opportunities for local discounts—Discover Indy, Devour Downtown and Skoop are a few of my favorites.
Devour Downtown is going on right now through August 23rd. Each participating restaurant has a $30 special. The upscale restaurants offer a 3 course meal for $30, the family dining restaurants will feed two of you for $30! It is a great way to try out upscale restaurants that might not otherwise fit into your budget. The event occurs twice each year and the menu seems to expand every time!
Coupons are, as always, a great source of savings. We have two great, local options. The first is Skoop—a mobile coupon alert system. Receive text messages with coupons, specials and exclusive deals for local restaurants and entertainment locations. The second is Discover Indy—a coupon booklet chock full of fantastic deals. You might know Discover Indy by a different name. Zoo Books have been around for years, providing discounts for the Indianapolis area while raising funds and awareness for the Indianapolis Zoo.
Just like us, they have rebranded this year by expanding their focus. You’ll still get great savings for some of Indy’s best restaurants, stores and attractions while they discover even more worthy causes to support. This year’s featured charity is Indiana Children’s Wish Network. The non-profit is featured in the booklet as well as on the Discover Indy website. They are also supportive of the local blogging community. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to connect with Hoosier bloggers across the state to learn how to do what I do, even better. Discover Indy sponsored Blog Indiana and they have given me coupon booklets for my readers!
This contest has ended.
To enter, simply leave a comment here telling me what you love most about our city! You can also earn additional entries by blogging or tweeting about this giveaway (be sure to leave a separate comment with the link to each additional entry).
The contest runs until Sunday, August 23rd at 11:59pm edt. Three winners will be notified by email on August 24th (as selected by Random.org) and must reply with their mailing address within 48 hours or a new winner will be chosen. Open only to residents of Indiana and cannot be shipped to PO boxes.
Fine Dining on a Fast Food Budget
Family Friendly Dining
I love that in Indianapolis, we have everything larger cities have, except the crime, filth, and attitude. We have tons of beautiful places for alfresco dining; we can go to all kinds of outdoor productions from Shakespeare to modern dance to classical ballet; we have more museums than we can do justice to in a year; we have major league sports. We’ve been known as the City of Trees; it’s gorgeous here. Yet we have the hominess of a small town. The quality of life is so high here! I just hope too many more people don’t discover it. I’m selfish.
Indy is a great place to raise kids! My hubby and I had fun here during our childless years, but it’s been fun to discover new places to visit within the city with kids. Our Children’s Museum is awesome and I think we went to the zoo every weekend last summer.
Indianapolis is a beautiful city full of things to do. We can always find something to entertain us. We especially love the children’s museum and the zoo.
Honestly? My favorite thing about Indy is the Colts. The Colts and the cinnamon sugar toast at Cafe Patachou. If I could run into Peyton Manning at Cafe Patachou I might just fall over and die of happiness (but not before I finish my toast).
I recently discovered a cool resource for getting discounts on local services, restaurants included. If you sign up for 92.3 (WTTS) Half-Price club, you get e-mail notifications of half-price gift certificates they’re offering. We recently snagged a $50 gift certificate to Peterson’s for $25. I’ve also gotten some great discounts by following my favorite local restaurants on Twitter.
Other than Colts home games I look forward to the state fair every year. It’s always a great day out with the family! Plus you can’t beat the fried foods there 😉
My favorite thing about Indy? The pride that Indy residents have for this great city! Indy is a big city full of people who gush about all the things that make their city wonderful! Literally, GUSH! And, considering all we have (a neat arts scene, some terrific local restaurants, a great NFL team, beautiful parks and trails, safe neighborhoods, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a friendly downtown, passionate not-for-profits, etc), we have a lot of things to be proud of! Personally, I’m incredibly proud to live in a city where my neighbors are just as head-over-heels about this place as I am!
Tweeted about this just now! @LaneyInIndy
Indy is a great city with a very walkable downtown area.