Theo’s Steak and Seafood has always been a high-end dining spot in Highland, but just took it to the next level.
The upscale steakhouse underwent an extensive renovation that gave it a more modern and fancier look, complete with a gold-plated wall behind the bar. It just reopened after months of construction.
“There’s a whole new type of dining experience. It’s something our diners have never really experienced before,” Manager Jack Gallagher said. “It was more traditional in the past and now it’s more modern. It was upscale before but now it’s upscale in a brand new way. We just want to give back to the community.”
Theo’s added new booths, lighting, floor tiles, granite countertops, light fixtures, wall sconces and chandeliers.
“Our goal is to continuously invest in our business so that we may provide the best dining experience in NWI,” owner Pete Klideris said. “Theo’s new look has exceeded my expectations.”
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Theo’s is coming out with a new bar menu, a new lunch menu and new dinner items.
“We have changed the prices. We still have soup, salad and sides with all entrees,” Gallegher said. “We have reasonably priced meals that are higher end. We want to take care of the families that have taken care of us over the years. Our owner comes in and hand-cuts and trims the steak. It all goes by his inspection first. We used wild caught seafood, the freshest available.”
Theo’s is a family-owned business that has been on Indianapolis Boulevard in Highland for about 20 years. Before that, the restaurant space was hope to Alexander’s. It just reopened after four months. It will add a bar menu with finger food like filet sliders and appetizers that are exclusive to the bar. The lunch menu will include a lobster roll, a chicken salad croissant, new burgers, a chicken sandwich, a steakhouse Philly cheesesteak and a prime beef sandwich. The dinner menu will add new steaks, including a 12-ounce strip steak and a boneless ribeye.
“We’ll just keep adding on and bringing some new things into the restaurant,” Gallagher said. “We’ll have new products and new ideas and we stay up with the current trends.”
Coming soon
Public Bar & Rec started construction in the former Bright Spot Restaurant in Hobart, where it plans a second location.
The bar in downtown Crown Point features indoor simulators, old school games, Full Swing golf simulators, duckpin bowling and augmented reality darts. Bar-goers can use the multi-purpose simulators to play baseball, football, soccer, dodgeball and zombie dodgeball.
The bar offers a wide array of entertainment, including ping pong, foosball, cornhole, bocce ball and arcade games. Owner Matthew Doran said the idea was to get people moving around and doing things other than being on their phones.
Public Bar & Rec is now renovating the space at 332 Main Street in downtown Hobart where it plans to open a two-story, 10,000 square-foot bar. The Hobart location will offer the same drinks and menu as Crown Point, including Cheese Almighty gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.
The Hobart location will have simulators, darts, potentially duckpin bowling and a large patio overlooking Lake George with live bands on the weekends.
“It’s going to be great for downtown,” Mayor Josh Huddlestun said. “It’s going to overlook the lake. It’s going to be awesome.”
For more information, visit publicbarandrec.com or find the business on Facebook.
Closed
Foreign Local Brewery closed in downtown Hammond but plans to move to Hessville.
“Our time at 489 Fayette Street has been great,” the brewery posted on social media. “This is not the end of Foreign Local and we will be announcing our new location and details very soon.”
The brewery brews craft beers like Alligator Blood Imperial Stout and Ancient Evil Imperial Stout. It hosts Vinyl + Binho Nights and food vendors like Turnipseed Creations. It was located in an old Firestone just down the street from 18th Street Brewery and 18th Street Distillery in a space that was previously occupied by Sour Note Brewing.
“So folks we have some bad news and some good news. The bad: We will be permanently closing the bar as of today here at 489 Fayette Street. We had hoped to stay open a few more days but we are needing to shut down to get ready for our big move,” the business posted on social media Thursday. “Unfortunately, this past Sunday was our last day open to the public here in downtown Hammond. “The good: We are getting ready for our big move to beautiful and bustling Downtown Hessville! We are beyond excited for this big move for us. We’ll be announcing more details on the where and the when in the next few weeks. Until then, stay foreign and live local, friends.”
Open
You can again run to the border in Munster.
Taco Bell reopened on Calumet Avenue just off the Borman Expressway in Hammond after months of renovation.
The fast food TexMex restaurant at 7949 Calumet Ave. by Target reopened Wednesday with a more modern look.
Open
The Cousins Maine Lobster food truck will be parked outside Menards in Schererville from 12-7 p.m. Sunday.
The food truck from Chicago has drawn long lines when visiting Valparaiso. It will serve lobster rolls, lobster bisque and New England Clam Chowder at 1300 U.S. 41. You can either get the lobster rolls Maine-style, which is chilled with mayo, or Connecticut-style, which is warm with lemon and butter.
It’s part of a national chain food truck that aim to offer Maine’s signature lobster around the country.
Open
Uptown Cafe in Valparaiso reopened after suffering flooding in February.
The coffee shop and restaurant at 1400 Lincolnway shut down for about eight months after a kitchen fire, which caused extensive water damage around Valentine’s Day after the sprinkler system went off in an apartment upstairs in the Uptown complex by Valparaiso University.
The cafe had to sort out what the business insurance would cover and what the building insurance would cover, General Manager Aris Fetterling-Hood said.
It renovated the space, for instance replacing the drywall, seating, tables and light fixtures. It looks largely the way it did before.
“Most of the equipment was OK,” she said. “We had to redo the walls and paint them.
Fettlerling-Hood said it’s been good to see regulars again.
“It’s so wonderful and exciting to have everyone back together,” she said.
Uptown Cafe opened at its spot by the Promenade Apartments in Valparaiso in 2010. It’s part coffee shop and part restaurant serving breakfast and lunch.
“We have really good pastries,” she said. “We have a lot of snacky stuff.”
Uptown Cafe used the opportunities to make some tweaks to the menu, including adding more vegetarian and vegan options. It removed some menu items, including the turkey avocado and the BLT.
“We were nervous about it,” she said. “But customers have embraced the new menu.”
It added new items like an Italian Grinder Salad, a Denver Breakfast Sandwich inspired by the omelet and a vegetarian Rainbow Sub with avocado, arugula, carrot, red cabbage, cucumber, red pepper, tomato, goat cheese and Green Goddess dressing.
The menu also includes salads, sandwiches, avocado toast, bowls and breakfast fare. Popular items include the Voodoo Salad, the Chicken Basil Salad and the Biscuits and Gravy.
“We try to refresh our menu but hadn’t done any updates in a while,” she said.
Uptown Cafe seats about 70, does a brisk carryout business, takes mobile orders and offers curbside pickup. It’s planning to offer holiday take-and-bake carryouts with scones and other pastries people can preorder and bake at home for the holidays.
“We just reopened and it’s been nice to see everyone again,” she said. “It’s really close-knit. It’s a nice and cozy place.”
If you would like your business to be included in a future column, email joseph.pete@nwi.com.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.