The fine art of midweek dining is alive and well, if a recent Tuesday evening at Shadow Lounge & Restaurant is any indication. Since its opening this summer in the former home of Marco’s Restaurant and Lounge, it’s not unusual to find every parking spot taken by diners and every table inside the restored space full.
It’s a big change for the building at 54th Street and Keystone Avenue, which since 2021 has stood vacant and dark. Of all the restaurants that thrived in Indy’s midtown in the 1980s, few were as beloved and enduring as Marco’s, where the martinis rarely stopped pouring and the homemade lasagna was always a good bet. Just say the phrase “cheap meat,” and a legion of regulars will wax poetic about Tuesday nights when the perennial weekly special packed diners in for a 6-ounce filet, side, and salad, with a price tag barely crossing into double digits. When it closed after 36 years, it was hard to imagine that any restaurant could replace the void Marco’s left behind.
Shadow Lounge has managed that feat thanks to manager and longtime music promoter Fred “Dookie” Leachman, who partnered with investor Stephen Pettigrew to oversee a yearlong renovation including new plumbing, new flooring, and a newly equipped kitchen for the building, which was also the home of Capri Italian Restaurant from 1963 to 1984. The Hot 100.9 FM DJs, including the popular DJ Reddy Rock, brought in to set the vibe, are another draw. But the restaurant’s biggest appeal may be chef Tia Wilson, who recently ended a run on her own viral wing joint, Chicken Scratch, and has brought with her a crowd of loyal fans.
If you were one of those hungry patrons who waited just a few feet down Keystone Avenue at Chicken Scratch for breaded and “drenched” honey hot wings and shrimp alfredo fries, you already know Wilson’s talents extend well beyond takeout. I was one of those customers, and I was sad that franchising and quality control issues caused her location of Chicken Scratch to close (a downtown outpost remains, but Wilson is unaffiliated). But in the meantime, Wilson met Leachman through some industry friends, and the pair got busy planning a place they felt Indy had yet to see.
“It’s definitely a lot of dishes I wanted on the menu,” Leachman says, “but with Tia’s ingredients and finesse. She’s a true gem to have on our team.”
Leachman knew a weekend brunch with great music was a must, and Wilson’s daytime offerings deliver on his dream with hearty platters and an innovative take on chicken and waffles, with chicken strips and light, airy red velvet waffles. Moist, flaky salmon is another standout, generously plated over ultra-creamy smoked gouda grits.
My Tuesday night dinner was even more evidence of Wilson’s culinary chops. The wings, though perhaps a bit too generously drenched in a thick garlic-parmesan sauce, were just as crispy and succulent as I remember from Chicken Scratch. Seafood egg rolls came stuffed with shrimp, crab, and tangy cheese.
Wilson’s lamb lollipops were the stars of the meal, served on a bed of chunky, skin-on mashed potatoes. Mac and cheese was equally savory and golden around the edges, though it might have benefitted from more cream and less oil. (Still, we ate it all.) Penne in a rich, boldly spiced Cajun cream sauce tossed with blackened chicken, sweet peppers, and andouille sausage was a nod to the former Marco’s menu, with a character all its own.
The dessert menu was slightly less assured: A miniature cast-iron skillet peach cobbler was well-flavored but overly soupy. It hardly mattered, though, as we were already full, as well as cheered by the welcoming service and atmosphere.
Whether Leachman, Wilson, and their staff have 36 years of a restaurant in them is yet to be seen. But if all the well-dressed diners snagging reservations for birthday brunches and celebration dinners are any indication, Shadow Lounge is well on its way.
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