The Indigo Duck

Had a great time with my grandfather and his date on New Year’s eve a couple years ago. Cute spot, too bad it’s closed.

I hate to write a bad review since the restaurant is closing in a week. But if you’re planning on visiting before the 20^th, don’t expect good service, don’t expect to get a drink if you’re waiting at the bar for your table, and don’t expect a pleasant experience. You CAN expect good, consistent food though… so if you’re willing to spend a good chunk time there and overlook the disorganization of the staff… all for the end reward of a decent meal, then by all means, go to the Indigo Duck.
Just keep your expectations low.

Saddened to learn today that the Indigo Duck is closing their doors 9÷20÷14. You will be missed!

The good: Inventive, creative menu; skillfully prepared food (i.e., very tasty), well made drinks, charming surroundings.
The bad: Clueless waitstaff was unable to describe the specials, dropped our dishes, poured water into sprite glass twice, mispronounced names of dishes.
The ugly: SLOOOOW service (an hour and fifteen minutes between ordering and eating); when asked why it took so long, the response was «we space out our orders so you can enjoy the experience» when it was obvious that the kitchen was just backed up.
The cons overwhelm the pros, by a lot. I will never return. Too bad the service ruined truly tasty and inventive food.

I have been here for dinner twice & just went for brunch today, loved all my food! This was first time I remembered to take picture. I think the brunch is a good value. My husband ordered the special, salmon with poached egg, it was amazing! We both really enjoyed mine also, a egg omelet w/​biscuit & gravy. I have ordered some sort of avocado pancake with my dinner before that I dream about, it is that good. I personally found the desserts too small & not rich enough, but some might find that a good thing.

The biscuits and gravy are non-​traditional but very good. The blueberry French toast was fantastic! We will be going back.

Searched for ‘best Bloody Mary’ near Franklin… this showed as the number Bloody Mary to try! We love experiencing the variety of recipes different cities offer for the Bloody Mary recipes. Indigo Duck was flavorful but a bit pricey.

We decided to venture 30 minutes from Indianapolis to Franklin to try The Indigo Duck. We were expecting a nice meal in a quiet little town, but our expectations were blown away considerably!
We started with the «Pâté of the South,» which is pimento cheese spread with crackers. It was subtle and flavorful, but I would argue not the most traditional pimento cheese ever.
Then there were the main courses. Wow! I had the duck, which was cooked well, but could have been rendered a little better. The succotash completely stole the show. Creamy, comforting, stunning! My better half had a tilefish special. The fish was nicely cooked with a mound of smoked peach butter on top. But, as with the duck, the sides stole the show! It came with a fried green tomato covered in mashed potatoes that were absolutely divine! A bourbon cocktail and chocolate cake dessert left us both happy.
Staff could be friendlier and more attentative, but it’s all about the food. Make the drive to Franklin and eat this food.

Fresh, high quality ingredients, innovative flavor combinations, superb preparation, professional servers, casual but eloquent atmosphere, reasonable prices… there is not one thing I don’t love about this restaurant. I only wish it was closer to my home base of downtown Indy.

A wonderful little restaurant with a focus on local ingredients. Creative menu and small but interesting wine list with organic choices. Friendly staff accommodated special requests for both kid ‘s and paleo tastes.
Same league as Bluebeard in Indy.

Great brunch ! Friendly staff. Can get very noisy as it is a small space but fun.
Menu changes often with the season. Lots of things with a southern flare.

This is a hidden gem! It was absolutely amazing! I would highly recommend the tenderloin salad and the hamburger!!!
Must try

This is a wonderful little restaurant on the square in the small town of Franklin. The staff here are amazing and the food is even better! I have been here a couple of times now and have been blown away by the quality both times.
They specialize in sort of «low country comfort food» with an upscale twist. The culinary team here knows their stuff. They combine flavors that you would not expect to be good, but somehow they make them awesome! If you want a quaint little date night spot, head south of Indy to Franklin and check out the Indigo Duck. You will not be disappointed! Either try one of the specials, or the shrimp and grits is a sure win!

Quiet, enjoyable place to have brunch on Sunday… Tucked away near the Franklin Courthouse, one can only stumble upon The Indigo Duck if they have had previous knowledge of its existence.
I proceeded to order the Eggs Sweetgrass, a particularly investing, yet delicious take on Eggs Benedict with fried green tomatoes. It was delicious when paired with a mimosa, but I couldn’t help but feel like the meal was a bit bulky… There was so much going on!
Service was excellent, and it is a good atmosphere for kids and families… Unfortunately, I knocked a star off because this was a place that I wanted to sit and work on a stack of papers and the hostess gladly found me a quiet isolated corner. Sadly, halfway through the meal she sat a family with two toddlers right next to me… It may have just been a tragic coincidence, but it forced me to locate to another establishment. AKA… go here without papers to grade.

Definitley one of my fav returants in Indiana!
***BOOM*** there I said it :)
Indigo Duck holds a dear place in mine and my families heart.
Recently I was afforded the chance to re-​visit Indigo Duck after a long absence.
The resturant itself is smaller (maybe 15 or so tables plus a samll bar) but super intimate. Great lighting, easy parking and clean.
As for the staff, Unilocal does not provide enough stars for me to do them justice. An honest hard working team who take a great deal of pride in welcoming and sharing their food with you. A+++
Now for the food!!!
I have been here probably 6 or 7 times in the past. I have always recieved and amous bouche. This time it was a eggplant frite with Vidalllia ketchup. Super light and crunchy and the ketchup was amaxzing. Next time I need a basket full… jus sayin.
For starters our table shaed the pimento cheese pâté (natch), the deviled egg salad and the terriyaki (?) duck and fried rice (which was one of their featured small plates that evening). The pimento chese was super tasty and fresh, served with toats, the deviled egg salad was flavorful but the duck fried rice was amazing! INDIGO DUCK PLEASE ADD THIS TO YOUR PERMANENT MENU!!! Jasmine rice lightly sauteed with fresh veggies and marinated pieces of duck. So good!
For our entrees all four in my party decided to go with the duck (It is Indigo DUCK afterall). The duck is from Guntorp farms and was super fresh. Now I dont want to hear the controversy or opinions, but I tend to like my duck breast cooked a tad past medium (just barley blushing) and the ID staff always cooks it to my liking with none of that pretentious «…to the chefs liking» BS. It should be to my liking since I am the guest… and with Indigo Duck it always is. All in my party had their duck cooked to their liking and they were allserved with a great mélange of autumn veggies.
As for dessert, the wifet and I shared their cinamon roll bread pudding which had a great taste and texture. Works extra well when paired with coffee.
Others had the mixed berry crumble with pumpkin fudge. The crumble was good. but the fudge was excellent!
Overall, do yourself a favor and make it in to Indigo Duck
Great food,
Amazing staff
Wanderful Experience.
Also there recently was an artcle on this place featured in the Indy Star:

Out-​of-​town guests; found this gem of a restaurant nestled in downtown Franklin thanks to fellow Unilocalers.
For dinner, my fiancé and I started with the Pâté O The South, She-​Crab Soup and two of Indigo’s cocktails. The cocktails were average, the Pâté rich and creamy. The Soup — more cream than crab.
For dinner, I got the grilled duck. Everything complemented well but nothing stood out as the «star» of the evening.
Why the four stars: the atmosphere was nice, service pleasant, parking was easy for a weekend evening; most importantly, I know I can come here, order just about anything off the menu and not be disappointed.

Went last night for a date night with my hubby. We will definitely be back for fine dining without a pretentious atmosphere or snobby wait staff. The atmosphere is great (minus the fact that it gets VERY cold in the dining room in the winter as there is no separation between the entryway and the dining room) and if I would have ordered a different entrée, my review would probably be 5 stars.
The star of the show, for us, was hands-​down the Grilled Scallop Monte Cristo appetizer. It’s $ 14 but is a generous portion… in fact, their portions of everything are pretty generous! :) Anyway, you get two of the most amazing sandwiches with this appetizer. After the two of us each ate one, we declared that we weren’t even that hungry any more! We will go back and order this appetizer plus a salad or soup and that will be a complete meal. The bread is amazing, a delicious gourmet version of French toast with tasty Indiana maple syrup to dunk it in! Scallops, Havarti and bacon are sandwiched between two slices and it is just absolute heaven. One of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had!
My husband ordered the nightly special — rabbit prepared four ways. Neither of us had ever had rabbit before and he was curious. He was happy with it and let me sample from his plate. We both agreed that the shank portion was definitely the best! There were also some cabbage rolls stuffed with rabbit — I forget which cut of meat it was, but we both found it to be a little gamey for our tastes. :(
I had the Grilled Black Angus Ribeye. It is described as coming with a horseradish spinach salad, but I sure didn’t see one on my plate. I understand that ribeyes are generally marbled but it had a little too much un-​chewable fat on it for my liking. That aside, I still wasn’t that impressed with the steak itself as it didn’t seem to have anything unique to it… not really seasoned at all and I just expected something more. We will definitely return, but I won’t order the ribeye again as it just offered nothing special. :(
That’s all… gotta go daydream about that Monte Cristo appetizer again! Nom nom nom! ;)

Expensive, but my favorite restaurant period. They offer all kinds of strange gourmet meals. I am a picky eater, and i have never been disappointed.
The duck is amazing, as was the pork-​shank I had on special a while back. I was not as thrilled with the lobster/​crab cakes I had on my last visit, but the potato soup was fantastic. My girlfriend had the meatloaf which she had been waiting to try, and she loved it.
This is by far the best restaurant I have ever eaten at. Plan on spending around $ 20-​$ 30 per person.

The Indigo Duck was a delightful brunch spot today after church. This quaint little restaurant is in downtown Franklin. The artwork on the walls, the hardwood floors, and white linen service all contribute to a beautiful and serene atmosphere.
My husband and I were in a festive mood, so we splurged on cocktails at 11 o’clock in the morning. My husband had a nice little Mimosa and I had a super spicy, but great, Bloody Mary. I had the Huevos Rancheros, which was amazing. A crispy tortilla was laid on top of a bed of shredded cheddar, then piled with basmati rice, black beans, pico de gallo, scrambled eggs, and avocado. It was a beautiful plate of food which I hated to disrupt. Fortunately, the food tasted even better than it looked.
We had a wonderful time. Our server was terrific. It was excellent food at a beautiful restaurant without a shred of pretentiousness. We look forward to returning to the Indigo Duck in the near future!

SMUG ALERT, SMUG ALERT! Calling all smuggersons. I personally loved the Indigo Duck and had an awesome experience. It was really busy, so naturally it was a little louder. This is to be expected. The review from S h. appears to be so full of pretension that the other patrons at the Indigo Duck must have needed oxygen from all the hot air that woman was blowing. For a place in Franklin, Indiana, the Indigo Duck is an awesome place to enjoy a date. I also have a degree similar to s h., however I don’t need to sound the alarm about how much better I am than someone else. These type of people are unable to ever enjoy their eating experience. They look for a problem, so naturally they will never be satisfied. If you want a classy evening in Franklin, with some unique food and a great environment, I highly recommend the Indigo Duck.