Oh, hey there friends. Today’s I’m bringing you this blog post, live from my couch while the snow is coming down hard, here in Indy.
Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending Nook Paleo’s grand opening lunch, in downtown Indy. (Not to be confused with Northside Nook. These are not sister restaurants, and are NOT affiliated. Huge point of confusion for me guys, bc even their logo looks similar, but I just wanted to clarify because I thought they were owned by the same group).
Nook Influenced Diner is located on E. Maryland downtown Indianapolis, and has had a complete face lift. This new spot has clean urban aesthetic with subway tiles and Edison lighting and gives me all the good vibes. They even had a few areas that I’ll call a mini vertical garden, oh so cute!
The concept behind Nook is a Paleo influenced menu, with locally sourced foods. This is a menu I can get behind people! They offer Paleo, Keto, Whole 30 and Vegan options as well. I’m a big believer that “food is fuel” and this place has so many good options for healthy eating while dining out, which can be tough to do! Hopefully I’ll be able to take my Mom back for lunch soon!
When we walked in, one of the servers was there to greet us with the crispy bacon and guac appetizer. Also pictured, some gluten free “chips” made with the same ingredients as their Paleo pizza crust.
YOU. GUYS. These Brussels had me SHOOK. I’m not sure if these were an app or a side dish, but I think next time I dine at Nook, I’m going to get an order of these all to myself. The was the first dish our server brought out to the table to try, and was my favorite thing we had!
We also started off our meal with a shot of olive oil. Yes, you heard right. A shot of olive oil. To be sipped or shot- it was definitely something different! The idea behind this is that olive oil has so many health benefits and to instead of having the bread and dipping oil, you just go with the oil. It was definitely interesting!
And OF COURSE, y’all already know I had to try one of their wood-fired pizzas. They have a regular crust option, but I opted for the gluten-free option so I could say I tried it. I personally don’t live the gluten-free lifestyle, but if I see it as an option on a menu, I often try it just to try to be a teensy bit healthier.
This is the Moroccan Lamp pizza with mozzarella, cashews and Greek yogurt (although I don’t recall any cashews coming out on the pizza). We were also told that the gluten-free pizza crust had different ingredients by two different servers, so I’m not totally sure what kind of flour was used for the crust, but it was their first day being open, so I say it’s fair to give a free pass on that. We had a few gals who were in a hurry and on their lunch hour, so our server was very accommodating about putting orders in at different times and bringing the dishes out when ready to keep everyone at our table on schedule.
My friend Kaylee had the chicken taco, which was super yum! I think I would call this more of a “crepe” than a tortilla. We ate with a few other Indy blogger friends so I’m also sharing their meals as well!
*All photos in this post were taken by Kaylee Creighton Photography.
Megan of @FoodieIndy had the beet salad with apples, golden beets and baby kale.
Seriously, there are so many items on the menu I want to try! Next time I’m also hoping to sit at the bar and have some of the hand-crafted cocktails with Zach, the bar manager, who I’ve known from a few of his previous bartending gigs, and he makes a great drink!
Kombucharita here I come! I saw they even have some healthy dessert options and I’m looking forward to giving those a try as well!.
You can follow Nook Paleo on social media here:
Website, full menu and hours: here