Revolucion

This one’s been on the list awhile.  You know I love Fountain Square, and as the friend we were with commented as we drove towards Prospect Street, “now you really feel like you are in a city.”  I agree—I love the way Fountain Square feels and I love the fact that nearly everything there is an independently owned restaurant or store. This is a gem of a neighborhood.  AND the construction is just about totally finished, and you can even park!

Anyhow, we walked into Revolucion about 6:30 and there were some people at the bar, but the rest of the place was pretty empty.  This is a place where you just find a place to sit and then go up to the bar to order.  I knew this ahead of time from reading a few things about it, and so wasn’t a big deal for me, but might be confusing to some.  We started with a margarita—they were o.k.  In general, I really like margaritas (on the rocks with salt) but these were just a little too tart for me.  Whatever mix they were using (it was in a big vat at the bar) wouldn’t have been the one I would have chosen, or maybe I just needed more alcohol in mine to smooth it out or something.  They were offering $2 tequila shots—maybe I should have added one of those to my drink.  I also can’t tell you how much the margarita was because it wasn’t listed on the menu, and I never saw an itemized receipt.

The started with chips and guacamole and salsa ($5.95).  The chips were nice and salty, as I like them, and fairly thin.  The guac was clearly homemade and was good. It was super chunky with avocado, which is how I like it, but if I were making it (and I like to), I would have added more seasoning. Onion, jalapeno, cilantro…. There were some obvious bits of tomato in there, and a little cilantro, but I didn’t see or taste much else. I would personally like it spiced up a bit. Or maybe offer it mild and spicy or something.  With all that said, we licked the little container clean and would have eaten more.  The chips and salsa were about $3 if I recall correctly.  They list a choice of 3 salsas on the menu, but just had the regular red salsa to serve.  It was just o.k.. a little watery.  I would probably stick with the guac.

We also ordered the patatas bravas ($4.95) which were basically fried potato wedges (skin on) that were tossed in a somewhat spicy, chipotle chili sauce.  I have had a similar version of these at several tapas places before, although usually they were more like chunks.  These seem more like they found some decent foodservice fries and then tossed in their own sauce.  Honestly though, they were kind of addicting. Especially the smaller ones that were a tad more crispy.  I had a hard time not eating them.  If they fried them all a little crispier, I would have a hard time not ordering them again.

So, now we moved on to the tacos.  The menu here is pretty small, which I appreciate.  Other than the few starters, they basically just offer tacos and burgers.  I generally think this is a good thing and gives them a chance to hopefully really shine.  We had the beef, the pork, and the shrimp.  Meat and veg tacos are $5.95 for two and the seafood are $6.95 for two.  And just an FYI, you can’t mix and match flavors.  You get 2 of the same flavor per order.

When they brought them out, the nice man working in the kitchen also brought us out a large sampler of housemade hot sauces.  When I saw his enthusiasm about the different sauces, I started to see there was some passion in these for sure.  There was a green sauce that was half regular jalapeno and part pickled jalapeno that was my favorite (and likely the most mild, but still had great flavor).  There were several others including a pink one that he gave with an extreme warning.  He also advised us to try all the sauces on a chip first, so we didn’t ruin our tacos.  That made me laugh.  The tacos were all fine.  I am trying to think if I had a clear favorite and I can’t honestly say that I did.  The shrimp was seasoned nicely with lime and garlic and they were not overcooked.  There was a bit of cabbage on top, and they were served with a mango salsa and lime.  The beef had a nicely seasoned flavor and were served with a pico de gallo topping and lime.  The pork was kind of interesting.  It was almost more like eating a pulled pork taco then an al pastor taco, if you know what I mean.  It was more shredded and heavily seasoned with what was almost more of a sauce than what you see on your typical pork taco.  Like I said, they were all pretty good, but none of them really stood out to me for any particular reason.  We did enjoy experimenting with the sauces. 

The interior of the place is quite large, and is extremely clean.  The service, such as it is, was fine (and I mean as far as going up to the bar and ordering).  The drinks were made quickly and the food came out of the kitchen promptly. My favorite part was when they guy from the kitchen came out—it’s clear he enjoys his job.

So overall, we had a fun night with a friend, and it was fun to try everything.  Would I personally make it a destination for dinner? No.  If I wanted some kick ass tacos in this genre, I would head over to La Parada and get them for about half the price.  If I were out in Fountain Square, maybe checking out a band at Radio Radio (love that place and I think it is owned by the same people who own Revolucion) and wanted something to eat, yep, I’d go again. I would probably stick with beer though.  And I’d like to try the fish tacos as well.  Also, I heard there’s a cool tiki bar in back, although it was cold when we were there and we didn’t check it out.  And I am glad to see more and more things opening up in Fountain Square. I love that part of town.

Revolucion

1132 Prospect Street

Indy 46203

317/423-9490

They’re on facebook, although difficult to find a menu anywhere online