Checkered Flag Tavern

Decided to eat here rather than buy a mediocre burger at or hotel down the road. Food was fantastic; my husband said it was probably the best porter tenderloin sandwich he has ever had. It also has a great atmosphere, loud and boisterous. Great place!

Intimidating and underwhelming from the outside given the location, area demographics and overall appearance, but happy to have found this gem. Food was on point and we’ll go back for sure! Side note– I guess this used to be a dive and desperate need of renovation, which it’s clearly received. Hopefully they’ll get to the outside soon.
Wings (naked) were insane. They easily rivaled the Hermanaki of Ale Emporium. Not sure which sauce to recommend though, we weren’t crazy about the two we picked. Tenderloin was yummy and a great value!

Love the Peanut Butter Jealousy Burger!!! Best burger I’ve ever had in my life!!! Love the Breaded Mushrooms, Wings and the Frog legs! The homemade horseradish and homemade ranch is delicious!!! I’ve never had anything there that isn’t good! Restaurant is very clean, fast service, great prices and staff is very friendly! From the outside of the restaurant you may think twice before eating there bc of the location and it looks like an old pub, but don’t hesitate to walk in and try it! You won’t regret it!!! As a matter of fact you won’t be able to wait to go back!

Stopped here on a whim while visiting Indy. The pulled pork was AMAZING! Old country music playing on the jukebox and the bartenders are very friendly. If I lived here this would be my bar, an honor that I don’t take lightly. It’s well worth stopping here.

Joined a friend at the Checkered Flag for the first time the other night, and I guarantee it won’t be the last. Just kind of a big open bar on the inside, but the food menu is shockingly comprehensive. They have their own smoker, so pretty much anything in that category is probably going to be good. I’ve heard their wings are outstanding, but I went with the pulled pork sandwich. Moist and flavorful on a nice toasted bun. A side comes with it and I chose the onion rings. Good move on my part. Fantastic. I was pretty hungry so I started with the wedge salad and it was perfect… nice and cold with bacon, onion and tomatoes and a creamy bleu cheese dressing. My pal got the grilled fish sandwich and was quite pleased. Our server was very helpful and kept checking on us at the perfect times (beer refill). I had a nice IPA draft to wash it down. Other items on the menu will bring me back for a try, I’m curious about the frog legs. My only gripe would be that the music over the speakers was WAY too loud.

If this is local flavor, I need to visit more often! Wings were great, burger was awesome. Friendly service and good food at a fair price.

This is my favorite bar. All the food is awesome and Stacey has great specials every week. His wings are too die for! Love all the staff as well. If your looking for great food and casual fun with friends this is it!

The wings and fried pickles are amazing. But you have to also try the peanut butter and jealousy burger. Crunchy peanut butter, jelly, coleslaw, siracha and bacon on a pretzel bun. A-​mazing.

Stopped in for a burger after the state bowling tournament. Great atmosphere. Relaxed and low key. The food was amazing. Everyone loved their burgers, and the pulled pork was some of the best I’ve had. The only knock I had was the waitress forgot that we ordered a catfish appetizer, but the burgers were so big it didn’t really matter. Highly recommend!

Bar has been remodeled and 100% different than a year ago! Fried mushrooms are the best ever. Tenderloin was good too!

Best place on the westside for pub food and then some. They have Shrimp and Grits on special today and tomorrow. They also switch specials on a daily basis. But I’m telling you the best wings, burgers, frog legs, BBQ nachos… and can go one. Plus there’s 12 beers on tap.

Went for a friends birthday party and as always there was a fight in there. On a Saturday night there was only 1 bartender, drinks were non existent as she was over worked, the food was horrible because it wasn’t cooked all the way & it took 40 mins just to pay for dinner. I will not go back.

So I got a thank-​you for reviewing this place, which prompted me to look at the business again. They have gone through some major renovations & looks like they have invested a bit of money to overhaul the place.
That being said, my poor review may not apply to the pub that is today.
So if you believe in second chances, maybe give them a look. After all, isn’t that what online reviews are for???

The smoked wings taste so good that they require no sauce and if you like really hot stuff ask for the race fuel sauce! The specialty burgers are some of the best in Indy. This is a must try.
Please try the pulled pork cadila!!! It is tasty, cheap, and huge.
Since the renovation this can not be considered a dive bar anymore, it is a destination location.

This place is awesome. Perfect spot to wait for a delayed flight. Cold beer, great wings, clean and nice. Gotta stop here.

If you haven’t been here for a couple weeks the NEW parking lot behind bar is paved, fenced and nicely landscaped. It looks wonderful and provides desperately needed additional parking! MAJOR improvements for the area since abandon houses are never attractive and help no one’s property value. Sad Mark wasn’t allowed to doze down both abandon and trashed houses to clean up both lots. Maybe the city will jump on that. Talk of more renovations coming in near future. Patio seating is available inside fenced area for those who prefer
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A Dive bar with a 4 – 5 star review means something is being done well here. Not just bar fly’s crawling to the closest watering hole as I’ve heard said. The reviews speak for themselves. The food brings us back and affordable beverages are always a big plus. Daily food and drink specials. Nothing pretentious here and I enjoy the freedom of «wear whatever» dining. Another best of is Juke Box always played LOUD with a nice selection of music. Johnny Cash to Metal could be playing at any time so play on!
Hot Wings are EXCELLENT and my personal favorites here while the BBQ (close 2^nd), The Big Pig, and Rajun Cajun Chicken Sandwiches always delish. Perfectly cooked burgers, including the Bison Burger, are popular as well with men in my family. Fish on Fridays is a given! French Fries are skin on and cooked perfectly with the exception of past trip. Onion Ring order served with 4 large rings and ⁴⁄₅ for taste but in my opinion overpriced. I try to satisfy this craving elsewhere that’s just as scrumptious but with more rings and cheaper (Pit Stop BBQ).
Mark, the owner, is super cool to talk with about different smoking woods being currently used. The man knows how to smoke meats! He’s mentioned exploring some new menu options for specials and I’ve yet to hit the right day for those. Our servers are always great and a lot of fun. The crowd is a live and let live type of crowd with majority being regulars. I’ve run into folks who have driven quite a distance (over hour so far) to get their Checkered Flag fix.
Few topics to highlight before first visit: 1) NO beer on tap so be forewarned; 2) Women’s restroom has two stalls WITH a dividing wall but NO individual stall doors. The one door covering stall area does NOT latch and close. When the restroom door is opened body parts will be exposed to sightseers if you’re sitting to far forward; 3) Its Indianapolis rules for bar smoking so NO smoking indoors or within 8 feet of the door. Yes confusing since bars couple miles away can smoke indoors. It is what it is. Don’t fuss! 4) Motorcycles have marked parking spaces in front of bar so try to use as last resort and 5) Paper towels located on tables so dive in cause the food is GOOD.

The food is excellent! I had the pulled pork sandwich, it was smoked pork and the BBQ sauce was the right amount of sweet and tangy. Jan was our bartender, great lady. It didn’t hurt that I won $ 510 on pull tabs!

What a great unexpected meal! If you are looking for a low key tavern that’s serves not only inexpensive beer but also some of the best food you’ve ever had, this is the place. The staff is super friendly and the smoked prime rib is out of this world. Try the smoked wings.

I am not one that goes to dive bars, but we were hungry and this place had good reviews for their food, so my friend and I were game. We walked into VERY LOUD music, people hollering at one another, there was a poker game going on, all in all everyone seemed to be drunk and happy. People seemed to one another and even the guys who said they knew no one there, within minutes were chatting away with people.
THE FOOD
Simply was GREAT. I had a BBQ burger, cooked perfectly, BBQ sauce along with fries were hot and very good. My friend had a breaded pork sandwich and he raved about it as well. Bartender was busy but stayed on top of everything. We were asked by another man that was likely the owner how the food was and told us that it does get loud in here. Overall it is a good place for great food, loud music, and the prices are great as well.

This much I know is true about Checkered Flag Tavern: the can and bottle beer is the coldest you’ll find in the northern hemisphere, the locals that sit at the bar belch loudly, proudly and often, the women’s room has a pair of toilets side by side with no dividing door or wall, and the food is so good you’ll swear Paula freaking Deen and Bobby flipping Flay are ‘working it’ in the kitchen. Delicious fried frog legs? The best smoked hot wings that this hot wing diva has ever had? A burger that rivals my favorite Indy bar hamburger? Smoked ribs and pulled pork nachos that are WAY MORE BETTER-​ER than places that specialize in BBQ fare? Yes, yes and yes. This place kills it.