Lava Lips

Hell yeah! This place is filled with hot stuff! But don’t think it’s all crazy hot; they have different products to try, so you can find what suits you. They’re very knowledgeable about their products. Tell them what you like, ask for suggestions, sample them. Isn’t that great? You won’t waste your money on something you won’t enjoy. I tried many kinds & varieties. I loved one hot sauce that had a mustardy kick, not too spicy, for general purpose use. I regularly return for the Bee Sting Thai style hot sauce for Asian food; & my all time fave, Mr. Blister! garlicky good stuff from Louisiana. Really convenient hours make it easy to stop by when you run out. It’s also a great place to buy gifts for your foodie friends. Make up a gift box, or get a gift certificate if you’re just not sure.

How could anyone not love this place? The owner is so nice, the room is full of good conversation, it’s BYOB, and you get to sample every hot sauce ever with an expert by your side to make recommendations as you need. Plus, who doesn’t love a tiki themed venue? seriously? it’s awesome!

Went there and was greeted by the owner’s bulldog. The tiki bar atmosphere was pretty chill and inviting. All the hot sauces are up for tasting and the guy knew his stuff. He was really helpful and was happy to share his input of the hot sauce you asked to try. Highly recommended for the hot sauce lovers and those not so much because there are sauces that have a great punch of flavor but not a lot of heat.

I visited on a Sunday afternoon with my daughter, and as fans of all things spicy, we were excited to experience Lava Lips! We had planned ahead as instructed and brought our own beverages (bottled water to cleanse the palate), so we set out, Groupons in hand, on a spicy adventure.
Mike was extremely friendly and gave us plenty of attention, even though he was also handling a brisk business with several other customers during our visit. We received great advice and background information, and sampled 8 – 10 different sauces based upon our tendency to favor the hotter end of the sauce spectrum.
Fantastic personalized service, great conversation, and delicious samplings made Lava Lips a great Sunday afternoon father-​daughter experience. We both look forward to visiting again once we have depleted our supply of sauces.

Great place with delicious sauces. Owner was very entertaining and knowledgeable. We had a blast!

It’s not often I come across a business that provides something I have never even heard of before, but Lava Lips is one that falls into that category, and it is awesome. I had heard that this was a hot sauce store, but only recently found out that it is actually much more than that. In looking for some Christmas presents for someone who enjoys spicy foods, this place jumped out as the perfect spot to go and as soon as I walked in I knew I was going to have no trouble at all finding something good.
First of all, the fact that the strip of stores that they are located in has a parking lot is very nice for an area of town where street parking can be a pain with as much traffic that drives through there during the busy times of day. I found a spot easily and headed inside where I was greeted very welcomingly by a lady who I assume owns the place. Upon mentioning that this was my first visit, she took the time to explain the store to me, their offerings, and helped guide me in the direction of what I thought I was looking for. Here is the run down: They are a «try it before you buy it» store focused on hot sauces and all things spicy. The place looks like a big tiki hut, with the centerpiece being a large 4 sided tiki bar on which the tastings happen. For just some pocket change, you can buy chips that they have available as a carrier for as many hot sauces as you could possibly attempt to try. The best part, it is BYOB! Feel free to bring in a few beers to enjoy while sampling their sauces.
The lady who was there during my visit was very knowledgeable and knew a lot about their offerings. The store is split up into sections depending on the heat by scoville rating, and then in each section you can find sauces that vary by flavors. Their selections branch out from just pure heat and they have lots of sauces that provide bases of fruit, sweet, mustard, roasted pepper, tomato, and a wide range of flavorful chilies, to name just a few that I saw. During Christmas they had gift boxes that you could fill with 3 different varieties and box up nicely. As I mentioned before, this place is more than just hot sauces. I remember seeing sauces like cocktail, horseradish, and tartar, along with a huge shelf of dry rubs and bbq sauces, and they also had plenty of different dips and spreads. They even have bloody mary mixes that are sure to satisfy that person who never thinks they are spicy enough. Not into making your food more delicious, but instead you are searching for that perfect decoration to finish off your island themed room? They have you covered with a variety of tiki themed items, including some really cool painted surfboard decorations that you can customize. I am sure there was plenty more offerings that I didn’t see when I was there.
The prices of the many bottles that I picked up seemed to mostly be between $ 7 and $ 11 for the standard 5 oz bottle of sauce. There were definitely some cheaper and also some more expensive depending on what you are looking for. I don’t often shop for hot sauces like these so I have nothing to compare it to, but I definitely think that having the expertise of the owner, the huge selection to choose from, and the ability to taste test them makes paying a couple extra bucks a bottle well worth it, if prices are even higher than other places at all. They also have a rewards system so you can get a card punched each time you buy a bottle of hot sauce, and they reward you with a free bottle when you buy 6.
I will definitely be back with some cold beers to sample through their selections of hot sauces. Knowing what you are getting in terms of heat and flavor before committing to a particular bottle, especially if you have a picky palette, is a pretty amazing option to have. I definitely recommend that everybody at least stop by here to check the place out. They definitely have something that you will love.

Great experience. Had no idea I could learn so much about hot sauces. They let you taste them and really help you out. Tremendous service. Ended up buying three different bottles of hot sauce.

One of the few reasons I can find for me to come back home to Indy every few months. Forget the sauces, which are almost all awesome — the staff is absolutely amazing, from one of the owners who will spend an hour plus with you taking you on a hot sauce journey to the friendly bulldog who will rub up against your leg and make you feel welcome.
Samples are free, but I suggest springing for the 50 cent bag of chips or bringing your own dipping material to get a good taste of the sauces. The owners are good judges is what is too hot for each customer, and will not try and overwhelm you if you have a lower tolerance. On the other hand, they will not be afraid to lay on some Carolina reaper sauce if you request it. Let me tell you, that stuff is hot!
Anyway, I definitely recommend this place to anyone, not just fans of heat.

We stopped in on a Wednesday evening. Michael was very friendly and informative. We probably tried around 25 different sauces and were there about 2 ½ hours. We had a great time, bought several sauces sweet and spicy and will be back.

I’m not a big hot sauce or heat fan (Miami included), but my good friend is (well not the Miami kind so much), so when I saw the groupon a while back, I knew it was the perfect gift.
Despite us being on opposite ends of tolerance when it comes to the Scoville scale, the owner of the shop was able to guide us along a fantastic journey of various tastes and pepper hot sauces and marinades.
Even if you have a near zero heat tolerance like me, you’ll still be able to enjoy and discover some new and delicious things. Heck, you’ll probably even walk out with a bottle or two to help liven up that next dish of yours.

Awesome place to try new hot sauces… The guys that work here are totally cool. They can cater to your preferences– if you don’t want super hot, they will find your flavor.
My current favorite sauce is Lava Lips Vesuvius. Thanks for the great service! We will definitely be back.

Neat place. I purchased a Groupon, which was really 2 vouchers to be used on separate visits. With the deal, chips are free; otherwise they are 50 cents/​bag. Water is still $ 1 and you can BYOB. We tried probably a dozen sauces before I tapped out; my husband hit his limit at something that was hotter than a ghost pepper.
We ended up tasting more than we expected so keep that in mind if you are come here before a meal.
HUGE selection of sauces to take home. We purchased a jalapeño tequila and a chipotle sauce, and saved $ 10 with the voucher. Otherwise it would have been about $ 18.
You might be able to find parking in front if you go early enough, otherwise you’ll be hunting for a spot on the street.

What a great experience! My fiancé and I both love spicy things, especially hot sauces and salsa. This store definitely has quite the variety. Mike was very nice and very informative. He’s well versed on each sauce and gave us samples of about 15 sauces. To help wash down the sauces, you can BYOB or serve bottled water for $ 1 and Mexican Coca-​Cola for $ 2. This would be a great date night — challenge each other to see what is the hottest you can tolerate. Love the décor here also!

Retail specialty store focused on hot sauces. Bring your own beer and sit down at the Tiki bar. Mike fixed us up with chips and we sampled 25 different hot sauces, or so.

Great place to taste different flavors from hot to sweet. But if you like hot, definitely go here! The owners are great and will let you try everything!

I have been here more times than I would probably admit to anyone. The owners here are fantastic.
The concept is you purchase a little bag (or two) of tortilla chips and try hot sauces from the bar, they range from a mildly hot (some of these are sweet) to some that will make your taste buds melt. I like to live dangerously so usually I chill on the spicier side of the bar, I have purchased numerous sauces from this place mainly from the lower end because I like to eat chips and hot sauce for a snack at times. I have a few of the hotter sauces for flavoring various meals.
The owners are always open to providing you some recommendations based on your liking. They really know the business and are always adding to the offerings. If you are in the area and looking for a new experience give it a shot. If you are in the area and want to be part of the lame crowd steer clear. The choice is yours but I do not recommend missing out, there is something for everyone in this gem of a specialty shop.

There is not one negative thing I could possibly say about my experience here. From start to finish, had a great gut-​burning time. Tasting is free, but you can buy a bag or tortilla chips for $ 0.60 and $ 1 for water. Don’t be cheap — buy them. This helps the store to be able to pay for all the samples, and your mouth will thank you later when that corn chip goodness is getting all the pepper oil off your tongue.
The owners clearly love what they do. Our tasting guy made some great suggestions for us to try and I was thrilled when he wrote down my suggestions for some hard-​to-​find sauces that he might try to start carrying. He follows my philosophy of heat with taste, not just heat for the sake of heat. Nearly all the sauces I tried, I enjoyed.
This would be a great first stop for a bachelor party or guys/​girls night out. Fun, several seats around the tiki bar, and fun to compete with your friends for who is the bravest/​stupidest one willing to try the really hot stuff.

This is such a neat store owned by a husband/​wife team. They were inspired by the tiki bars of the Florida Keys and decided to bring that aesthetic to Indianapolis. They are super friendly and will discuss with you, in detail, the nuances of each and every sauce they sell.
Tasting is free, however you pay $ 0.60 for a bag of chips and $ 1 for a bottle of water. In my opinion this is completely reasonable as it helps keep the riff raff out. They also allow you to bring your own beverages in.
They will walk you through the sauces and make sure you taste them in a sensible order (by category) so as not to completely blow out your taste buds.
They also have a loyalty program where once you have purchased 6 bottles of hot sauce, you get your 7^th free.

Awesome hot sauce tasting experience! I really enjoyed my first visit to Lava Lips. The owner Lisa and her husband Michael have opened up a one-​of-​a-​kind experience in Indy. They are really friendly and very knowledgeable on their products.
As for the products, if you love hot sauce, this is the place for you.
If you only kind of like hot sauce, this is the place for you.
If you don’t know if you like hot sauce, this is the place for you.
If you have never found a hot sauce you like, this is the place for you.
If you’ve never had a hot sauce you’ve liked, this is the place for you.
Why? Because you get to taste the hot sauces! It’s in a very fun and relaxing atmosphere. Best of all, the sauces you sample are available for purchase! boom!
I walked out with a greater knowledge of hot sauces and two bottle of wonderful hot and spicy goodies.
Give it a try!

SO MUCH FUN! You can try any of the sauces in the store– they pour a small sample & give you chips. I was cracking up, Mike the owner is like a hot sauce sommelier! Actually very educational, reasonably priced, and a great place just to hang out. Fashioned like a tiki bar, you can pull up a stool, take a load off & burn, baby, burn! Feel free to bring your own beverages, dog, and snacks to sample. Went in to browse, stayed for an hour & came out with 4 bottles of VERY different hot sauces. Cool décor, very Key West inspired… my favorite sign, «We don’t skinny dip, we chunky dunk.» Try it-you’ll enjoy it!