Red Key Tavern

The Red Key is a true Indianapolis icon. It’s famous neon sign has kept watch over College Avenue for well over 60 continuos years. Everything about The Key is original and untouched. It doesn’t pretend to be anything that it is not. Be advised, she is quirky and set in her ways, but knowing the rules ahead of time will ensure that you will enjoy what this traditional bar has to offer.
This historic tavern is like a time capsule that just happens to serve booze. The décor is about what you’d expect and simply oozes history. The bar itself stands strong against time with its orange shag coating which seems to act as a shield against the constant onslaught of thirsty local customers. The jukebox plays only 45s and still takes quarters featuring mostly big band selections. If you happen to hear «Danny Boy» playing for a third time, look for me enjoying a night cap. The tables and chairs are chrome and boomerang Formica. God help you if you are caught leaning back in a seat or moving the tables configuration without direct written consent from the staff. As I said, there are rules (for reference please refer to the pictures section of this Unilocal page) most of which have been slightly loosened since founder and legend Russ (WWII veteran and bomber squadron member) passed away, but most are still intact. These may seem stuffy at first, but the rigidity has ensured the existence of this famous bar. If Kurt Vonnegut had to obey these same rules, «damn it» so do you and I.
Most importantly the drinks are stiff and the bottled beers are served with a small jelly-​jar style glass. The food menu is extremely limited, but good. Some of my neighbors suffer from a small addiction to their flat top grill hamburgers, so be careful. Service is straight forward and well steeped.
This tavern is what every old neighborhood used to have and still should.

If dive bars are your thing, The Red Key Tavern is an institution among dives in Indy. I met the Indy chapter of Bourbon Women for a drink here and we had a great time. Nothing fancy, but they knew how to make us feel welcome and pour a stiff Manhattan. It’s a cash only spot, and if you are picky about food plan on eating elsewhere, but definitely worth a visit.

Walking into the Red Key felt like walking back in time. The neighborhood bar of years and years ago.
With a long bar on one side of the room and the other side lined with tables, we had no trouble finding a seat (we sat at the bar).
The bar tender was friendly and efficient and poured a great drink. They had a solid liquor selection and even had a menu with some food on it, although we didn’t eat.
Make sure you bring cash, since they don’t take credit cards.

My sister, friend, and I went to this little dive bar in the middle of the day and were the only customers. WE had a blast. It’s old, outdated, and wonderful. Our bartender chatted us up and filled us in on the illustrious history of the bar and explained what some of the exotic décor came from. I was sold once I learned that Kurt Vonnegut was a huge fan as is author, Dan Wakefield. A fun, divey establishment.

This is everything I love in a neighborhood bar. — strong drinks, delicious cheeseburgers, and cold beer. Bring cash and mind your p & q’s.

If you’re used to fine dining and an upscale atmosphere, you probably won’t care for this place. But, if you like a good dive bar with a small, but solid menu, you’ll enjoy this quite a lot.
The cheeseburgers are amazing, the tenderloin is pretty darn good, and the atmosphere is one of a kind. The food and drinks are cheap, and the staff is friendly. If you’ve not been here… you should go. Today.

Not really sure what all the buzz is about this place. Yeah it’s divey, but EXTREMELY out dated. It’s one of those places that reaks of stale air kind of like grandmas where nothin he been changed or moved for 40 years. Let alone cleaned! And that includes the shag carpet rug fronted bar. It’s disgusting and loves to cover u in dust and must. And the beers we had were warm. Probably won’t be back here.

Walked in, stepped back in time. O’ Danny Boy on the jukebox made this «Mick» very happy. A pan fried burger like my mother used to make. A bartender that doesn’t smile, just hands your beer over. A faint smell of time and lies woven into the walls that only the best bars contain. This place is a gem.

If it was good enough for Kurt Vonnegut, it’s good enough for us! One of our absolute favorite Indianapolis bars. Maybe it’s the model airplanes, maybe it’s the taxidermy or maybe it’s the locals in the bar. Whatever it is-​the Red Key has it. Star power!
Sure it’s dust-​covered and, well when we went, smelling of some chemical or other. We asked the sweet bartender what the smell was and she said, «he’s doing that thing.» We don’t know who he was or that thing but we accepted it nonetheless. We may have less brain cells but we didn’t need those anyway-​not when you have the Red Key Tavern!

Great little dive with unreal history behind the décor inside. Be sure to check out the murals hand painted on the walls. Ask to speak with Lana. She is the server will all the history.
Decent little cheeseburger. If you are feeling adventurous try the braunschweiger. Also, they carry corn nuts, love a good corn nut. Bring your cash, cash only, unless you live in the neighborhood, then they will accept a check.

This is, in my opinion, the best kind of neighborhood bar. Cozy, divey, and friendly. Regulars there look like permanent fixtures of the place which is oddly welcoming. Even the bathroom graffiti is charming, in it’s own way. Just a good, no frills place to grab a beer.

This bar is a dying breed. Cash only, jukebox only has 45s, and the building has been there for 70 years. The food is made to order and is changed almost daily. Nick and Nora are extremely friendly and you never have to wait on a drink. The home made potato salad is a must try. The ONLY reason I’m not giving it 5 stars is because it is cash only. You can get cash at the bar but it charges you money to do so.

I really love this bar, though it does have a bit less of an old-​school, dive-​y feel since they did some remodeling to the façade of the building and Russell is no longer around to yell at unsuspecting patrons about putting their coats over the backs of their chairs or bird-​dogging.
They don’t take credit cards, so make sure you come with cash. There’s also an ATM in the corner in case of emergencies, but I’m not sure what the fee is. Overall, an awesome local place to grab a beer or three.

This is a great place to grab a drink and chill. As other Unilocalers have said it’s been in business for 60 years. So that means they understand how to run a bar that doesn’t rely on trendy drinks and showy service.
I love that I can come here and actually hear what my friends are saying! Don’t get me wrong though, I do enjoy the fast paste, dance-​all-​nighters… Every once in a while ;) However, The Red Key is all about good conversation in a classy environment. The older I get, the more I’m into that kind of thing. I get so busy with my crazy schedule that when I do get to have a night out, I need to catch up on my friend’s gossip and gab.
The staff is always friendly and the drinks are good prices. The location is great also, because it’s just far enough from the main strip that you can avoid the college parties;)
One of my favorite Indy spots!

As happy as I am about the great new restaurants in Indy, one of the downsides is that the old standards have lost sight of who they are trying to keep up.
Red Key is the real deal. Family owned, family run… everything a true neighborhood bar should be.
Drinks are simple and not overpriced. Service is friendly and genuine.
It’s a working man’s bar and a place where a bartender can have a drink in peace after a shift.
The burgers are awesome. Like the kind you remember eating on the fourth July.
No secret sauce, just simple and perfect.
It’s a real bar for genuine folks.

A bit divy but, a well maintained dive.
There is nothing fancy about this small, cash only bar. The food selection is basic and there is a limited array of bottled beers.
The Redkey is best suited for late night conversations over drinks with a few friends.

Awesome! This is definitely a bar that has regulars because it seemed the staff knew the other customers by name. It reminded me of going over to an Aunt or Uncle’s. it just seemed home-​y and familiar with a sort of older crowd. The staff was friendly and really nice. All the beer is in cans. I saw people ordering sandwiches, but I never really saw a menu.
The negatives: parking behind the bar is sketchy and College Ave can be a nightmare. The place is cash only with an atm, but the lady said however much you need add in a $ 2.50 fee. which was odd.

Kurt Vonnegut wrote in «Mother Night» that «We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be…» the Red Key is a place where you don’t have to pretend who you are, and the Red Key is a place that doesn’t pretend to be anything but what it is. There is a profound sense of place here, a sort of effortless history exuded by walls and murals and acoustic tiles and model airplanes swaying from the ceiling, suspended in tribute to the last owner, a bomber pilot in WWII, who was a hardass about the rules in the way a man who has been tempered by war can be. The rules are still in effect.
Vonnegut was said to drink here regularly, finding solace in a well-​mixed drink as he wrote, unmolested by the assholes these rules discourage. He must have liked the Jukebox, blasting tunes from the 40s and 50s. He must have liked the bottled beer, the small menu, the people all came together for the solace of a drink. Its a place where everyone can laugh together, could cry together, where barriers are broken down, where the lonely traveler and the established author and the itinerant academic could all come together and feel alright doing both, after all, Vonnegut was right in his Palm Sunday sermon that «Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion, to the futility of thinking and striving anymore. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward — and since I can start thinking and striving again that much sooner.»
I came into the Red Key on my only night in Indianapolis. Drinking, and laughing, and watching the commercials on the television for a free catheter kit, seeing the model airplanes swaying back and forth overhead, and feeling the cracked leather under my ass that Vonnegut probably felt under his… well, like the master said in God Bless You Dr. Kevorkian «everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt». Sometimes, thats all I really needed, a place to remind you of how lovely the world can be, how friendly people are outside of San Francisco, and how nice it is just to relax with a beer, knowing too well that, sometimes (just like Kilgore Trout observed in Timequake), you have to realize that «You were sick, but now you’re well again, and there’s work to be done».
In «Slapstick» Vonnegut wrote that «Love is where you find it», and if that is the case, I could love Indianapolis, because a man such as myself can love the Red Key.

Ohhhkay, so my plus one needed a burger after the Tequila Swizzle Stick, and this was just the closest thing, so we just literally stumbled in… BUT I’m so glad that we did!
First things first, there’s a list of rules that you are supposed to follow… can’t move tables, can’t curse, etc… so move past that and you’re good. to. go.
There is a whopping menu of about four options… hotdog, hamburger, tenderloin, nothing too crazy but the perfect drunk meal/​snack/​what have you. I wasn’t planning on having a beer but when I saw a local brew that I’d never tried, I though ahh, what the hell, and dove right in, and so glad I did! Cutter’s brew was delightful!
Lastly, I made 4 new Unilocaly friends here and we even moved tables to all sit together… it was great!
Glad this little hole in the wall is right down the street because I’ll definitely make it a stop on my B. Ripp travels!

It seems wrong to review the Red Key as it is more of an experience and traditional neighborhood staple and less of a restaurant/​bar there to serve the public with the intent of earning profits. Because it is the former — a tradition — and not the latter, this place is part of a dying breed.
My advice for experiencing the Key is this: Be mindful that this is a family-​owned business by showing respect. Follow the norms/​customs of the space. Meet friends or go alone, sit at the bar, have a drink, and talk to people like one should do at a neighborhood bar. This isn’t the kind of place for dancing on a chair or screaming at your friends. No way. This is more like Cheers! where you can have real conversation, some drinks, and a bit of food.