Cafe Audrey

I love this little place! The building is historic and beautiful… Everything I love about Ft. Ben. They have a do it yourself coffee bar and they do a great job of keeping it stocked and piping hot. My kids enjoyed it. They pigged out on the kids omelet and pancakes. I had the Smokey Joe Omelet and my husband had the Fort Benedict. Both were delicious! Service was great! They can get busy and run a wait list. All in all, totally worth it!

A quaint breakfast/​brunch spot in an old blacksmith building in Fort Ben. I had the Fort Benedict and it satisfied my Sunday morning craving for a hearty, stick-​to-​my-​ribs breakfast. Kim had pancakes with blueberries on the side, and she loved them. I enjoyed the serve yourself bottomless coffee bar, but Kim found it inconvenient to have to get up and down for each cup. In addition, one of the coffee blends she wanted was empty. Neither one of us cared for the thick cut bacon because it was warm and chewy instead of hot and crispy. The breakfast potatoes were good, not great, as they were a little greasy. Otherwise everything was spot on (service, ambience, and level of satisfaction). Café Audrey is a destination-​type breakfast place and is deserving of a solid 4-​Stars!

Stop searching for the best place for breakfast. Put the address in GPS and head to Café Audrey. You’re welcome.

Cute place would have given a higher ratting if it weren’t for the two hairs in two different spots of our meals!

We had such fantastic service here today. The waitress was great to our kids and us. We got the French toast, muffin, pumpkin spice pancakes, standard breakfast, superfood omelette w/​slaw and salmon bagel. Everything was great. Omelette needed a little pepper but I would rather have something I can season myself then over seasoned. Fantastic coffee. Loved that I could get myself a cup whenever I was ready and try different ones. I liked Audrey’s blend. Great breakfast!

We came in here after a hike at ft Harrison state park. The service was awesome and so was the food. We each ordered something different, but I would say the egg salad sandwich was best and most original.

The food is awesome! I had the gluten free pancakes with blueberries cooked inside. Heavenly! By far this is the best little breakfast and lunch place in town!

I don’t know… I loved the company. My friend and I met here this week to have a mid-​morning breakfast/​lunch. I was going to be on the east side and it was about in the middle for us to drive. I couldn’t find it. The signage is small and unless you KNOW where it’s at, expect to drive around for a bit {which I did}. Love the inside. It is SUPER cute and our service was awesome. But my biscuits and gravy were just «meh». Nothing blowing me away and although I did get the smaller portion, they were VERY small on the plate… not much gravy and no real FLAVOR. I was hoping for something like Ruth’s Café, but unfortunately not up to par. It is self-​serve coffee. The cups were dirty. I had to pick up three cups before I found one that was «acceptable» to drink out of and then I was nervous… they were NOT clean so that was annoying.
What was nice? they were sweet to my daughter and let her sort of make a mess with her legos around our table. There is free wi-​fi so huge plus and overall the atmosphere is exactly what it should be and the prices are fine. Just not blown away by the food that I had.

If you want a breakfast/​lunch spot in Indy come see Café Audrey. The Biscuits and Gravy are out of this world and the burgers are totally killer. The fact that it’s a ten minute walk from my front door is my favorite part, but you’ll find it’s worth the drive.

New favorite breakfast restaurant. Very cool little restaurant at Ft. Ben. The menu is great and service was awesome. I had the pumpkin spice pancakes. HOLY COW were they great. I also recommend their breakfast potatoes mixed with onions.

This should say it all — my mouth is watering just thinking about this place. I had a morning meeting with a client to do his social media marketing. I’d taken photos of a project he’d been working on. Initially, we planned on doing brunch after in Broad Ripple. I was on the verge of being HANGRY though, so we opted for something much closer. I used to work on this side of town, so how I missed this place is beyond me.
First, when you drive up, it looks like an old school house that’s been transformed into a restaurant. There’s just something quaint and welcoming about it. The inside was just as welcoming. As you enter, you see (and smell) the coffee shop and the breads/​muffins in their bakery area. We were then escorted by our host to the main dining area. It’s small… or should I say, «intimate»? But it was fine — we didn’t feel like anyone was in our conversation or anything like that.
Our waitress was INCREDIBLY informative and very kind. Unfortunately, she just accepted her first «big girl job» — as she called it… so she won’t be there when we go back. But she informed us that a good portion of their food is locally sourced which is a big draw for me.
I decided to make my own omelet — paleo style. Smoking Goose ham, spinach, avocado, Smoking Goose bacon and I wanted to dip it in hollandaise since I can’t have cheese. It. Was. Insane. Then the potatoes — Do NOT season these until you try them first. They don’t need it!
My client chose the classic eggs benedict. They offer quite a few variations of the classic as well. He is very particular about eggs benedict but he couldn’t stop talking about how good it was.
We’re going back this week. :-)

We used to frequent Café Audrey 1 – 2 times a month a few years back (during the pre-​Yelp years as I call them), but when we found a breakfast spot closer to home we honestly just stopped going. In the mood for something different, we decided to revisit Café Audrey as we had pretty good experiences here in the past. Of note, although Café Audrey has been here for 5 years, it has only been under the current owner for 1 year. I would say that things have changed for the better under the new owner. Our server also mentioned they are working on the «Winter Menu», so I anticipate the menu offerings may change seasonally.
We opted to sit on the front patio outside on a gorgeous morning to enjoy our coffee. After much deliberation (as everything looked SO good after a morning work out) I ordered the Florence’s Omelette — filled with the tastiest fresh roasted red peppers, mushrooms, spinach, and goat cheese ($ 8.99). YUMMMMMM. It came with a bread side (I got the cinnamon toast) and another side (fried potatoes as opposed to fruit for me today). The hubs got the BBQ Bacon Burger (no cheese) and loved it. We also sampled the Harvest Slaw and chicken salad — amazing. Dessert was a little lackluster (Simply Devine Carmel Cupcake), but I really appreciate that they feature local area businesses now.
Shelly our server was absolutely fantastic. She admitted to being a little distracted as her daughter was coming home from college for a visit, so we happily overlooked a few minor mishaps in getting our order correct. Shelly corrected the mistakes quickly, took full responsibility, and apologized profusely at every turn. She made sure to clear any dishes that may attract bugs or bees in an attempt to keep us as comfortable as possible. She even brought out samples of various salads and sides that we asked about so we could make an informed decision on what to order. We never felt rushed and Shelly was just so darn genuine and sweet.
**Cliff notes version**:
– The bottomless coffee and tea bar has fantastic choices and variety including coffee by Mile Square (YES!) AND it includes a to-​go cup to take with you!
– Free cup of bottomless coffee with a Unilocal Check In!
– Café Audrey serves breakfast and lunch all day and doesn’t judge you for getting a burger at 9am. The hubs is proof of that.
– Patio is dog friendly.
– Meats and some other ingredients appear to be locally sourced; desserts are brought in from local bakeries (Lawrence Baking Company Apple Pie, Simply Devine cupcakes)
– They have added a diner-​type counter where the ice-​cream area used to be inside the front door and it is still super cute inside.
We will definitely be adding Café Audrey BACK in to the rotation of breakfast spots as I am dying to try the Lemon Scented Challah Bread French Toast!!!

After a long steamy, but exhilarating morning run what better way to celebrate then to go out to brunch with the rest of my running friends out breaking their own goals! So off the Café Audrey we went. Though I ran late the waiter was quick and attentive… YAY! I ordered the SUPERFOOD Egg white omelet. The omelet came stuffed with kale and avocado and tomatoes and Brussel sprouts and all kinds of goodies. It also came with a choice of toast or potatoes or a cup of fruit… I opted with no carbs and a cup of fruit.
The omelet did not stand a chance… I’m not sure if I even chewed… but it sure was damn good! I was very impressed with not just the food but with the service and the coziness of this hidden gem at Ft. Ben. Definitely a go to place for a good breakfast or brunch with friends or hubby. Also if you like sitting outside… they have outdoor seating!

Today was the second time we have visited café’ Audrey’s. We really enjoy the food, service and location of this restaurant. The only reason it is not a five star in my opinion is the price. It’s not crazy crazy expensive considering you are getting home cooked food but the price makes it hard to make this a weekly or maybe even biweekly place for grub.

This place is adorable. Little patio outside, bar top area, and regular seating area. The waitress was sweet and very helpful and the food was great. I ordered the Reuben-esque…Wholly Cow! The Harvest slaw is what really sets this sandwich off. Not a huge fan of the brussel sprouts in the slaw, but still was amazing. It was pretty quick. I did lunch, but this place would be great for breakfast and brunch.
Nutshell: For hearty, fresh lunch for under $ 10 I’d definitely check it out.

My family and I were looking for a nice place to have brunch after we left the commissary, so I decided to reference my trustworthy Unilocal app, which led us to Café Audrey. It is housed in a charming historic building and has a warm and cozy atmosphere. Unfortunately, we were not acknowledged for quite a while when we entered. They were quite busy, however, it doesn’t take too much extra time to tell customers that you will be with them momentarily, or at least say hello when you make eye contact.
Eventually, the hostess was able to seat us, and when she did she greeted us cordially. It took a while for our server to arrive but when she did she was very pleasant. She directed me to the coffee/​Tea/​Hot Chocolate station so I could take advantage of Unilocal’s bottomless coffee check-​in offer, and took my family’s drink orders and was on her way. In the interim, I observed how busy all the staff was, which explained why the hostess was so harried when we first arrived. Not only was she the hostess, but she was also going back and forth to the kitchen delivering food to the tables. Our server returned my family’s drink orders in a timely fashion, however, it took her quite a while to come back and take our food order. Thank God for the bottomless coffee, which was dark, robust, and flavorful because it made the wait bearable.
When she did return, I ordered Florence’s Omelet, which was filled with goat cheese, roasted red pepper, spinach and mushrooms. It was accompanied by potatoes and cinnamon toast. The goat cheese added a nice pungent note, however, other than that bit of excitement, the rest of the omelet was on the bland side. It could be great with some more seasoning. The potatoes were decent. When I separated the slices of cinnamon toast, instead of seeing cinnamon sprinkled throughout, there were big clumps of it present. My husband and daughter said their meal was good but nothing out of the ordinary.
Café Audrey is a warm and pleasant setting in which to enjoy a meal and I may return some day. The food was okay, but it needed more seasoning in my opinion. Additionally, they definitely need to have more staff on hand when it gets busy so they can avoid long lulls in service. Due to the service issues and the bland omelet and clumps of cinnamon on the toast I have given three stars. This may have just been an off day due to the crowds and the lack of staff so definitely give them a try.

What started as a simple hunt for a cup of coffee turned into bottomless coffee… and quiche. Blame it on the Unilocal App. It always tells me what’s nearby and what is offering a deal. Café Audrey serves free bottomless coffee from 7 AM-​9 AM Monday-​Friday when you check in on Unilocal. (Again, I fell victim to a freebie.)
I must warn you that Café Audrey requires you to do a little bit of searching, both geographically and historically. This historic building hiding near the corner of 56^th and Post Road once served as a blacksmith shop in the early 1900s. Now, it’s serving breakfast and lunch all morning and afternoon.
On my visit, I sat at the counter and helped myself to the Café Audrey dark roast coffee, which comes from the popular local roaster Harvest Café Coffee Company. Don’t like dark roast? No problem, as it’s just one of the options at the self-​serve coffee bar. Drink as much as you like, and even take a cup to-​go.
Food-​wise, Café Audrey has a large breakfast and lunch menu with all of your usuals, from omelets to pancakes to granola to benedicts to salads to burgers and sandwiches. I noticed that the menu allured me with all the right words, such as «house made» «house baked», «locally baked», and «home fried». The phrase that did me in? «Luxurious custard pies, house baked from scratch daily». All signs pointed to ordering the quiche of the day with Audrey’s harvest slaw.
My corned beef quiche with swiss + kraut had all of the right ingredients to make it pretty tasty and homey, but what really made it stand out was when I smeared on a little bit of the thousand island dressing. A little bit of tang goes a long way, and this was no exception. My reuben-​esque quiche vanished within minutes as did my crunchy kale slaw, proving that there was a whole lot of «yum» on one plate.
With an area of town that needs a quaint place with house made food, Lawrence is pretty lucky to have just that at Café Audrey. I recommend it to bottomless coffee drinkers and quiche eaters alike.

It wasn’t looking good for Café Audrey when I arrived shortly before noon on Memorial Day and subsequently waited 10 – 15 minutes before even having my presence acknowledged.
Yeah, I wasn’t happy. It’s okay that there was a wait. After all, it’s a small restaurant with a growing reputation and I happened to be visiting on a holiday. So, when I wheeled into the older structure located on what used to be part of Fort Benjamin Harrison I wasn’t exactly surprised to see three parties sitting in their relatively small lobby area waiting on tables to open up.
I wasn’t thrilled, however, that I sat there for at least 10 minutes admiring the interior décor but feeling completely ignored. Eventually, one of Café Audrey’s servers came out and began seating the parties before me and, rather unfortunately, it wasn’t until all three parties were seated that I was even acknowledged and that was with a «I’ll be with you. There’s a wait.»
Um, yeah. I think I caught on to that.
There was a two-​person party that came in after me, though they fortunately didn’t experience the full wait that I did before things seemed to smooth out and appropriate attention was paid. In fact, a few minutes after my «there’s a wait» line I actually was escorted to a comfortable two-​top against the wall of the building. It was one of those walls that had a lengthy booth alongside the wall with two-​top tables and then chairs on the outside of the aisle. To her credit, my server Nancy removed the chair without question and seemed pretty attentive after that initial poor impression.
I would eventually learn that they were understaffed for the morning — it looked as if there were two servers along with kitchen staff. Before my meal was done, a younger male would join in and provide a pleasant energy and attitude that really seemed to calm everything down.
There are a few important things to note — There is no designated accessible parking, which kind of blows my mind. While it’s not particularly difficult to find a way to make it all work given the layout, it still seems odd. At the end of the building, there’s a natural curb cut and there’s an ADA compliant wheelchair ramp into the building. As an older military building, it was obviously NOT built for accessibility when originally built. However, they’ve certainly made an effort and it’s appreciated. The door into the restaurant is a little heavy with a bit of a lip to get into the building (in fact, it’s harder going out). They have another exit, but it is not accessible as it has only steps.
There’s this unwritten rule that when you order lunch at a restaurant primarily known for breakfast that you’re always a touch disappointed. However, I’m not a big breakfast person and it actually was lunch time. Both breakfast and lunch are served throughout their business hours. They actually keep their menu fairly simple — breakfast includes omelets, griddle items, eggs, etc.; lunch includes a variety of sandwiches, most of which come with a side. They do have lighter fare and do offer some gluten-​free options.
I ordered hand-​battered chicken tenders, a side of fries, and my usual unsweetened tea. At this point, Café Audrey was squarely in the 3-​star range with average service and accessibility concerns duly noted.
The chicken tenders? Oh my, these suckers were the John Holmes of chicken tenders. They were ginormous. They were the kind of chicken tenders that would make other chicken tenders cower in shame. They were breaded beautifully and tasted absolutely incredible. I have little reservation in saying they were the best chicken tenders I’ve had in a restaurant. Period.
They were served alongside an abundant order of delightfully different fries — not like wildly experimental fries, but seasoned differently enough that made you think «this is something special.» They weren’t the best I’ve ever had, but they were incredibly good.
The iced tea was delicious and Nancy got me a refill without my having to ask. Bonus points.
I’m pretty close to saying that based upon the meal alone, this would be a 5-​star experience. The food was great, the serving size was plentiful but not overwhelming, and it was nice to be able to read a magazine at the table while actually enjoying a meal throughout.
My gut tells me that the service is usually a notch higher than it was today, but I can only go on the basis of what I experienced. The initial wait without acknowledgement was inexcusable. The lack of accessible parking is potentially problematic, and I actually had to hang around a few minutes because my primary way out was blocked by another family that had arrived and were sitting with one chair in the aisle that leads out. That’s both inconvenient and a potential fire hazard. The easiest solution is to put a ramp at the second door, though admittedly there’s expense involved in that. 5-​star meal. 3-​star service/​atmosphere. 4-​stars for Café Audrey.

My lunch was decent. I was disappointed that there were so few salad options – only three, two of which had fruit in them (I don’t dig on fruit in salads). So I went the complete opposite direction, a shrimp po’ boy with onion rings. It was pretty good; the remoulade didn’t do much for me, so I added some sirhacha. They put both Tabasco and Huy Fong Sriracha on the table. I kind of appreciated the symmetry – the old-​guard ubiquitous hot sauce and the new-​school ubiquitous hot sauce. I’m not at all a hot sauce guy, but I think that sriracha is more versatile, and it came in handy for this lunch, on both the sandwich and onion rings.
Service was fine. Friday lunch rush was pretty noisy inside this old brick barracks building, but the character of the place more than makes up for it.
PS. The door is on the north side of the building. They could do a better job of indicating «Hey, here we are – over here… come on in!»

After a 15 mile morning run at Ft. Ben, we were in need of carbs, stat. About mile 12 we started talking about breakfast. I have some friends that live in the area and they have talked about Café Audrey several times, so the decision was quickly made.
By the time we got to a table, it was almost 11am, but Café Audrey luckily serves breakfast all day. We helped ourselves to the self serve coffee bar, trying different flavors on each trip, and decided what we wanted. Everyone in my party got the pancake combo. I, of course, had my bacon added to my pancakes and ordered my eggs poached. Our waiter, Seth, asked how I wanted them poached (soft, medium, hard) and informed me that they do a very good job on poaching eggs. Ok, I like my eggs medium.
During our 15 minute wait for our food, Seth chatted with our table when he could between visits to other tables. He managed to start conversations with us and pop back in as if he hadn’t missed the last 5 minutes of discussion. Quite a good skill for a server.
Finally (not because it took long to make it just because I was so hungry) our food arrived. Well, I should say that ¾ of our food arrived. My wife was missing her chocolate chip pancakes from her combo. Apparently the chocolate chips were overlooked and the chef didn’t want to send out the pancakes just topped with chocolate chips, he wanted to remake them with the chips inside. My wife assured Seth that it was ok and he convinced the chef to send them out but only after he let me melt somewhat.
The food was all very good. The pancakes had a good flavor, but they were very dense, especially for traditional pancakes. I prefer wheat pancakes (not an option here), so I’m used to dense cakes anyway. The eggs you ask? Perfectly medium poached and not because they use a steam poacher like some places. When you use a steam poacher the eggs are always shaped like little pucks. These eggs were traditional and properly poached. Kudos to the chef on that one.
The portion sizes are not massive, but neither are the prices. It’s a good option for a local breakfast, brunch, or lunch. Some things I’d change, and the reason for 4 stars instead of 5: 1) Sometimes I want/​need more than 2 pancakes, but that isn’t an option; 2) I prefer wheat pancakes, which also wasn’t an option; 3) with perfectly poached eggs, they should offer at least a traditional eggs benedict. None of those things will prevent me from going back. In fact, I’ll probably be there this week after my Sunday run… but I’ve got my eye on the B&G this time!