Liz Biro

liz.biro@indystar.com

Diners were psyched when Plow & Anchor brought its fresh seafood, farm-to-table, chef-driven menu Downtown. Two and a half years later, owners found themselves with a parking problem that forced them to close the restaurant and rethink the location’s future.

The 43 E. 9th St. business, at the corner of Pennsylvania Street, shuttered Jan. 2. A troubling New Year’s Eve service that lost reservations when guests were unable to find parking as early as 5 p.m. was the final blow, said Plow & Anchor co-owner chef Craig Baker.

The restaurant will reopen under a different, yet-to-be-determined name and concept in March. Expect lunch service, but dinnertime will be limited to special events rather than nightly service, Baker said.

Finding street parking has always been a hunt-and-peck situation in the area, but Plow & Anchor staff and guests had access to several parking spaces in a lot less than a block away at the corner of 9th and Meridian streets behind Indianapolis Central Library. That lot closed in fall 2016 when apartment construction began. Work also sometimes limits access to 9th Street from Meridian, Baker said.

All of that made finding parking increasingly difficult, especially for people who don’t live Downtown and are unfamiliar with the neighborhood. Those people are most of Plow & Anchor’s customers, Baker said. The market within walking distance is not keen on the restaurant’s dinner entree price point of $25-$30, convincing the owners to plan a lower-price option when the space reopens, Baker said. Special dinner events are likely to include Chefs Night Off supper club events, one of which happened at Plow & Anchor Monday night.

In addition to Plow & Anchor, Baker and his business partner, Derek Means, run Bent Rail Brewery, just south of Broad Ripple, and The Local Eatery and Pub in Westfield.

Plow & Anchor's departure is the third Downtown area eatery to close this year. Bourbon Street Distillery closed on Jan. 6. when the owner announced she was ready to retire. Owners of Cafe Nonna, a seasonal gelato shop in Holy Rosary, announced on Jan. 4 that the shop would not reopen this spring due to "circumstances beyond our control," adding that the matter was “a private thing we really can’t discuss."

Follow IndyStar food writer Liz Biro on Twitter: @lizbiro, Instagram: @lizbiro, Facebook and Pinterest. Call her at (317) 444-6264.

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