Liz Biro

liz.biro@indystar.com

Irvington is moving up quickly on the list of Indy’s great foodie neighborhoods.

In the past year, the square bordered by 10th Street and Emerson, English and Edmondson avenues has added a dozen new or opening-soon places to eat. Plus, restaurateurs are eyeballing the recently shuttered Dufour's. A local foods market is on its way to the area, too.

Community pride, reasonable rent, walkability, the newish Pennsy foot/bike trail and a populace with its own particular beat attract restaurateurs to the east side historic district five miles from Downtown.

1. La Mexi-Gringa

Rita Franco started her tamale business as a hobby. She delivered the light and tender, meat-loaded packets to friends and family. Word spread. Suddenly, everyone wanted tamales, so Franco opened her carry-out Mexican place in 2015. A family friend taught Franco’s mother to make tamales. All-American Franco learned the recipe and lived for a while in Mexico. Fresh, vibrant dishes there inspired her. Watch Franco scoop avocado directly from the fruit over heaping steak tortas. Slow-roasted Mexican pork barbecue named el pastor jams tacos. Yes, La Mexi-Gringa caters. Order 10 or more tamales a day ahead and Franco will deliver them to your door.

6129 E. Washington St., (317) 453-1743, lamexigringa.com

2. Café Caribe

Four of the Irvington newbies are food trucks taking up brick-and-mortar locations. Taste of the Caribbean rolled out its 107-seat Café Caribe this summmer. Jamaican Peta-Gay Wharton handles authentic recipes such as popular jerk chicken grilled over pimento wood. Her husband, Larry Wharton, creates fusion specialties such as chunky lobster mac and cheese with bacon, eel sauce, spicy mayo, chives and tempura flakes. The seafood extravaganza platter is enormous, hosting coconut shrimp as big as your hand. Order the mango margarita. It's like a grown-up Slurpee.

5603 Washington St., tasteofthecaribbeanindy.com

3. Beach Bum Barbecue

This pop-up in April started taking over La Mexi-Gringa some Sundays. From noon to 6 p.m. that first day, pitmaster and Houston native John Barker served pulled pork and pulled chicken cooked over soft woods such as cherry, apple or pecan. Barkers Kansas City-style tomato-based sauce containing 10 herbs and spices is a mainstay. Other sauces might include honey barbecue, honey sriracha and Volcano, a tongue burner blending ghost peppers, red habaneros and Carolina Reaper peppers. Barker did ribs May 10. He prepares from-scratch sides such as slaw, baked beans, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. The take-out-only menu lists individual or family meals.

6129 E. Washington St., (317) 749-8571, facebook.com/beachbumbarbecue

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4. Bitter Sweet

Gruyere, mozzarella, goat cheese, an egg and roasted poblano chiles baked in a cornmeal crust compose the breakfast chile relleno tart. The Cuban sandwich chef/owner Laura Johnston made famous at the Northside’s Blend Cigar stacks smoked ham, sliced pork tenderloin, baby Swiss cheese, dill pickles and Dijonnaise on a bollio. Dinner brings light bites, perfect with wine. For dessert, consider Johnston’s rich chocolate stout layer cake coated in glossy chocolate ganache. Opening day was March 21.

5543 E. Washington St., bittersweetindy.com

5. The Mug

Fans, many of them chefs, journey to the original Greenfield drive-in for the tenderloin sandwich alone. The “farm-to-curb” slogan means the kitchen sources ingredients, meats too, from local growers, including owner Chris Baggott’s Tyner Pond Farm. After the ExactTarget co-founder read Michael Pollan’s book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” Baggott decided to help make a difference in how people eat. You won’t get car service when The Mug opens before 2016's end on Pennsy Trail. You will get The Mug’s signature free-range, grass-fed beef burgers, fresh-cut garlic fries, hand-stuffed hot dogs and, of course, that tenderloin. Unlike The Mug in Greenfield, the Irvington store will serve beer.

100 block of South Audubon Road, themug.com

6. Griggsby’s Station

This intimate, 21-and-older gastropub is another Baggott project opening this year. It’s part of the three-unit strip that will also host The Mug. Griggsby’s Station gets its name from Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley’s humorous poem. Expect craft beer and upmarket pub food — high-end burgers, Scotch eggs, steaks. Like at The Mug, Baggott will stock the kitchen with fresh local meats and produce.

100 block of South Audubon Road

7. A local foods grocery

Baggott project No. 3 for that shopping strip this year is a small grocery selling, what else, local foods. If you’ve ever been to Wildwood Market in Fountain Square, you’ll understand what Baggott has in mind. The store will also stock non-grocery items such as dishwashing liquid and toilet paper. “So people will actually be able to shop there,” Baggott said.

100 block of South Audubon Road, tynerpondfarm.com

8. Scratch pop-up

While Baggott readied his South Audubon Road projects, Scratch food truck owner Matt Kornmeyer’s pop-up filled one of Baggot’s units. The pop-up closed this summer, but Kornmeyer still slathers his own bacon marmalade on the famous Scratch burger on the food truck. The bill of fare is “modern comfort food.” Order imaginative sandwiches and cool sides such as potato chip-topped blue cheese slaw. Where Scratch the permanent restaurant ultimately lands remains to be seen. Kornmeyer admits Irvington is on his list. For now, he's focused on the food truck.

130 S. Audubon Road, scratchtruck.com

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9. 10 Johnson Avenue

Gluten-free? No worries. All the sweets here are gluten-free. You also may request gluten-free bread on sandwiches. I love the big, chewy, caramelly brown coconut macaroons. Find classic muffins, cookies and a special Cake Night. Coffee drinks range from the obligatory espresso and cappuccino to a Dirty Chai Latte with two shots of espresso in spicy chai tea.

10 Johnson Ave., (317) 403-6100

10. Chef Dan’s

Chef Dan’s began with catering in 2009 and added a food truck in 2011. The Irvington restaurant opened in early 2015. Cajun and Creole signatures include deep-fried boudin balls, crawfish etouffee, bread pudding and po’ boy sandwiches. Don’t miss the head-clearing chicken and sausage gumbo. The spice blend clears the head no matter the pollen count.

5539 East Washington St., (317) 737-1801, chefdansindy.com

11. Simply Divine

The cupcake food truck that sometimes parks in front of Irving Theater or proffers its luscious cupcakes inside and at farmers markets has a brick-and-mortar location coming soon to 5844 E. Washington St. That means no more need to track down the truck for the salted caramel, the peanut butter and jelly, the lemon cream, the s’mores or whatever other cupcake flavors land.

(317) 544-8330, facebook.com/simplydivinecupcakes

12. Beast

The Game Changer burger with cookie butter may be his truck’s best-known burger. Pureed Belgian cookies spiced with a little ginger coat a Chinese five spice-seasoned, grass-fed beef patty. Spicy Asian slaw goes on top. Popular, yes, but it’s just one of dozens of many Beast burger creations. Cooks might tap espresso rubs, fried green tomatoes or mac and cheese. The Irvington-based food truck, launched in 2015, is on winter break. It hits the road again this spring.

beastindy.com

13. Tortas El Guero

Keep your eyes open for this Mexican sandwich shop coming soon to 5698 E. Brookville Road, Irvington Development Organization executive director Margaret Lawrence Banning said. A torta is a Mexican sandwich made in an oblong, crusty roll. Tortas El Guero fillings include ham, steak, chicken, sausage and breaded cutlets dressed with lettuce, tomato and avocado.

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