Ale Emporium

The food is decent but every time we have been there it has taken forever to get to us. It’s always crowded but I assume it is for the sports they show. Decent place to go for watching the game but wouldn’t recommend for someone just looking to eat.

Food’s great, service is questionable.
The deep dish pizza and hermanaki wings are where it’s at– so kudos to the chefs. This is a great place to come with a group after work. You can relax, be loud, and order large servings of food. The Ale Emporium is also one of the only places around that serves a vanilla porter, and if you’ve never tried it before, you must.
Our server refused to look us in the eye and then after we explained for about five minutes that we wanted our bill split in half, she brought out one bill and asked «do you want it split in half?» …Yes, yes we do. I’ve had better service here before, but wasn’t impressed by this most recent encounter.
This place is best when it’s warm out and you can sit outside. It is a steady, good choice, but nothing is nothing to rave about. Go see for yourself (or at least for the wings)!

I was advised to visit this restaurant for the hermanaki wings. On my first visit, I went with my coworkers and we sat outside; pleasant dining experience.
On my second visit, I went after work with my boyfriend and ordered the hermanaki wings. This restaurant is very popular for happy hour. Even during lunch time there is limited parking. It is a pretty dark restaurant in the inside which I don’t particularly care for.
Nonetheless, the food is pretty good. Affordable. And tasted pretty decent when I heated up the wings later that night. It’s a place to visit on occasion but I would hardly say that they have he best wings in all of Indianapolis.

Great wings pizza and beer. Perfect for a Friday or Saturday night. They often times have a band on the weekends and their outside patio is nice too.

I’ve been a big fan of this place for years now. However, it makes me sad that they decided to go with a different chicken vendor. For the longest time, the Hermanaki wings reigned king in Indianapolis. But tonight I noticed a big difference in the fattiness of the chicken. Still a good place, but I won’t be back quite as often.

When ever I think of the Ale Emporium, I think of Depeche Mode’s Just Can’t Get Enough!!! Give me all the Hermanaki wings and deep dish pizza! I love Ale. I tried a pineapple cider on tap while there last and it was refreshing. Great food for the win!

The Hermanaki wings, in my opinion, are overrated. Sure, they’re good, but not amazing. The food and atmosphere are both good. If you want great pizza, this is the place!

We were told it was THE place for wings in Indy so went here with high expectations. We were told to get the chicken wings «hermanaki» style — deceptively spicy — we actually ended up eating all 4 lbs of wings between 3 people!
Had a great selection of Sun King and 3 Floyds beer which we liked. BUT we were not quite as impressed with our other food orders. The blackjack burger was just ok, not seasoned well and I didn’t end up finishing it, not for lack of trying but the fries were nice and crispy. Coworkers said the chili and the BBQ chicken pizza were good but we’d only come back for the wings.
Decently crowded for a Tuesday night so definitely a draw.

Well I just got home from a place I love going to and always enjoy the food, atmosphere and beer that I can enjoy there. However tonight was different, I didn’t sit at the bar like normally, tonight my buddy and I sat in the other room where it’s very open with TV’s and more tables. The service in this part of the resturaunt was horrible!!! I met my buddy there and waited nearly 10 minutes to even been asked what I would like to drink, sadly this wasn’t the slowest part of the night. I’m not really sure what our server was doing because I’m pretty sure I saw every other member of the wait staff out working and taking care of their tables. I enjoy this establishment because of the beers I can get, the food (Hermanaki Wings!!! and Pizza!!!), but tonight didn’t make me very happy.
This server didn’t seem to care about us being there and only seemed interested in refilling the exact drink I already had, I wan’t even given time to change up what I wanted. On a normal night this server would have been tipped $ 10-​$ 14, but not tonight, I tipped $ 2.00 (was hard to not tip $ 1.00).
I love this place and I’ll be back, but I’ll never sit on the other side again. I’ll stick with the awesome bartenders. I would have brought this to a manager, but ran out of time.

We had the pizza and the Herman wings. The pizza was just ok but the Herman wings were the best grilled wings that I have ever had! The seasoning is so good! Try the Herman wings you will not be disappointed.

Open, spacious, nice service, good food (pizza and wings are awesome)! Best part, they have plenty of beer options in addition to cocktails and wine.
There are too many tvs to count from one spot! You can watch multiple games with a friendly crowd… and hear the cheer!

Bros everywhere! Seriously, there are a lot of dudes in this joint. Maybe it’s the wallpaper of televisions all around the restaurant? It is busy & noisy, particularly for a random Wednesday night. This is not the place for an intimate dinner, but it is the place for a great brew, amazing wings (get the Hermanaki!) & killer deep dish pizza. We had really good service too, especially considering the crowd.

I have forgotten how much I like the Ale Emporium. I hadn’t been there for years, but now that it is non-​smoking (state law), I can see myself returning often (when I don’t have my child in tow as the Ale is 21+).
We went for lunch on a Friday and they had a great deal. A salad, slice of pizza (medium), and a drink for $ 6.
The pizza is what people come here for (or the Hermanaki wings which I didn’t have this time) and I have never been disappointed.

First, the good. My friends and I have never had trouble finding a tale for a moderately large group (7 – 9 peeps) without making a reservation. This is a plus given that we frequently make last minute plans to meet up. The servers are also welcoming of such groups and will gladly split bills.
I’ve never had anything bad to eat here! Love the sweet BBQ wings, buffalo chicken dip, pretzel crusted pickle chips, Chicago deep dish, and more! Their drink cups are enormous, so you aren’t begging for a water or soda refill ever few minutes. My friends enjoy their beer selection, but I’m not a beer drinker, so I can’t comment on that personally.
They recently remodeled, and it’s pretty nice. Lots of space in their multiple rooms. Plenty of big TVs for watching football (or whatever your sport of choice is).
My only recent complaint was that it felt really drafty, and several people in my group felt cold. Service was also a little on the slow side, but there were seven of us who didn’t all arrive at the same time, so that’s not entirely our server’s fault. It didn’t bother us since we weren’t in a hurry.

If I could, I would give this place 2.5 stars. The service isn’t that great– as it takes them a while to get to you (even after they have said they will be right with you). I have been here twice. The first time it took 3 different servers 15 min to figure out that no one was waiting on me. The second time it took them about 7 min.
The food is ok. Their «boneless» wings are more akin to chicken strips– very meaty. Their sweet BBQ sauce was wonderful! Their ranch was thick and a bit chunky– and I loved it! The best part was their Ace’s ciders on draft. I tried the pineapple cider and it was spectacular (just the right amount of sweetness for me).
I will probably go back, but I think I will try to sit in a different section to see if the service improves. (I sat in the section immediately to your left when you walk in).

Wings!!! Boneless or on the bone they are wonderful and addictive! You gotta get them the house way!
I’m from Chicago and we love our deep dish pizza… Theirs is damn good but nothing like Chicago as theirs is HEAVEY CHEESE & LIGHT SAUCE. Still very good but just know it’s different.

If constantly being packed is any indication of how good a place is, then the Ale Emporium should rank in the top places on Indy’s Northeast side. It is always busy, and scoring a table outside on the patio during the warmer months is a bonus. Inside it is a sprawling multi-​room sports lovers dream — TVs everywhere, very loud.
Ale Emporium is touted as THE PLACE to get pizza and the infamous (and expensive) Hermanaki chicken wings… but I like to go for the extensive beer list and Tuesday Filet special (bacon wrapped filet, salad, side for $ 6.99). Don’t get me wrong — the pizza is good, heavy, and very filling (deep dish), but even the small is too much for me to take down in multiple sittings. Bring a friend if you want pizza or plan on left overs. For days. Of note, bottled beers are 25% off on Tuesdays, so pair that with the $ 6.99 Filet special and I am a very happy girl.
One gripe that I do have is that I absolutely love sitting on the patio… but am not a fan that smoking is allowed there. Sure, it’s a big space and I realize it IS outside… but smoke travels and has been known to kill my appetite on a few occasions. Sad trombone.
Having a chicken wing addicted husband assures that we will return to Ale Emporium, but it will be harder and less frequent once the weather gets bad and we have to sit inside where it is obscenely loud again.

Hmm… Has everyone ever built something up in your head, you go with the highest of expectations and you were disappointed and are like, «What was everyone talking about?!»
Yeah. That happened. I heard, GO FOR THE PIZZA AND WINGS. If you’re used to reading my reviews, I don’t drink alcohol – so I obviously didn’t go for the actual emporium of ale. :)
Got the «Hermanaki style» wings – a slight teriyaki glaze over grilled wings. barely tasted the glaze and the wings tasted charred. Nothing special. And we shared a BBQ Chicken Pizza. The BBQ sauce tasted like it has some form of alcohol in it. and I could barely choke it down. The fries were delicious though!
The service was awesome though. The waitress talked us through what we were ordering, I mean, at least she knew the crowd favorite, but we weren’t too impressed. We were looking to do the party room for an upcoming event, and she informed us that it was going under renovation for a few months! So good luck to all the fantasy-​footballers out there!

I love this place! The pizza and wings are to die for and definitely live up to the hype! The sauces for the wings vary nicely from mild to lighting your taste buds up! The deep dish pizza is amazing and will last you a long time because it’s difficult to finish in one sitting. The tap selection is awesome with something for everyone.
This place is huge so there’s room for groups as well as just a casual meal out with a friend. Get there early on game days as it can be completely packed!
I’ve only had bad service one time there, and it was on an NFL playoff game day. I blame the particular server, not the restaurant so I’m still a fan.

Wings and Pizza, these seemingly simple dishes are elevated to gourmet status at the Ale.
Hermanaki wings are dry rubbed, smoky and sweet all at the same time with the perfect crunch before sinking into flavorful meat… mmmmmm. I hate that I can not have them all the time, since I live in Louisville.
The pizza is so perfect, what do they do to it? It must be the cheese… super thick, complex flavors… it is a mystery.
Also a really wonderful place to watch football, good lighting, ample TV’s, staff will turn your team on if requested, waitresses are soo nice — but a good seat can be hard to find without hovering or scanning room for empty seats, this busy place is everything it should be!
I also love that they have an outdoor fire, enjoyed many a Stella draught out there. Thank you, Ale Emporium! Love you, mean it. xoxox