Introducing Krueger’s Tavern

Another Cincinnati import from the same people who brought The Eagle and Bakersfield to Indy, this Mass Ave-adjacent eatery completes the barhopping triumvirate with house-ground burgers and sausages.

With Monday’s debut of Krueger’s Tavern, Thunderdome Restaurant Group has laid claim to downtown’s Delaware Street / Mass Ave peninsula. The Cincinnati-based business also owns Bakersfield and The Eagle on adjoining slots of property, just a bar hop away.

Like its booze-forward kin, Krueger’s has a strong beverage program (including a vast collection of canned beers) to go with its haus specialties: house-ground burgers and sausages.

Guests at last week’s soft openings tasted a sampling from the menu, including a crock of beer cheese with pretzel breadsticks, sizzle-edged burgers tucked inside soft challah buns, and a variety of plated sausages.

While the tight, 150-seat restaurant showed off its tavern-chic décor, including an eye-catching emerald-tiled wall and backlit bar, patrons will have to wait until temperatures thaw to experience what will likely prove one of Krueger’s biggest draws, enticingly urban patios beyond garage-style roll-up windows in both the front and the back—which also connects to Bakersfield.