Indianapolis-based Cunningham Restaurant Group stresses scratch cooking and hospitality

Cunningham Restaurant Group operates a total of 44 restaurants under 18 different brands in Ohio, Kentucky, and its home state of Indiana.

It all started in 1997, when Mike Cunningham opened Boulder Creek Dining Company, a casual-dining concept in the Indianapolis suburb of Brownsburg, Ind., that came to be known for its steak and ribs.

That was followed by Charbonos in another suburb (Avon, Ind.) offering pizza, chef-driven pasta dishes, and a robust steak program. Next came upscale-casual Stonecreek Dining Company, which now has five locations — four in the Indianapolis suburbs and a fifth in Montgomery, Ohio, outside of Cincinnati.

“And then the group really took off when we came into downtown Indianapolis and started revitalizing a number of areas,” said Cunningham’s vice president of marketing, Carissa Newton.

That included Bru Burger Bar, which is pretty much what it sounds like: burgers, fries, wings, salads, and sandwiches, plus beer, wine, and cocktails. Lots of it, including the beef, is locally sourced, which is a big part of the group’s identity, Newton said.

Combine that with gracious hospitality and scratch cooking, and you have Cunningham Restaurant Group’s ethos, she said.

The different venues offer a wide variety of cuisines and styles, and Newton said many of their guests don’t realize the restaurants are part of the same group unless they join the company-wide loyalty program.

“People that know, they know, and so they all travel within those different concepts because they can get the points and the rewards from that,” she said.

Cafe 251 is a breakfast-and-lunch concept in downtown Indianapolis. Three-unit Rīze is similar, but with a bit more of a farm-to-table approach.

Livery is a four-unit Latin-inspired concept with locations in and around Indianapolis, as well as one in Montgomery.

Modita in Indianapolis is Asian-inspired, with a menu ranging from dim sum and sushi to Japanese wagyu beef.

Nesso and Theo’s are Italian concepts — Nesso’s more upscale and with a tasting menu, while Theo’s offers flatbread-style pizza and house-made pasta — both in Indianapolis.

Commission Row is a steak-and-seafood restaurant that’s part of the Pacers Sports & Entertainment Complex in Indianapolis. Above it is Mel’s, a speakeasy-style bar, and above that is an event space called Above that can host up to 200 people.

The Bemberg is a members-only speakeasy, also in Indianapolis.

Mesh has two locations, in Indianapolis and Louisville, each with its own chef-driven menu.
Provision in Indianapolis is a sort of farm-to-table steakhouse with the tagline “Sustainability, transparency, and quality,” and Marquee at the Landing in Fort Wayne, Ind., is an upscale restaurant and bar with a strong steak program, but also a trend-forward charcuterie board and multicultural items such as kimchi meat loaf and carne asada poutine.

Union 50 Restaurant & Bar is another chef-driven restaurant with an eclectic menu in Indianapolis.

Cunningham’s most fine-dining restaurant is Vida, whose chef, Thomas Melvin, was named a semifinalist in 2022 and 2024 for the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Award for Best Chef in the Great Lakes Region.

Concept number 19, Shin Dig, with the tagline “Pizza, wings, and boozy things,” is slated to open in Indianapolis this fall next to the headquarters of events promoter Live Nation.

“A casual, kind of laid-back atmosphere, lots of games and a place where people are going to hang out after work or maybe go for a work outing,” Newton said of the new restaurant.

Finance, marketing, and human resources are all centralized at Cunningham’s downtown Indianapolis headquarters, where they have a culinary team that helps with chef recruitment and recipe development.

They have a test kitchen as well, and a USDA-certified greenhouse that provides all of the restaurants with microgreens, herbs, edible flowers, and similar ingredients. The staff at the greenhouse also is in charge of the green walls, with living herbs, that are at Modita and Vida.

The test kitchen and greenhouse, as well as the Bemberg, are also used to host tasting events for the public, both to test new menu items and to treat loyalty-program members.

“Getting the access to the culinary team for a special event is something that is really popular,” Newton said.

Apart from Shin Dig, Cunningham is opening a new Bru Burger in Fort Wayne in the fall, while also launching a catering arm to capitalize on that lucrative segment of the hospitality business.

Come back to NRN.com over the coming weeks to meet the 125 biggest multiconcept groups in America.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]