Places & Food | Stories

Smashing success at Fort Wayne rage room

First Person

Published January 27, 2021

If you walked into my basement office right now, you would naturally assume that someone had ransacked the place. You might even peg me as the sort of person who gets so angry that he flips tables. But I have never flipped a table in my lif...

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Venue aims to bring more rock shows to city

Rockstar Lounge

New Rockstar Lounge opens on N. Coliseum

Opening a club, bar, or entertainment complex during a pandemic seems like a crazy idea. But Santino Zurzolo is aware of the challenges that lay ahea...

chris-hupe rockstar-lounge

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No dull moment when you pick up Fort Wayne’s new bar sport

First Person

Our columnist tries his hands at axe throwing

After I scheduled my session at the axe-throwing emporium called Deadeye Dick’s, I went around my home imitating Gimli, the axe-wielder from The Lor...

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Legendary restaurant a pearl in Fort Wayne

The Oyster Bar

Oyster Bar has been in business since 1888

The Oyster Bar has been open continuously since 1888. It hasn’t always been called the Oyster Bar, but it has always served food and drink, even du...

steve-penhollow

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Coolest place in the Fort puts you in a deep freeze

First Person

First Person is a new monthly column by Whatzup writer Steve Penhollow who will try out some of the more unusual pastimes in the region.

If you have watched a lot of science fiction movies, then you might recognize the whole-body cryotherapy chamber at iCRYO. Does hypersleep ring a bell...

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Step away from reality at arcades

First Person

Electronic getaways for kids and adults alike

First Person is a new monthly column by Whatzup writer Steve Penhollow who will try out some of the more unusual pasttimes in the region. As I type t...

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Vegan delicacies and more find a home on Wells St.

Bird + Cleaver

Bird + Cleaver inventive with eclectic menu

One of Bird Cleaver’s most popular items is a cheese fondue that has no cheese in it. The history of vegan cuisine is littered with failed attemp...

steve-penhollow

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Whisky lockers and super sushi highlights at Umi

Umi Fort Wayne

Southwest Fort Wayne fine dining since 2017

When people pull up stakes and leave a town, one of the things that they miss about their former stomping ground is one or more of its restaurants. I...

steve-penhollow umi restaurant-review

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There’s no better time to have fun outdoors

The Great Outdoors

Get going on foot, on bike, or on the water

With so many indoor activities either canceled or greatly restricted, a great way to navigate a world of distancing and limitations is to take to the ...

michele-devinney

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Club Room undergoes extensive expansion

Club Room & Crescendo Coffee

Crescendo Coffee joins the popular location

The eventual importance of the Club Room was not fully appreciated when it opened in March of last year.Yes, it was designed to sell freshly prepared ...

steve-penhollow

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With not a lot slated, park hopes to chalk up a success

Chalk It Up!

Promenade Park takes advantage of its space

One of the highlights of Fort Wayne’s busy 2019 was the opening of Promenade Park, the first phase of the city’s riverfront development. It was a ...

michele-devinney

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Old-fashioned drive-ins are this year’s new entertainment

The Year of the Drive-In Theater

Area locations try to serve their new fans

If someone predicted a year ago that 2020 would be “The Year of the Drive-In Theater,” you would have called them crazy. In 2019, drive-in theat...

steve-penhollow

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DIY projects get plenty of space on Goshen Ave.

The Build Guild

For fans of Pinterest, DIY projects, or simply working with your hands, Fort Wayne boasts a unique venue at the Build Guild to work on a variety of pe...

chloe-miller

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Riverfront takes the front seat downtown

Promenade Park Grand Opening

City’s new park opens to fanfare in August

The promise of Promenade Park began years ago. More and more growth in downtown Fort Wayne brought a renewed interest in appreciating the three rivers...

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Local music education world class

Saint Francis, Purdue FW programs take a major step

Fort Wayne has gained a reputation as the Midwest’s “Music City” with a prolific talent pool, the nation’s largest online music retailer, and ...

rachel-stephens

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Family fun from basketball court jesters

Harlem Globetrotters

It’s a life Chandler “Bulldog” Mack could only dream of when growing up in Huntsville, Ala. The former high school basketball standout and coll...

heather-herron

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Explore our Fort Wayne restaurants in January

Savor Fort Wayne

If there’s one thing that seems to hold true about people in Fort Wayne, it’s that they love their restaurants. And luckily, there’s no shortage...

heather-herron

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Fort Wayne's hottest sport is on the ice

Fort Wayne Komets

Arguably, the most exciting cold-weather sports spectacle in Fort Wayne doesn’t happen on the hardwood. It’s nearly impossible for any other sport...

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Scares With Class

Green Center Haunted School House

A hall of spiders. A bridge over live rats. A room of bats. A tomb. A treasure chest. A spooky library. All of these delights, and many more, await v...

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Tuning Up a Music School

Purdue School of Music

When talks began at the former IPFW to separate campuses and change to Purdue Fort Wayne, there was understandable concern among the communities both ...

michele-devinney purdue-fort-wayne

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The 05 Gets Some Seoul

Destination: Ryu's Kitchen

For many years, Seoul Garden on Coliseum Boulevard was this city's only Korean cuisine option. It provided me with my first taste of bulgogi, bibimba...

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Blaze Pizza

Destination

If you can get past the erroneous apostrophe in its tagline (Fast Fire’d) – which has proven difficult for some of my grammar-loving friends – ...

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Finger-Lickin' Bone Pickin'

Shigs In Pit BBQ & Brew

Every city needs a good barbeque place. In Fort Wayne we are lucky to have a few to help us satisfy our cravings, and one of them just opened a beaut...

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Shigs In Pit

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Every city needs a good barbeque place. In Fort Wayne we are lucky to have a few to help us satisfy our cravings, and one of them just opened a beaut...

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Salud!

Destination

Somehow, despite receiving numerous recommendations from friends to try it, Salud! never hit my radar. I have been to Salsa Grille many times, even t...

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A Welcome Sushi Addition

Shoccu

Is there such a thing as too much sushi? If there is, I haven't reached that threshold. I could eat it every day, I love it that much. So, it's goo...

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Thriving in the Digital Age

Independent record Stores

There was a time in the 1970s and 80s that a teenager with some disposable income could spend it happily at any number of record stores. There were p...

michele-devinney

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Building Musical Bridges

Sweetwater Sound

When renowned producer, engineer and music industry guru Mark Hornsby came to Sweetwater Sound more than four years ago to be its director of music p...

steve-penhollow

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Still Authentically Italian

The Venice

Like many people, I tend to frequent the same dining establishments over and over again, even though I am an adventurous eater. There's something abo...

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The Local Library as Boredom Beater

Fare Warning

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was a young mother with (obviously) even younger children. When they were very small I loved spending my days ...

michele-devinney

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Can TLC Bring It Back?

Piere's

It's hard to imagine Fort Wayne without Piere's Entertainment Center. That doesn't mean that some local residents haven't inclined their imaginatio...

steve-penhollow

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Famous Taco

Destination

Who doesn’t love tacos? If you are one of the few who doesn’t, you can stop reading now because I am about to swoon over my latest Fort Wayne tac...

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Sushi That's Fully Loaded

Umi

Whenever construction signs go up and excavators come out, Fort Wayne starts to murmur about what's coming. Last year, the corner of Jefferson Boulev...

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The Accidentals

Pippin

Pippin has had two very distinct lives on Broadway. In its first presentation, it was a star-making vehicle for Ben Vereen in 1972, earning him a Ton...

michele-devinney

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Mitchell's Sports & Neighborhood Grill

Destination

Those who remember and frequented Mitchell's Sports Bar when it was located in the Marketplace of Canterbury would agree that it was the best sports ...

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Peerless Ambience and Dining

Tolon

One year ago, Fort Wayne's first farm-to-fork restaurant opened downtown. Eddie Merlot's Executive Chef Matt Nolot and his wife Nicky took a leap of ...

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You Got to Get In to Get Out

Escape Rooms

Want to make time fly? Have yourself locked in a room with a group of friends and try to solve a series of puzzles, riddles and brain-twisters with t...

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Nella's Coffee & Grill

Destination

In late 2016, a new restaurant opened in Coliseum Plaza, which houses Jungle George's and a handful of other small businesses, on Parnell Avenue. Nel...

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The Venice Restaurant

Destination

Like many people, I tend to frequent the same dining establishments over and over again, even though I am an adventurous eater. There’s something a...

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Junk Ditch Brewing Company

Destination

We’ve been enjoying quite the culinary renaissance in Fort Wayne these days, and that has given rise to a culture of food fanatics. A handful of to...

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The Golden

Destination

It’s not every day a restaurant opens that changes your life – and that’s not hyperbole. If you haven’t been to The Golden yet, allow me to i...

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Tower Bar & Grill

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A few years ago, I reviewed the area’s top chicken wing restaurants for our local NPR affiliate, WBOI. For years, I listened to people debate about...

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Green Frog Inn

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The worst thing about Sunday brunch at the Green Frog is deciding what to order. The best thing is realizing that it really doesn’t matter. There a...

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Pho Viet

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I’ll never forget the first time I experienced pho, a traditional Vietnamese soup consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs, spices and meat. I walk...

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Calhoun Street, Soups, Salads and Spirits

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I had a big year in 2008: got a new job, got dumped by a girl, met the girl, decided I’d had enough of apartment life and bought a house. It was al...

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Black Canyon

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Fort Wayne is a playground for foodies if you look beyond the chain restaurants. We have an adequate selection of locally-owned fine dining establish...

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The Brass Rail

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Oh, the little bar that could. You know that one that so many doubted would find its way after changing hands in fairly rapid succession? That bar ...

darren-hunt

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Wine Down Tastings and Tapas

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About a year ago, I met Gary Skeel, owner of the new downtown hot spot Wine Down. When we met, Gary and his wife’s plans for the restaurant were in...

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Green Frog Inn

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I have to confess I had only been to the Green Frog Inn maybe a handful of times in the 15 years that I have been actively frequenting local venues. ...

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Skeletunes

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Anyone who has lived in the Fort for a decent stretch knows the Main Street bridge and that ever so slight lift you get when you crest its tiny hill ...

darren-hunt

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Koze Thai Cuisine & Bar

Destination

Anyone who knows me well understands that I gravitate towards Asian cuisine – Indian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai, Korean, Chinese – so when I saw...

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Friends Too

Destination

Since visiting Greece in 2006, I’ve been infatuated with Greek cuisine. It should come as no surprise then that Greek Fest is my favorite Fort Wayn...

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Pembroke Bakery

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For a long time, I thought Pembroke Bakery, located inside the Auer Center on Main Street, was just that – a bakery. I knew it specialized in glute...

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Mockingbird Kitchens

Destination

When you’re rushed for lunch, it is difficult to find healthful options close at hand. I started working full-time downtown over a year ago and was...

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Cerulean

Destination

Just a short 45-minute drive from Fort Wayne, Cerulean at Winona Lake is one of the area’s most unique and exciting culinary experiences. It approa...

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Sakura

Destination

I like sushi. A lot. I’d eat it every day if I could afford it. When we moved here from Chicago, I was certain I wouldn’t find adequate sushi in ...

amber-recker

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The Gas House Deck

Destination

In Northeast Indiana, many things indicate that summer is just around the corner: the TinCaps home opener, the first lightning bug sighting, weekends...

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Tucanos

Destination

I have a general rule of thumb when it comes to new restaurants: wait a few months to give it a chance to work out all the new-restaurant kinks. That...

michele-devinney

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Calhoun Street, Soups, Salads and Spirits

Destination

Frequent conversation: Me: “Hey, lets go to CS3!” Friend: “Where?” Me: “Calhoun Street, Soups, Salads and Spirits ... CS3” ...

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Crown Brewing

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One of the many nice things about so many new breweries popping up, is if you decide to head out of town to check one out, you can usually find one o...

heather-osbun-smith

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Black Dog Pub

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Black Dog is one of those places I had heard of from time to time from different people. Despite hearing how awesome it was, I had never checked it o...

heather-osbun-smith

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Dash-In

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There are some places that seem just too obvious to write about, local haunts that I feel certain everyone has been to a billion times. Then I’ll c...

heather-osbun-smith

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Pad Thai

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Jon and I live in an historic neighborhood near Lakeside Park, just east of downtown Fort Wayne. Some call it the North Anthony neighborhood or the N...

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Three Floyds

Destination

I was really, really excited to finally visit Three Floyds. I still remember my first Three Floyds beer. When you try as many beers as I do and remem...

heather-osbun-smith

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JK O’Donnell’s

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I remember well the days when Fort Wayne’s downtown dining options were slim pickings. After 5 p.m. on weekdays and throughout the weekends, downto...

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Acme Bar & Grill

Destination

The Acme Bar is one of those Fort Wayne landmarks that still embodies the charm of the local watering hole while being a family-friendly restaurant. ...

heather-osbun-smith

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Pickles Café

Destination

When our friends Shad and Paige called us early one Saturday morning and asked us to try a new-to-us breakfast place, we were stoked. Some of the win...

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Old Crown Coffee Roasters

Destination

If you've lived in Fort Wayne for even a short period of time, you've undoubtedly heard of Old Crown Coffee Roasters. Founded in 1999 by husband and w...

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