The title is a bit inaccurate. I’ve actually been wanting to write this review for a very long time. It’s one of the inspirations for the blog, actually. I’ve been giving reviews of this place orally for over a year–everyone I know has heard it.
However, they haven’t heard this version–they’ve heard the exact opposite. This is not the review I want to give, and I really don’t want to be sitting here writing it. Even sitting here, I’m thinking of trashing it altogether. But no, it needs to be said. They know me there for my blunt honesty about what they are serving–and that is my purpose here as well. Ok, enough about the cryptic rambling. Here goes:
We had a Place. Our McClarens. Our Cheers. Our place where the bartenders know us. For awhile, we were in there almost every weekend. We never get carded, and rarely do they take our tab until we are ready to cash out. We always sit at the end of the bar, and talk to the employees, laughing and talking about beer, life, and the idiot customers who come in and ask for “NASCAR beer.” That place is Hearthstone.
The place was great. The beer list would change weekly, and we race to be online to find out what was new. The guys behind the bar knew what our tastes were and were knowledgeable about what was on tap. They’d give us samples of what they thought we’d be interested in, and they were almost always right. I learned to love Belgians because of Hearthstone. Mr. M discovered his favorite stout, and several others.
But slowly, the beer list stopped changing as quickly. It would change ever couple of weeks, then a month, every two. And yes, we noticed. The regular beer drinkers that we loved to toss back opinions with trickled out.
But still we loved the place, the atmosphere. Even though one of our favorite people had left by then, we still loved the conversation, and our place at the end of the bar. We had our after parties for our rehearsal dinner and wedding there. We couldn’t imagine going ANYwhere else. This is our PLACE. And we were treated like royalty. We were applauded by everyone in the pub when we walked in with our wedding finery on, and received hugs from our favorite tap tender.
Start the dramatic music. Right around that time–I can’t remember if it was before or after the wedding–it was announced that Hearthstone was changing from our beloved coffeehouse/pub, to a “bistro.” They were turning into a restaurant. Um…what?
Ok, we said. Maybe this will just mean more food options. Mr. M was a little disappointed they were getting rid of his boneless wings, but *shrug* if that’s the biggest change then we’ll deal. Then the menus came out and we saw what they did to the beer list. Gone were the rotating taps altogether, except for a couple local seasonals…that we can get everywhere else in town. Immediately you saw the comment board on the website blow up with the displeasure of the customers, but the response was the same…”We promise you’ll like the changes.”
Well, we went last night. After a month of holding back, we just couldn’t wait anymore. And we did not like the changes. We walked in to a big wall of opaque glass where the coffee bar used to be. I actually audibly gasped. It was loud enough for people to turn around and look, and I’m not kidding, I almost walked back out–it was so unwelcoming. Deep breath…we went back to our place at the bar, sat down. The employees were in a mad scramble. Our normal guy was not there, off that night, so there was none of the great conversation we normally would have gotten. But even if he was there, I wonder if there would have been time, even though they weren’t that busy. You could tell everyone was just crazy busy trying to get the food out–food that in a normal restaurant would have been done in a kitchen, but is being done behind the bar in an oversized toaster oven and a microwave. This is how it’s always been done there, and for bar snacks is fine, but now that they are doing bistro food is just not really sufficient I don’t think. And there’s just not enough room for the increased waitstaff back there.
And it gets worse. We had been told that even though the draft list was not going to be rotating, that they would still carry cans and bottles of some good stuff. They also have had a pretty great liquor selection. However, another regular, an acquaintance of ours, came in while we were there and tried to order one of the previously stocked cans. “Nope, we no longer carry those.” So he tried to order a fantastic bourbon that Mr. M also loves that they have ALWAYS carried. Nope, no longer being served. The three of us just looked at each other like, “This is not OK…”
We didn’t stay long. We normally would have had a couple of drinks, but we had one and then stopped at the store on the way home instead. Why spend more money at the bar when we can buy better stuff at the store? No thanks. We will miss our place, and will probably look for another. Maybe the bistro concept will take them far with a certain crowd in Fishers. But for their original clientele–the craft beer drinkers? No way. We are long gone. Some probably are hanging out at 20Tap in Broad Ripple. That’s a bit far for the M’s on a regular basis. So until we find a better Place, we will drink at home.
I hate to have such a negative review so early in the blog. But just like I used to sit at the bar at Hearthstone and tell everyone what I thought of the beer I was drinking, I refuse to sit quietly by while you drink a Bud Light. There are so many better beers out there.
Beerfully Yours,
Mrs. M.
UPDATE 12/11/2013:
The owners just posted on the Hearthstone Facebook page that they are closing their doors, citing financial difficulties. They said that they Bistro change was unsuccessful and they were not able to save the place. I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m sad to see it go.
Chasing After Gold Mines 