Diva Dining Out: Earth House Collective Café

This past Saturday, I had the lovely experience of eating at the Earth House Café in downtown Indianapolis. I have read about the Earth House Collective, which is not only a coffee shop and café, but "is a group of peace activists, conservationists, artists, musicians, Methodists, teachers and many more dedicated to peace, wellness, community and culture..." I have been wanting to check it out for a while, but never really made the effort to figure out where it was or what they had to offer. I'm so glad I decided to stop in.

The first thing I will mention about the Earth House is that it's a little tricky to find. It's inside of an old church, and there are no signs to point you in the right direction. If you park in the parking lot there is a red door, which is the entrance to the Earth House. There is a small sign next to the door to let you know that you've found Earth House. --------->----->---->---->

The Earth House is located at the corner of New York and East Streets, downtown Indianapolis.

237 N. East St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317.636.4060

Café hours:
Monday - Saturday
11am-9pm

I was actually quite surprised when I walked in. The area was open and bright, decorated with an ecclectic collection of lamps and furniture (tables and chairs, couches and coffee tables). The stained glass windows of the church let in tons of light to the large, open space. I was welcomed by the very cute guy behind the counter who was perfectly friendly and helpful, and glad to learn that this was my first visit to the Earth House.

I was slightly disappointed when looking at the vegan-friendly menu on the gigantic wall chalkboard. While there were many options listed (including vegan PIZZA!), most of them had "sold out" signs pasted neatly next to them. The server quickly apologized for the "slim pickin's", mentioning that they'd had a large music event the previous night and had run out of many of their menu items. The only things left were a salad and a white bean chili. It was a very cold day, and chili sounds like a brilliant choice. Plus, it came with a side of salad and cornbread...can't complain about that! So I ordered a cup of the chili and rummaged through a pile of books on the large dining table while I waited. (OH, I guess I should mention that I was informed that every third Saturday they host a free sale with a pay-what-you-can meal. The books I picked through were left over from the "sale").


Look at all those V's (indicating vegan menu items)!


The Earth House boasts being Indiana's only 100% fair trade/organic coffee shop!

When my order finally came to the table, I was more than pleased with the cozy presentation. I definitely liked the coffee shop ambiance of Earth House, and the colorful dishes were so fun. They reminded me of dishes my mom has at her house. The chili looked delicious, and the salad fresh.

Vegan White Bean Chili with vegan sour cream, salad, and cornbread. Yum!

The chili was warming and tasty, not overly seasoned. I sometimes worry about bean dishes at restaurants being overcooked, but this was not the case here. The beans were cooked nicely; not pasty or mushy. The greens were fresh, and the vinagrette was sweet and delicious. The salad was my favorite part of the meal. :-) The cornbread was good, although a bit dry and heavy. To me, this seemed like a good thing, as it made it easy to tell that the chef had used wholesome ingredients that I might've used at home. It did come with a pat of butter (I assumed it was vegan since it was a vegan dish, but I didn't ask), which I declined to use. That might have helped with the dry texture.

Overall, I loved my experience at Earth House. Great atmosphere, happy and friendly service, and yummy vegan food. I definitely plan to go back...perhaps not following a large event when I might have more dining options. I can't wait to take some of my friends. I'd like to keep an eye on their events and see what they have going on from night to night. Who knows...Earth House could end up being one of my favorite new places to hang out. Who wants to come with me next time?