Own a piece of the old Nickel Plate diner in Fishers to help a charity
As one popular eatery, Cafe Patachou, prepares to move into the site of the old Nickel Plate Bar & Grill in Fishers, pieces of the iconic diner it replaces are being preserved for posterity — and charity.
About 200 bricks from the demolished restaurant are for sale for $100 apiece, with the proceeds going to local non-profit organizations. Nickel Plate opened in 1991 downtown on 116th Street and closed in 2019 but the building was much older.
The home of one of Fishers’ original businesses, Parks Place Pub, the building is estimated to have been constructed in 1880. A silver nameplate attached to the sale bricks reads: “Parks Place Saloon. Established 1880. Nickel Plate District. Fishers, Indiana.”
A block west of the old diner a new Parks Place Pub opened a few years ago and the owners there have already bought a brick, said Alison Gatz co-founder of the Fishers Non-profit Committee.
Gatz said when the building was being razed a resident got permission from the city to save some of the bricks and the idea of selling them was hatched.
“They are in really good shape, considering," Gatz said.
The bricks went on sale in October and, so far, 30 have been bought. Customers who visit the Bricks for Good website at fishersnpc.square.site have a choice of 12 charities to donate to and the option of paying more.
Patachou plans move into Fishers
When the new $157 million Nickel Plate Station apartment and retail complex was planned, four buildings on 116th Street had to be abandoned, including the Nickel Plate. The city wanted to restore them but the Nickel Plate and another building were to decrepit to keep standing.
Now in its place will be another diner.
A spokeswoman for the Patachou said there are no specific plans now to pay homage the Nickel Plate diner but owner Marta Hoover usually recognizes an area's history in some way.
“With every new location we open, we seek to be reflective of the unique aspects of the community and neighborhood, so you never know!” said Madeline Dickerson marketing director for Patachou’s restaurant group, now named Won’t Stop Hospitality, said in an email.
Patachou, in an announcement on social media, described the location next to the Nickel Plate Trail in the heart of downtown as a “growing and popular shopping & dining destination for the Fishers community.”
Patachou Nickel Plate will be a 2,500-square-foot contemporary single-story building with floor-to-ceiling windows, according to an artistic rendering and Dickerson.
The menu will be the same as Cafe Patachou, on 49th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Indianapolis, with breakfast and lunch items such as omelets, cinnamon toast, salads, sandwiches and soups.
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Patachou recently announced it would be opening a place in Zionsville next year and now has several restaurants under its umbrella. Besides Café Patachou, they include Napolese Pizzeria, Apocalypse Burger and Bar One Fourteen, all on 49th Street, and Petite Chou Bistro & Champagne Bar and Public Greens Urban Kitchen in Broad Ripple.
In 2020, Hoover was nominated for Restaurateur of the Year for the sixth time by the James Beard Foundation and Vogue Magazine has profiled her and the company’s sustainability practices, according to the company’s website. In addition Bon Appetit magazine named Café Patachou one of the "Top Ten Places for Breakfast in the Country.”
Patachou is just the latest restaurant to move into the first-floor storefronts of the mixed use buildings on both the north and south sides of 116th Street.
Others include Tiburon, Angelo’s Italian Market, Rush Bowls, Green District, Memento Zero Proof and Le Macaron French Pastries.
Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Email at john.tuohy@indystar.com and follow on Twitter and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Nickel Plate diner bricks for sale as Cafe Patachou plans Fishers spot
