Once known primarily for its automotive roots, Kokomo is making a name for itself as a dining destination. The city’s restaurant scene offers Hoosier comfort foods but will soon be a central Indiana hub for Asian cuisine.
A joint venture between electronic behemoths Stellantis N.V. and Samsung SDI is creating this change, producing a second StarPlus Energy gigafactory. Visitors can taste the city’s shifting palate at Sokuri Kokomo, a restaurant specializing in Japanese and Korean cuisine that opened in January. Before 2024 ends, Sute, which bills itself as a “dining experience of Korean barbecue together with the hallmarks of a classic American steakhouse,” will open. Four more Korean-focused eateries are slated to open in the coming months.
However, when visiting the lively and cultured city with a population of nearly 60,000, tourists can find plenty of variety today while strolling the historic downtown streets.
The Foxes Trail, a five-minute walk from the courthouse square, is one of the city’s local institutions. The woman-owned business opened in 2013 and offers plenty of indoor seating with taxidermied foxes eyeing your American comfort food, while outside tables feature a view of Wildcat Creek. People come for the Hoosier pork tenderloin, but the grilled steaks, burgers, colossal onion rings and signature baby back ribs are satisfying, too. What can’t be missed is the impressive 60-foot, multi-colored mural gracing the eatery’s outside wall facing Main Street. Painted in late summer 2023, the image, sponsored by The Arts Federation, presents a Miami Nation of Indiana member looking towards the sky.
Opened in 2021, The Black Wax Cafe, billed as Indiana’s largest vinyl record store, provides a not-to-be-missed experience for coffee and audio lovers. Sip a dark chocolate frozen cold brew ($6) while perusing titles from old-school acts like the Rolling Stones, Indiana’s own John Mellencamp or special editions of Taylor Swift and Britney Spears. For professional and amateur DJs, the store carries an impressive line of headphones, turntables and even boomboxes.
A Kokomo tradition since 1946, Moore’s Pie Shop became a pandemic casualty, closing in 2020. Coming to the rescue, Floridian couple Joshua and Brittany Sanchez purchased the popular bakery two years after it shut its doors. The millennial duo kept the homey storefront but upgraded marketing efforts to include social media and joining in community events like the annual Kokomo Pride Fest and weekly farmers’ market. Classic pies baked from the previous owners’ recipes, such as pumpkin, apple and Hoosier sugar cream, keep customers coming back generation after generation.
Other not-to-miss dining options in Kokomo include cocktail and burgers at The Coterie, chef Blake Kinder’s Marble the Steakhouse in the Historic Train Depot and El Borrego Carnicería y Taqueria, one of Heidi’s Hidden Gems from writer Heidi Pruitt of the Kokomo Post.
Kokomo is a must-visit destination for experiencing the progressive and diverse dining culture in today’s central Indiana.
