Expect dark wood, white tablecloths, vintage photos, a long historic bar, and multiple dining rooms that feel accumulated rather than designed. Service is old-school and generally excellent—servers often know the history and stay with tables. The flip side is that seats can be tight and the room lively to loud when full. It is special-occasion energy, not a quiet date-night hideaway.

There is no strict dress code. Jeans appear alongside jackets. Reservations are strongly recommended, especially weekends and event weeks (Indy 500, conventions). Valet is usually available; a garage sits nearby.

Four jumbo shrimp and a mound of cocktail sauce loaded with fresh horseradish. It is hot. People tear up, reach for water, and still finish it. That is the point. The restaurant has served the same idea since 1902 and now bottles the sauce for grocery and mail order. Skip it and you miss the thing St. Elmo is most famous for.

Navy bean soup (or tomato juice) typically comes with many entrees—a simple, comforting extra that regulars mention fondly.

The kitchen does classic steakhouse cuts: filet, ribeye, bone-in Cowboy ribeye, New York strip, porterhouse, and limited prime rib, plus a smaller program of USDA Prime dry-aged steaks. Consensus from recent reviews is that steaks are cooked accurately and have good flavor, with filets often praised for tenderness and dry-aged or well-marbled cuts for intensity. It is not always “the best steak of my life” for every diner, but it is reliably very good and presented as a complete steakhouse meal with sides such as mashed potatoes, baked potato, green beans, or fries.

Seafood options (lobster tail, crab-stuffed shrimp) and a few non-steak mains exist if someone at the table wants them. Desserts run to crème brûlée, chocolate mousse pie, cheesecake, and bread pudding.

Prices are steakhouse prices: shrimp cocktail around $20–22, steaks commonly in the $50–80+ range depending on cut and aging, with dry-aged and tomahawk options higher. Value scores on review sites lag food and service slightly—people pay for the institution as much as the plate.

Go if you want a landmark Indianapolis dinner, a first-timer ritual, a celebration, or the shrimp-cocktail story. Service and consistency are the restaurant’s strengths.

Temper expectations if you want cutting-edge cooking, a quiet intimate room, or the cheapest great steak in town. Some locals argue there are better pure steak experiences elsewhere; few argue there is a more iconic one. Tables close together and noise are the most common complaints after price.

Practical notes: 127 S Illinois St, Indianapolis. Dinner hours generally Mon–Thu 4–10 p.m., Fri 4–11, Sat 3–11, Sun 4–9. Book ahead at stelmos.com or OpenTable. Happy hour exists earlier in the week. Sister spots Harry & Izzy’s (next door, more casual) and 1933 Lounge sit in the same family if you want a related but different night.

St. Elmo is not trying to reinvent the American steakhouse. It is trying to keep one running in the same buildings, with the same spicy opener and the same sense that dinner here is an event. For most visitors, that is still enough.