Since Cunningham Restaurant Group has never done me wrong when it comes to dining around Indy, I was excited to check off yet another Cunningham restaurant off the list to try. I was able to check out Provision last year and was blown away. It took me a year to get next door to Rize, but better late than never.
There’s sort of a waiting area just outside of the place, but be forewarned that the seating in the waiting area consists of mostly polished wood blocks — a fantastic match to a minimal, somewhat industrial decor scheme, but completely uncomfortable for sitting longer than 15 minutes.
Uncomfortable waiting area seating aside, the rest of the experience at Rize was spectacular! The wait was around half an hour at brunch time on a Sunday, which isn’t so bad. Once inside, the restaurant was smaller than I imagined it would be but had a nice patio area with additional seating. I can see the wait being way worse in the winter without the use of the outdoor seating.
I started out the meal with a brewed coffee.. which didn’t wow me but it was ok. Rize offers the option of French press and espresso-based drinks — I’d go with one of those in the future if I needed a caffeine fix, but the mimosas other tables were enjoying looked amazing as well.
Deciding what to order was next to impossible since there were no less than seven menu items I was interested in, but I eventually narrowed my choices to three items: crispy potatoes, bacon & the chia seed pudding bowl.
I’m a HUGE fan of throwing a lot of yummy stuff in a bowl, and was beyond excited with the variety of ingredient in the chia seed pudding bowl! It was by far the best thing I ate here. The pudding consisted of taro-coconut milk & chia (which reminded me of Thai coconut milk pudding), granola, peanut butter, almonds, and a variety of fresh fruit. Truly delish!
The crispy potatoes were another great pick. I expected just regular old hashbrowns, but these were in more of a shaped mount, perfectly crispy on the outside and covered in a light gravy. With a touch of salt added, these potatoes were amazing!
The bacon was just… good. I don’t have a lot more to say about it, except that I was astounded that it was only $3 for 3 pieces. I expected it to cost double that, given the bacon prices at other restaurants.
As expected, I loved this place and would 100% come back and recommend it to anyone! The food was amazing, more than worth the cost, and they don’t gouge you on the price of side items.
