I’m just guessing, but Joey Wagner’s likely not been spending much time away from the new SET at Theater Square restaurant this week. During a frantic soft opening lunch Monday, the city’s entrepreneur of partying was greeting guests, encouraging the new staff and talking up the menu and chef Geoff Hyde.
Wagner, known for throwing Derby parties attended by big-name sports celebrities (see his Rusty Satellite Show interview from this April here), looks like he’s making a natural transition to restaurateur at the plush new space across from the Palace.
There’s a ribbon-cutting today (July 12) with Mayor Greg Fischer. Local businessman Kirk Stallings heads the ownership group, which hired Bittners to transform the space from a spot known for fish sandwiches to an upbeat nightspot catering to crowds attending shows at the Palace and Mercury Ballroom. It will stay open until 2 a.m. after shows.
Here are its hours of operation: Sunday through Wednesday 10:30 am to 10 pm, Thursday through Saturday 10:30 am to midnight, plus it’s open until 2 am for all shows at the Palace and Mercury Ballroom. Happy hour will be Monday through Friday from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Heyde’s menu, designed in “sets” as if it were a play, has some fun dishes. We ordered the green chili wontons, Slugger Sliders (served on a specially designed baseball bat plate) and the crab spinach artichoke dip. While the list of soups and salads were enticing, we skipped those for Fish Tacos (with blackened tilapia) and a California Chicken Sandwich, all superb.
Also on the menu, an homage to the former occupier of the space, Set’s Cunningham’s Fish Sandwich. Most menu items are priced around $10. After five days of soft opening, SET officially opens to the public July 18.
