The restaurant group behind Harrison's, the Metro nightclub and the FortyFive Degrees sushi restaurant has plans to open a new spot on Mass. Ave. next year.
Diagonal Hospitality owner Bill Pritt said in an interview that the planned venue, dubbed Score, will feature sports, music and entertainment – though he stopped short of calling it a sports bar.
Located at 646 Massachusetts Ave., Score will include two floors of seating with a bar on each floor, including rooftop space. Pritt also hopes to set up patio and other outdoor seating.
He envisions Score as a gathering place that will serve both lunch and dinner. On weekends, Score will serve brunch.
The vibes, according to Pritt, will be casual and inclusive.
An LGBTQ-friendly establishment with a focus on sports, Score will help fill a gap in the Indianapolis dining and nightlife scene that's existed since a wave of gay bar closures in the past 10 years or so, according to Indiana Rainbow Chamber of Commerce member relations manager Julie Bush.
"Bill Pritt has been a major contributing force to not only the LGBTQ community, but Indy's community in general, with his restaurants and bars," Bush said.
Pritt said he wants Score to be the kind of spot where rec league players, including those from the LGBTQ Stonewall Sports league, feel comfortable showing up after a softball game, sweaty and still in uniform, or where downtown workers could grab lunch.
Pritt doesn't yet have a menu set or a chef, but he said he wants to bring back "old favorites" from classic downtown locations that have closed. But the spot won't just be a nostalgia play: Pritt says he hopes to jazz up the recipes with unique spins.
Score will likely open next year, Pritt said.
Diagonal Hospitality acquired the property at 646 Mass. Ave. in June. The group paid $1.9 million to acquire it from a holding company for Stenz Construction, which bought it in 2017.
Pritt has had his eyes on the site for years. In February 2021, he put an offer on the property, but it fell through. He used a liquor license purchased for the site to launch the Italian-American restaurant Harrison's, a few blocks to the west, instead.
Now, Pritt said, "I'm just thrilled to have finally scored this property after chasing it for five and a half years."
Part of the ground floor of 646 Mass Ave is currently home to Cookie Plug, part of a national bakery chain. Pritt said it's possible that Score will take up the full space, but it's also possible that he will continue leasing to tenants.
Upgrading the building may not be easy. The Kurt Vonnegut Museum planned to move to 646 Mass Ave in 2017. But after the museum signed a lease and began renovations, museum leadership said they discovered structural issues with the building and backed out.
In the long run, Pritt hopes to tear down the current two-story structure and replace it with a four- or five-story building instead. The upper floors would likely be residential space or a hotel, while the first floor would host Score or other businesses.
Pritt hopes the space will evolve alongside patrons' interests.
"People ask, 'Oh, what are you going to do with it?'" Pritt said. "And I'm like, 'Well, what do you want to see?'"
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam Fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: New restaurant and bar coming to Mass Ave next year