What happened to the Mystery Cafe
The Ibj reports the milano inn will close
My name is Saint, Nick Saint, I am a private eye, investigator. I had been reading an article on IBJ about the Milano Inn Closing.
In the comment section, someone named Hope Baugh wrote:
“I wonder what will happen to the Mystery Cafe performances that have been staged upstairs? They are so fun!”
I decided to take the job and solve the mystery of what is happening to the Mystery Café?
First, I had to solve what is the Mystery Café?
I called in my secretary Delores and said let’s make some phone calls. She told me that was the old way. Now days you get on something called the internet.
From this internet thingy, we learned that the company had started in Boston Massachusetts and had spread across the country. There were Mystery Café’s in Houston, San Diego, Minneapolis and Indianapolis.
The Mystery Café operates by making a deal with an existing restaurant. This here restaurant provides the food and space while the Mystery Café provides the murder mystery comedy show. The partnership creates instant dinner theater.
The Indianapolis Mystery Café had started in 1992 at a restaurant called the Penn St Bar & Grill. From there it had moved to Del Frisco up in Nora. They then moved the operation back to Penn St. One night the Italians of Milano Inn came to a Mystery Café show. You know Italians, they made Mystery Café an offer they couldn’t refuse. So, the Mystery Café and the Milano Inn partnered up in 1995 and have been doing shows there ever since. Twenty-one years of food and fun provided by the partnership. Then in this past December the Mystery Café was surprised to learn its partner of 21 years was closing.
So, the Milano Inn closed and that is when Hope Baugh had posed her mystery for me to solve. I had to chuckle to myself as I thought of the empty building of Milano Inn. For I thought of a TV show of a detective I loved. I could hear the announcer now saying, “In an abandoned restaurant just east of downtown the Joker and his gang plotted against our heroes.”
It was Delores my secretary who over heard a guy say we committed our first murder in 1992. He was a clown making a joke about the first Mystery Café show. He was a former Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus clown who currently owned and operated the Mystery Café. I tailed him to find out where the Mystery Café had relocated. We set out from downtown and went east towards the airport. I followed him to the east side of downtown where a lot of hotels had sprung up around where the airport used to be. The airport had moved several miles outside of town but the hotels were still there.
I found The Mystery cafe's new Locaton.
The clown, Joe Strange, yeah that is his real name I learned, turned down Lynhurst Dr. and into the parking lot of a building. The sign of the building said The Library Restaurant & Pub. I checked in with Delores and had her research the establishment.
She learned about the beautiful building, originally the Mon Rêve, an exclusive French restaurant built by the late Lou Jenn over three decades ago. Much of the building's grandeur has been retained; Venus' Fountain and rose garden, restored vintage crystal chandeliers, beautiful woodwork, and classical oil paintings.
Like the Milano Inn, it was owned by a family. This family has owned it for over 11 years. It is known for its Legendary Prime Rib.
The clown had disappeared inside the restaurant but I found the General Manager and family member Ajna Morrow. I acted like I was a concerned citizen. She had no idea I was a private eye investigating the disappearance of the Mystery Café.
I asked her, “What was your impression of the Mystery Café type of interactive show?” She answered, “We love The Mystery Cafe because the show is entertaining and we love working with other local small business owners. We thought the show would be a perfect match for our incredible food to create an amazing dining experience!”
The mystery had been solved. I was ready to report back to Hope Baugh. The Mystery Café which was celebrating its 25th year in business had moved to a new location. The Library Restaurant & Pub. Located at 2610 S Lynhurst Dr. Indianapolis, Indiana.
I made reservations at the website www.TheMysteryCafeIndy.com for me and Delores to take in a show. Delores couldn’t wait to tease me when I couldn’t solve the Mystery Cafe's fun Whodunnit. I couldn't wait to play an audience character and interact with one of the Mystery Cafe's actors.
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Indianapolis, Indiana, June 9, 2017
The Mystery Café Logo
