Small area, global view

Lemongrass chicken from Thien Huong Sizzling Wok. (Credit: Rob Goebel / Metromix)

When it comes to ethnic food, the big three — Italian, Chinese and Mexican — have long dominated the local restaurant scene.

But with such menu items as arepas, samosas and pho, clusters of new ethnic eateries are changing the way Indianapolis eats — one lunch special at a time.

What’s driving this evolution? The evidence is in the census numbers. Marion County has seen significant growth in its Asian, Indian and African immigrants in recent years, along with a large increase in its Hispanic population.

The area near Lafayette Square Mall is the epicenter of ethnic dining, even drawing the attention of The New York Times this year. But other pockets of ethnic restaurants are growing throughout the city.

Neighborhoods on the Northwestside offer a prime example.

The number of immigrants living in areas along Michigan Road and 71st Street has more than doubled the past 10 years.

 The percentage of immigrants residing there is more than twice that of Marion County as a whole, according to the 2009 American Community Survey and census figures.

Adventurous diners have been quick to notice the change along Michigan Road — including offerings of Venezuelan, African, Greek and Mexican cuisine.

“There has been a buzz of ethnic culinary activity up there,” said IUPUI professor Drew Appleby, co-founder of  IndyEthnicFood.com.

Among the hair salons, dry cleaners and tax preparers in the commercial area near 71st Street and Michigan Road, you’ll find Thien Huong Sizzling Wok — popular for a traditional Vietnamese soup called pho, a fragrant beef broth infused with cinnamon, cloves and star anise.

Other Vietnamese specialties 8include goi rolls: a combination of shrimp, pork, mint leaves, shredded carrots and rice noodles rolled in rice paper and served with plum sauce; and fish in ginger sauce: a crisp, fried catfish with a sweet-hot sauce full of ginger and garlic.

Sizzling Wok is across the street from a tiny Mexican and Salvadoran spot and not far from a West African restaurant and a Latin bakery. Farther north, Greek and Venezuelan restaurants are located on either side of a Hispanic grocery.

Caracas Arepas Grill, in the Crooked Creek Shoppes center, is a recent transplant from the Lafayette Square area.

The busy street brings more customers to try the restaurant’s popular arepas — grilled bread split and stuffed with shredded chicken or beef, cheese and black beans — and grilled corn cakes called cachapas that are folded over chicken, beef or ham and cheese.

Brownsburg resident Vickie Hall visited the Venezuelan restaurant not long after it opened in December and sampled all of the above.

“They were awesome,” she said of the arepas. “It’s definitely worth trying.”

Diarra’s Cuisine offers West African favorites, such as lamb and fish stews, from Plaza 71, a small, neglected strip center at 71st Street and Michigan Road. Also on the menu are fatayas — savory pastries stuffed with meat and fish, similar to Latin empanadas or Indiansamosas.

A bakery, A  Que Rico Panaderia, also  recently opened in the strip mall.  It serves tamales on Saturdays and has cases of fresh conchas topped with cinnamon and other Mexican sweet breads.