INDIANAPOLIS — On the Club level at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Kara and Monique Hawkins are cooking up chicken wings, collard greens and fried cauliflower.
"To do it with my family, there's nothing that compares to that," Kara said.
The mother & daughter duo are the co-owners of Taste of Innova Wings and Greens. Their first location opened during the summer of 2021 at The Amp at 16 Tech.
"So for me to have a second place, to have a second location that's beyond, you know, we were just so grateful to be able to have this location in The Amp," Kara said.
The opportunity to open a permanent location at Gainbridge Fieldhouse this fall is one the Hawkins family earned after a successful run in the 2021 guest chef program at the fieldhouse.
"We sold out all the games, broke some records in doing that, and they wanted us to come back to have a permanent location," Kara said.
Monique, Kara's mother and co-owner looks at their second location as a huge opportunity to market their business.
"To talk about this great place, The Amp, and to hopefully bring some of those fans over here and have an opportunity to enjoy some of the restaurants here, as well as ours," Monique said.
The Amp is located at the 16 Tech Innovation District on Indy's west side. All 21 restaurants and retailers are local, independent and 50% are new concepts.
Both Kara and Monique credit the opportunity to expand their restaurant to Gainbridge Fieldhouse with the opportunities they received at The Amp.
The Amp provides entrepreneurs monthly classes on topics like food cost, menu development and catering. Plus, accessible rent rates and the opportunity to be part of the entire 16 Tech community, which includes more than 500 employees and 90 companies.
"You know, mom often says it's not just about us. This is about all of us. You know, this is about women, also minorities but family first and foremost, above all of those things to show what a family can do in partnering with the city, the country and beyond," Kara said.
