How Kokomo eats: doughnuts, market Saturdays and a brewpub of its own

Kokomo is a factory town and a farm-country county seat, and its food reflects both. Its food scene is not built on one famous dish. It is built on places that have stayed put, a farmers market that keeps coming back, and a downtown that has added new flavors in the past few years.

A City of Firsts at the table

Kokomo's habit of claiming firsts reaches the kitchen. Among the innovations the city lists under its City of Firsts nickname, alongside the push-button car radio, is the first canned tomato juice. It's a fitting claim for a factory city that grew up among farm fields. Today that history is mostly a good story to tell, but the farm-to-town link it describes still shows up every summer Saturday downtown.

Saturday at the market

The Kokomo Downtown Farmers Market sets up on the lot at Washington and Mulberry streets, on the edge of the courthouse square. In recent seasons it has run Saturday mornings from early May through the end of September, with farm produce from around the area, locally made foods, baked goods, honey, flowers, handmade goods, hot food and community tents from local nonprofits. Live music has been part of the mornings too, and early shoppers could pick up coffee and a breakfast treat on site before working down the rows of tables. The market posts vendor news and weather updates on its Facebook and Instagram pages, the place to check before the 2027 season opens.

Doughnuts before daylight

For an early start, Dan's Variety Bakery on South Union Street makes its doughnuts in house, from crullers to cake doughnuts, as Indianapolis Monthly's 2025 Kokomo guide noted. Its menu reads like a classic Indiana bakery case: glazed and cake doughnuts with chocolate, maple or strawberry icing, long johns, Bavarian and fruit-filled doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, fritters and doughnut holes on a stick. Pecan rolls appear on Fridays and Sundays and tiger tails on Saturdays. Customers can call ahead to hold an order, and the bakery takes cash and checks.

Around the courthouse square

Downtown has become the place to try something new without leaving the old brick blocks. Cook McDoogal's Irish Pub opened on the corner of Main Street in November 2010 and serves Irish and American food with beer, cocktails and wine; dining in is for guests 21 and over, while anyone can call in a carryout order. Indianapolis Monthly's 2025 guide also counted Korean and Asian restaurants among its picks near the square, with dishes such as japchae and Korean fried chicken on the menus it described.

A short walk north, the historic train depot on North Buckeye Street holds Marble The Steakhouse, which serves Certified Angus Beef, seafood and chops at dinner in a relaxed room, plus a Sunday brunch whose menu changes every week and is posted on its social pages. It suits an anniversary dinner or a night out with family in town.

A brewpub on the south side

Kokomo's brewing has a home on South Lafountain Street, where Half Moon Restaurant & Brewery opened in 2007 and was described by Indianapolis Monthly in 2025 as the city's only brewpub. It brews seven beers on site and pairs them with slow-smoked barbecue, from ribs and pulled pork to a smokehouse combo, along with burgers, steaks, fried chicken and pasta. Weekly pairing nights and weekend features change through the year, and a private dining room handles birthdays and office parties. It serves lunch and dinner, with takeout, delivery and catering for those who would rather eat at home or at work.

Eating your way through the seasons

Winter is the season for comfort food and for gathering indoors downtown, especially around the city's Christmas parade on Saturday, December 5, when Main Street fills before dinner. Spring brings the countdown to the farmers market's return, and summer means Saturday mornings at Washington and Mulberry, then concerts in Foster Park.

Wherever you start, the pattern is the same: Kokomo's best meals tend to come from people who have been feeding the city for years, and from newcomers who chose the courthouse square to open their doors. Ask the person at the next table where they eat, and you'll have your next plan.