“Big Lug Canteen started as an idea I had while operating my first restaurant, Sahm’s Place,” starts Eddie Sahm, owner of Big Lug Canteen. “I had been trying to pinpoint what made us successful for a few years and kept coming back to the fact that what we did was honest, transparent and always stressed building relationships with our community.”

One night at dinner with Scott Ellis, a local Indianapolis craft brewer and now business partner, he shared his findings. Eventually, an idea to build a business formed. With a partnership solidified, and the help of his father, Ed Sahm, they opened up Big Lug, a brewpub on the Northside of Indianapolis.