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Hello, Explorers. We’re still taking it pretty light as we move through the holidays, but we wanted to push out a reminder for all of the NYE and NYD events in Northwest Indiana. Big things are coming down the pipeline for NWIE, but that will all come in due time.
Thanks for your continued support! We’re looking forward to everything that 2026 will bring for NWI Explored and beyond.
🧭 On Today’s issue of NWI Explored🧭
All the New Years Events you Need to Know About
Today in NWI
What’s In, What’s Out
Today in NWI
This week has been an incredibly strange and unusual end to the year in NWI. The weather has been oddly warm for late December, all of the snow we got has disappeared, and (at the time of writing) we’re currently sitting through a late-summer esque rainstorm. It just goes to show that throughout the year, you never quite know what you’re going to get living in Northwest Indiana. The weather is going to get much more Winter-esque during the week, so at least we’ll be able to get a full NWI New Years experience in lieu of a White Christmas.
Here is your midweek forecast for Northwest Indiana
What’s In, What’s Out?
Brother’s Breakfast and Lunch, a Greek-style diner spun off from NWI staple Round the Clock, will be expanding to Valparaiso. The new location is now hiring and will be opening in the former TGI Fridays location at 81 Silhavy Road.
Mochi Sushi and Ramen in Downtown Crown Point has changed owners and names. The restaurant will now be Koi Asian Bistro. The spot at 204 S. Main St specializes in Japanese food, with boba tea, bento boxes, and sushi among their staples. The menu will remain the same, with new items like udon noodles and hibachi being added to the slate.
Domino’s Pizza will be opening a location in Whiting at the former Jalisco Furniture spot.
Guacamole & Grill Street Food is now open in downtown Hammond. The mostly stationary food truck has been serving Hammond at the corner of Hohman and Chicago, and is offering taco truck classics.
Kassian’s Cravings, another food truck, plans to join Guacamole & Grill at that intersection soon. Kassian’s will be serving up Polish fare like pierogi, kielbasa, and potato pancakes, with hot dogs, pasta and other fare rounding out the menu. The plan for the truck is to be around to take part in local festivals and farmers markets, but their regular spot will be at the intersection of Hohman and Chicago in downtown Hammond.
Sweet Circle in Schererville has shut down after just under a year. The donut shop opened in the new strip mall construction on US 41 in February, offering all the sweet treats customers could ask for. The owners shared their gratitude for people’s patronage alongside their message of closure this past week.
What kind of content do you want to see from NWI Explored?
What’s Going On in NWI?
Every issue of NWI Explored, we give you the best events and spots to check out during the weekend.
EDIT: We mistakenly added events to this list that were outdated. Those events have been remove
Here is every New Years Eve party we were able to track down. As we find out more spots who are ringing in the New Year with accompaniment, we will update you all!
That’s all for us today at NWIE. We’ll be coming back at ya next Monday, full-force and with a dense newsletter. We really appreciate you all still checking out what we’ve got going on in this busy time of year. Happy New Year and be good to one another!
Happy Exploring,
Eric & Luke
The NWI Explored Team
I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was. Likewise, I never imagined that home might be something I would miss.
-Ransom Riggs
