MacNivens Restaurant & Bar

Just another uppity Mass Ave joint. If you aren’t a regular then u must be In be wrong place by coming in. The place is over priced and smelled horrible, smelled like sewage the whole time. And the bartender LEAL, he really needs to re learn customer svc. He actually yelled at me like I was a two year old, for something he perceived me doing. Sorry, I’m not some trashy drunk homie. Don’t worry, me and my party of 8 won’t be back.
UPDATE. ADD CRAPPY OWNER TO THE LIST, ONE WHO THINKS ITS PROFESSIONAL TO CURSE OUT PATRONS ON HERE LIKE A TOUGH GUY! REALLY CLASSY. News flash, I didn’t need permission to take a photo inside there, please Stuart get some help.

Good Scottish pub with an excellent selection of beers on tap.
Scotch eggs for appetizer, and steak pie for entrée. Everything was extremely good, including the «neeps»!

Two words. Scotch Eggs. If you haven’t tried them, go now. You won’t be disappointed. Great as a shareable appetizer or even has a meal. I’ve tried Scotch Eggs at other restaurants, but none have ever compared to MacNiven’s. This is one of my favorite spots on Mass Ave. You usually can always get a table right away, but it does get busier as the night goes on. I’ve always had great service from the hostess, bartenders and waiters. The manager even walks around from time to time to check in. To me, that’s great customer service and definitely makes you feel welcomed. I haven’t tried anything here that I didn’t like. Scotch Eggs. Vegetarian Taco Salad. Fish & Chips. Cheezy Beans on Toast. All delicious. They always have a great selection on tap too. If you’ve never been, you’ve got to give it a try!

I’m not sure why, but their servers hate serving alcohol! I mean a group of people try to get a waitresses attention to order more drinks and she ignores us multiple times. Why? We weren’t out of control, just hanging out! We give this place a second try and they’re mad when we order a round of shots! I mean like ask us if we’re ‘fucking kidding’. No, you serve alcohol, I don’t see the problem. Maybe their food is great, but don’t come here as a bar.

A group of friends makes this a regular hangout on Tuesday evenings, and I sometimes join them for a drink. It’s been awhile since I’ve eaten anything here aside from an appetizer (Scotch Eggs) maybe once or twice a year, but the service in the bar is good, the beer list rotates often, and they sometimes have New Day Meadery Mead available, when the handle isn’t broken.
During the warmer months, they open up the doors out front so you can get a nice breeze inside the bar or interact with people as they walk up and down Mass Ave. It can get busy, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, so don’t plan on getting a table in the bar area right away. Tuesday evenings are much calmer (usually) and it’s a good place to celebrate making it through two days of work.

To the heavenly sandwich of meat, potatoes, and gravy goodness that was my lunch, I salute you.
I’ve done the MacNiven’s scene on the weekends and for lunch and they never disappoint! From the helpful and friendly wait staff, to the delicious food, all the way to the cozy, relaxed, Mass Ave vibes, this place is a definite go-​to on my downtown hot spots.
If you’re here for a meal, go for the fish and chips or the mountain of a sandwich mentioned above (Machattan), if you’re just here for drinks, they’ve got an awesome menu and you can’t go wrong!

So I moved to Indianapolis 2 weeks ago and this by far is my favorite place.
Not saying it’s the best. But to me it’s top notch.
I first ordered the beef stew. So hearty. It’s like eating home cooked food at a restaurant.
G/​f got the onion soup. Equally as good as the beef stew just different. Really light and sweet broth with just the right amount of cheese on top.
Both soups highly recommend.
As per entrée: I had the fish and chips.
Heavily beer battered covering over soft flaky cod fish.
Great with some vinegar or tarter sauce.
G/​f got the mixed tatties. Once again another home style dish done to perfection. This is a perfect dish to get on these cold winter days. Just warms you right up.
The treat at the end. Apple pie a la mode.
Holy cow! Now this is a treat. Huge scoop of vanilla ice cream with perfectly warmed up slice of apple pie. Little bit of tartness from the apple quickly smothered by the sweetness of the caramel and nicely smoothed over by the vanilla ice cream. Mmmmm. Mmmmm good.
The décor is nicely put together with exposed brick and seemingly original hardwood floors from the late 1800’s.
Great place to come and have a pint and watch your favorite football (aka soccer) team or maybe catching up on your rugby and golf.
Great and attentive staff providing great input on the food choices as well as suggestions.
Last word in. Wow.
Also. This is the second best fish and chips I have had. First place was the Atlantic Chip Shop in Brooklyn NY.

We had gal pal lunch at MacNivens this week and boy was my stomach happy! I ordered a customer fave, the fish and chips, which were fried to perfection. My gal pals ordered the grilled chicken sandwich and the roast beef machattan. My word. That Machattan was piled high with mashed potatoes, beef, and DELICIOUS peppery, brown gravy!
Looking forward to the next time I’m downtown on Mass Ave. for drinks to stop down in the bar!

I’ll be honest… this was not our first choice for dinner but I am glad that we ended up here.
We ventured downtown for the Pacers game on Jan. 2. We thought that eating dinner at 5:30 would allow us plenty of choices. Not the case! The first two restaurants that we ventured in to had an hour wait. We then spotted MacNivens and it didn’t look too busy.
When we walked in the hostess was friendly and quick to greet us. We were sat immediately and our waitress was there before we even got settled in. She noticed our Pacers gear and made sure to get everything to us in a timely manner so that we could make it to the game on time.
I had the Fish and Chips and the hubby had the Steak Pie. We were both pleased with our dinners. They were hot, fresh and flavorful. I would love to go back as there were a few other things on the menu that I wanted to try.
MacNivens for the win! Great food. Great service. Great atmosphere.

Decent food options for everybody, including vegetarians. Good beer options. If you’re tossing a coin between here and 9 Irish Bros, McNivens wins on food.

I wanted to come to MacNiven’s because I fell in love with vegetarian haggis (made out of lentils, potatoes, and spices instead of ground meat) in Scotland, and I saw that they actually have it at this Scottish pub in Indy. It was pretty disappointing, though. The veg haggis came with neeps and tatties (mashed turnips and potatoes), and it all tasted awfully similar, very little flavor, and just overwhelmed with black pepper, nothing like the delicious stuff I had in Edinburgh. It was also just kind of uncomfortable in there, and our server only came basically to take our order and then deliver it. I tried to be a good sport, but I was just bummed — I think my standards were too high, I should’ve known better! My mom liked her fish dish well enough.

One of my favorite bars in Indy. Seldom can I not find something worthwhile to drink here. I love the vibe and the bartenders are friendly and prompt.
I am not a huge fan of the menu (not my favorite cuisine) but I solve that problem by just drinking here. The bread pudding though… it’s sinful and delicious. I tried it paired with a bourbon county stout and I almost entered diabetic shock, but it was worth it!

I love MacNivens! It’s not just one thing, it is the sum of its parts! The staff is always friendly to us. I love their vegetarian chili, and I’m not even vegetarian. I usually think their scotch eggs are fantastic, but the other night, I had their quesadilla for the first time, and it was great! It seems as though every time I ask if they have a specific brand of liquor, they actually have it which I’m finding more and more is a rarity. All in all, I just like their style, and the way they go about things. They serve Lick Wee Mac ice cream, so they obviously have good taste. They even have apple pie all the way from Goshen on the menu! If they start serving corn bread with that vegetarian chili, this review is getting updated to 7 stars! I mean it!

Stopped in one afternoon. I had been here before many many years ago. In fact it was so long ago that all those condos next to it weren’t even thought of yet. When we walked in it was before any type of dinner rush so we were able to grab a seat right away.
Our server came over and took our drink order and gave us some time to check out the menu. You can tell that not only have they been there a long time but that the building is old because the floor squeaks so bad when you walk.
The overall feel of the place is small and very pub like. When our waitress returned we placed our order. There are some different pictures scattered around on the wall of castles that I assume are in Ireland and or Scotland. CNN was on the TV (I think) but there was no sound. Our food came out pretty quickly. Everything had good flavor and worked well together. I had their version of a shepherds pie and was surprised that everything was separated out… so I mixed everything together. It was tasty and I am happy that I went with it.
At the end of the meal we did have to wait a little longer than I felt I needed to because she was standing at the bar area with several other employees having a chat. I am not sure about what as I assume most of them had just arrived.
Overall it was a great meal and the service matched the price paid for the meal. I would go back again as there are other items on the menu that I want to try.

I had been here before and hadn’t had the greatest experience (just wasn’t a fan of my beer/​food choices) but the follow-​up customer service was spot-​on! I’m talking they were kind enough to reach out with a gift card. Unreal!
I’ve been back since for a «Robert the Bruce» beer and «wee side salad» and had a great experience. Friendly staff, tasty food and drink, and nice ambiance.
Thanks, MacNivens!

My boyfriend comes here for lunch with his coworkers occasionally and recommended we give it a try for dinner. The only downfall of our experience was that we were seated right next to the bar, so it was loud. Otherwise, service was excellent and food was amazing! I got the roast beef mac’hattan and was delightfully stuffed to the brim. My boyfriend was pleased with his grilled cheese, per usual. We’ll definitely be back!

My wife and I stopped in on a Sunday afternoon before a concert downtown. The service was great and the food was delicious.
We didn’t go all out on food because it was more of a lunch and we didn’t want to overdo it. I had the French dip, which in my opinion is the barometer for sandwich quality. It was quite tasty and the jous even had a slight brown gravy taste to it which I enjoyed. My wife had a veggie club that she said was «nothing to write home about» but she finished it and was satisfied enough to get her by.
The real highlight of the meal was the bread pudding. This stuff was delicious. This is certainly a place that I would like to take my wife on a desert and drinks date, just to get the bread pudding.
I am looking forward to a dinner visit in the near future so I can try their traditional Scottish dishes that seem to be their forte. They certainly earned it.

A hamburger that you have to fold three times! What’s not to love!!!
A cool spot with a great beer selections, the times I’ve been to MacNivens the crowd has been chill and the beer chill and the food is amazing.
A bit heavy if you choose the fried up selections but definitely worth it,
The décor is classy, pub style but cleaner than most.
The bartenders seem to know the regulars and are helpful with menu and beer questions and parings.
Stop if with a friend or a date, you really cannot go wrong time of day or day of the week here.

The scotch eggs, eggcellent. The service, (Julie!!) was also excellent, like really excellent. She was funny and had patience with all our questions.
My friend got the grilled cheese, she said it had good flavor, she liked the onion and tomato in it. She got the onion rings to go with, which as pictured are huge.
I had fish and chips. It was just ok. The fries are the biggest reason I didn’t do 4 stars. My friend and I both agreed they were fairly tasteless and would be better if they were a bit softer. Just our opinion. The fish wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t anything that made me think, «I have to get this again!»

One of the highlights of my entire trip to Indianapolis was our visit to MacNiven’s.
It is not a quiet spot for a dinner. At times it was hard to hear my table mates. But the liveliness adds to the ambience. It looks like it can get very busy.
But let me tell you why it is a warm pile of awesome. Starting with our server Heather. She was perfect in every way other than her dislike of Peaty Scotches. When I mentioned vegan, she got the vegan menu. When I asked for a recommendation, she gave me a wonderful option. She put up with some strange behavior from one of my buds… and did it with class and a smile. She is truly an asset to this place and the owner should just sign over 50% ownership to her and call it done.
Scotches and beers. All good. Nice selection. Served well and poured generously.
For the vegans or vegetarians (why I chose this place), there are some awesome options. Not vegan, but it is vegetarian, the veggie curry was very good. I sampled a bit of it. Not hot and more like a Japanese curry than an Indian type. It comes with fried rice (I would prefer white).
I also tried the bowl of vegetarian chili. Very good, served with rolls.
I ordered from off the menu. The vegan version of the chili salad. The salad is a mix of the greens with the vegetarian chili on it, along with a lot of fried noodles. Ask for the avocado!!! Then salsa is served on the side. Man, it was good!
Lastly… we come to desert. Here, this is not vegan, so I only cheated a little and tasted it. But holy mother of God. I traveled all over UK trying Sticky Toffee Pudding variants and became quite an expert at this. This bread pudding was among the best I have ever had. Served hot with ice cream. Enough for two or maybe three people. A strict vegan will not want o have this… but everyone else, this is a must do. Normally I would suggest saving room… but I think even if you were stuffed… once you taste this, it will not matter.
So great vegan and vegetarian options. Great selection of beers and scotches. Great service. Good ambiance. Three thumbs up from me.

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