Review Macniven's Restaurant & Bar - Indianapolis

We had the Vegetarian Curry, Clam chowder and Shrimp & Chips. Everything was excellent AND the owner brought the food out and told us a little about where he was from. Service was amazing. HIGHLY recommend

My husband and I have been here twice from the recommendation of my parents! Both times super good food/drinks and the fastest service anywhere we have been and we travel everywhere! My husband got the fish and chips both times and loved them. I had the roast beef Manhattan first time which was wonderful and very filling and got the shrimp and chips the second time which are good and very filling as well. Their bread pudding was fantastic!! This last time we got the onion rings and some of the best we’ve eaten! So so good! Everyone has been nice and welcoming both times upon entering. If you need a hearty yummy meal and short on time, this is your place!

We chose to celebrate my birthday at MacNiven's this year. It had been a least 11 years since my last visit and that was too long. When I used to work downtown, MacNiven's was in our regular lunch rotation as it was a favorite of many in our office. In anticipation, visions of Macniven's past favorites danced in my head. Out of our party of 5, I was the only person with previous experience at the restaurant, but I had built up the mystique so much, there was pressure to deliver. We started off with the Scotch egg appetizer and we were not disappointed. It was terrific and paired well with spicy red pepper dipping sauce. Entrees included the plate-sized burger & fries, the Belhaven beer battered chicken sandwich, the Belhaven beer battered fish and chips, the steak pie with puff pastry topping, and my longtime favorite of the roast beef Machatten. Two of us opted for a side order of the onion rings that are more the size of a donut! Everyone was stuffed and well satisfied with their selections and we all agreed we should return more often. Kudos to Katie for just the right amount of service at just the right time. Oh, and if you are struggling to make a dessert selection, the chocolate fudge cake alamode is wonderful!

Pretty good Scottish food in the U.S. Will go back for sure next time we are in Indy. The service was good and food came out super fast. You get a whole lot of food for you money! Glad we found this place!

Scottish American pub style restaurant. I ventured here thanks to Devour Indy. The food and atmosphere was great and very fast. Looked like there were local and non local beer types. There were some food options for people who might not like Scottish. Will definitely go back!

It has a pub feeling, but the dining area was rather loud. The (GIANT) onion rings were fantastic and filling. The mashed potatoes that came with the roast beef were delicious, but the sausage rolls were a bit bland and needed sauce.

A cool little restaurant/bar on Mass Ave. The atmosphere really nice. The Scottish eggs are to die for. The hamburger is different being rolled flat with Worcestershire sauce. The onion rings are think and tasty. Over all a very nice lunch.

Live nearby but never tried it because it always looked busy, and I haven't been impressed by the American options in Indy so far. Well, I was talking with someone who grew up in Columbus, IN, and she mentioned it, so we decided to try it on our walk down Mass Ave yesterday. What an amazing value. Appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert for $30! High quality for each course too. Signage on masks is very clear, and wait staff were professional.

One of my favorite places in town to go. Their Scotch Eggs are great, and so is just about everything that I've ever ordered. Love it. In the summer, they open the front of the building to Mass Ave.

I had a beverage tonight and really enjoyed the window dining because the weather was perfect. I want to try their onion rings, haggis and bread pudding but need to share the food.

Absolutely the best place to have delicious food, I had tuna salad and and chicken curry is really delicious and the food is cooked really nicely and tastes really good. They have really good options in the menu and they have good option in the desert i tried the carrot cake and it's really delicious and you can enjoy your food with good beer.

Absolutely the best fish and chips in Indy. Try the haggis - it's an amazing chorus - not dissimilar from the 'Jet Song' scene from West Side Story. A hidden gem on Mass Ave.

Fun atmosphere and decor, warm and friendly staff, flavorful, hearty food and generous portions. Had the veggie haggis, peeps, and tatties. Really enjoyed my Dark and Stormy, too.

Stopped in for a quick drink and snack. We made a good choice! Our bartender/server was the fastest ever! Great service. The Scotch egg was perfect (though a good, grainy mustard would have been more appropriate than the aioli). Loved the huge onion rings, a.k.a. grease sponge rings, but delicious none the less. We'll be back sometime for a full meal. Really enjoyed the open air seating up front.

Great food and atmosphere. When you go (notice WHEN) you have to have the Scottish Egg. You won't be sorry.

Great time. We had a great time here. The food and people were what made the experience. Loved the Scottish menu (and beer) and were able to please one in our party who preferred vegan.<br/>I'm headed back there soon!

If you have to pick one place to eat in Indianapolis. ..This needs to be it!. I found this place by chance as a off handed semi recommendation of a good site for local beers. what I found was a great local beer selection and some really awesome food, I recommend the burger not because it is the size of a dinner plate but just the simple perfection can't be bet.

Excellent service, great food, great beer. I highly recommend

Hey Egg Drop Erin, I thought this place was loud too! What's up with that?. Okay, so other reviewers say that this place was loud too, and now I've come to the conclusion that although it could just be the sort of clientele that this place has, it might also have to do with acoustics. The conversation tone at the beginning of our drinks with friends was normal, but fast forward 30 minutes later and literally we were having to scream to be heard. Perhaps MacNiven's is a sociologists dream because they would study the effects that when one group of people start talking loudly, then other groups also have to talk just as loudly to be heard. Then so on and so on until the whole place is one giant MegaDeath concert.<br/><br/>Anyway, beer choices are somewhat skimpy IMO, but they do have many local beers which pleased me to no end. Being a Stout lover, I got a couple of each, prefering the Founder's Breakfast Stout the best (coffee, chocolate and oatmeal flavors combined and served in a Port Glass?! Awesome!). Our waitress, a bartender, was quick and friendly and ready with suggestions. The bathroom was adorned with James Bond memorabilia. All in all, this place seems like it is lots of fun, but if you want conversation, it's best to come in the afternoon lunch hour, for sure.

The service is really amazing.. Every service-person in this establishment gets an A+. If they're slow enough the bartenders will try to remember your name and in the very least remember that time 2 months ago that you came in. The beer = Great. The Food = Fantastically comforting. I personally love the Beef stew and scotch eggs. That red pepper Aioli on anything is fabulous. The burger is interesting for sure.

Great Place. Service is wonderful. Stuart is a Gem. You should check it out. We go here to get away from our kids and have a bite. Great veggie chili. I love the beer and the atmosphere.

The best pub food in Indy!

Always a great place to eat, have fun, and best of all, great people, and fantastic food! Love warm spring and summer nights at the window watching the city go by over local beer and good food.

There's a reason we're not flooded with Scottish Pubs: MacNothins. Lame, tasteless imitation burger, surly hostess and short pours. The beer selection is the only decent thing here, but Crown Liquors has a good selection too. I don't want to drink in either.

First impression. Great selection of beers.... but the good news stops there. I ordered the tuna salad sandwich and honestly thought it was an egg salad sandwich as I could not taste any tuna. Tuna salad sandwich was so bad that I am not adventurous enough to try anything else on the menu.

Poor food quality. The Roast Beef MacHatten had low quality roast beef. Reminded me of deli style roast beef from the grocery store. The chicken sandwich was very plain, no seasoning.

Bar & Service were great but the food only okay. We liked the look and atmosphere of the bar and the service was good. The food was pretty average at best. Scotch eggs were decent tasting but too much sausage to egg ratio in my opinion. The Angus burger sounded fantastic and should of been, but in reality was cumbersome and surprisingly not very flavorful at all. The rest of the items we tried were barely average. Pics included.

Service was great. Atmosphere likens to a pub in the UK, good beer selection with lots of local choices, but food is everything to me and the meal I had was subpar. --steer clear of the tuna salad sandwich.

Consistent Favorite. We don't go there for the uniquely Scottish food. It's the atmosphere, people, staff, beer selection, reliable service, and decent non-Scottish food that keep us coming back 2-4 times a month. And the WeeMac ice cream! Yum!

All the drama from past posts aside I got to try this place and was very impressed. Since it was my first visit I went for the fish and chips. I tasted the beer in the beer battered fish (in a good way). My meal was awesome and then there was the bread pudding. The bread pudding alone was worth the trip. Service was spot on...attentive without crowding. They were really busy and it was loud; but those are things I expected upon walking in. I hope to come back soon.

The Scotch Egg was good, tried a sample of tha haggis....it was WAY too salty. Had the shrimp and it was WAY too salty. The beer was good and the wait staff was good. I would go somewhere else for dinner, then come here.

Bad Owner, great Manager. The owner's off duty waitress friend, overheard our party complain about the hostess. The complaint about the hostess was valid and verified by my wife. The manager approached us and asked if there was any problem which there wasn't. After settling the small misunderstanding cordially with the manager, we were asked to leave by the owner. I had had one Guinness at this point but was hoping to try a great IPA I saw. I've never been asked to leave a bar before, let alone while I was sober. To say we were a bit dumbstruck would be an understatement. The owner handled the situation, which was already resolved, like a schoolboy trying to show off for an older girl. Before we peacefully made our way to the exit, the owner was asking us to stay and offered to buy us beer. Don't bother giving this guy a penny. I've been to macnivens many times, and spent a good bit of money there. No more business there.<br/><br/>In my opinion, he was merely flexing his rights as the owner for some sort of display. Strange way to turn away a great 6 top table.

This place is pretty great. Fish and chips are probably the best in town. I don't know what kind of vendetta the guy at the bottom has against this place and the owner but it's probably personal because this is far, far from the worst place in Indy. Fantastic beer selection and good prices for food. Definitely give this place a try if you're on Mass Ave and looking for good pub food and a beer.

Dessert. The best bread pudding I've ever had in my life!!! SO GOOD! Warm, moist and not too sweet, just perfection!

Thumbs up. I had very good and fast service here on a Saturday evening from my waiter. <br/>They let you have little samples of food and drink before you order. <br/>The Haggis, neeps and tats sounded weird. The haggis was made of lamb heart and liver, pork, onion and oats. I was surprised to find it very tasty after a sample and I ordered it. I will come back just to eat this again!<br/>The other 3 people in my group enjoyed their dinners as well. <br/>They have a large selection of malt whiskys and small brewery beers. <br/>It appeared to be non-smoking, and had a decent size area for tables which is where you must sit if you are under 21 years old. <br/>The only bad thing I experienced was that there was no sound insulation and voices were bouncing off the walls making it difficult to hear the person sitting across from me.

Ha!! Worst Restaurant in Indy. I googled "Worst Restaurant's in Indy" and I was pleasantly surprised to see MacNiven's pop up!! The owner's name is Stuart and he is a turd with no sense of humor...Never been a fan of the place...we hurt his feelings in our magazine indy Planet...we are doing a search for the worst restaurants in indy and how perfect that a guy who banned our magazine from his crappy establishment made the list!!! This is too good to be true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Worst Bar in Indy. Service sucked and the food wasn't worth the money...I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would write something positive about them.....I just don't get it....

After reading a couple of the poor reviews on this site, I felt I needed to put my two cents in. I have visited this place on several occasions and have had great experiences each time. Staff is friendly and VERY helpful when explaining their many beer choices. Seriously, they have amazing beer from around the country to around the corner. Food is great! Lots of British style Pub dishes along with some vegetarian items. I had the ahi tuna salad on my last visit and it was delicious. Maybe the best ahi tuna in the city. Atmosphere is fun and lively. Always a pleasure Macnivens. Forget the poor reviews on here, try it yourself, and make up your own mind!

Continued Poor Service and Response from Management. Had a few rounds of discussions with the property owner of MacNiven's after I posted the poor review. Granted he credited the amount for the dinner, but he ended up not even having the courage to call me to explain a change in course on the things he would do to rectify the poor service. Sided with the manager on duty without even calling me back to discuss the details. He even noted that he expected me to retract my original review after the credit. Hint of trying to cover up the admitted poor service that we received. Bottom line is to continue to stay away from this place and frequent other establishments on Mass Avenue that value your business.<br/><br/><br/>-----04 Apr, 2011-----<br/><br/>MacNiven's - Stale, Smoky and Rude/Poor Service. Had the opportunity to go to MacNiven's on Friday night, April 1, to grab dinner with friends after a nice evening downtown. We backed into MacNivens after striking out to get into other places on Mass Ave. After our miserable experience, we should have gone elsewhere to grab something to eat. The restaurant section had a stale smoky smell even though it was non-smoking (smoke probably came from the bar section that allows smoking). The hostess could not make a decision on where we could sit, despite having numerous options available. When she sat us towards the front section, she asked whether we were there for drinks or dinner, and we mentioned we wanted dinner. Despite our interest in having a nice pleasant atmosphere for dinner, the "regulars" of MacNivens started to crowd around our area, with many of the regulars standing and starting to invade our own personal space. They were congregating and invading our space to a point where the waiter could not even get access to our table. The waiter tended to the needs of the "regulars" in a higher priority basis. The invasion of our personal space occured even when the waitress, server, and manager, served these "regulars". It is incredible to think that the service staff think nothing of accommodating new patrons and cater towards rowdy and rude regulars. We understand that this may be a neighborhood hangout for the regulars, but we left MacNivens feeling like we were not welcome at all.<br/>Food was o.k., but nothing to write home about. If you are in the mood for cholesterol heavy and artery clogging food, with poor service and neighborhood attitude, MacNiven's is your spot. There are plenty of other restaurants and bars in the Indy area that provide excellent service and food that deserve business.<br/>In speaking with the manager, Mr. M. about the incident,all he was able to do was look disturbed, bothered, and say the obligatory comment, "I am sorry that you did not have a better experience and i should have managed the situation better". I find this incredible given that he served drinks and took orders from the orders as the regulars started invading our table area.<br/>So, bottom line is to stay away from this establishment and patronize other restaurants and bars that appreciate your business. MacNivens' turned out to be a big frat house establishment instead of a proper place for new restaurant goers.

Food and beer is amazing. We usually get fish and chips and haggis. Best fish and chips in town-- and we've tried a lot of them.

Worth a visit!. AWESOME beer menu & the burger just has to be tried!

GREAT!. Food was great and pretty authentic. Chris was our waiter/bartender, he was Awesome and super friendly! I will be definitely be going to back there:)

Not a fan of fare from the Isles, I gotta say, I really like this place. Hearty steak fries, great flat grilled burgers, excellent beef stew and friendly, friendly service. This place is close to home and it has become an old stand-by. Go for the 8 billion varieties of scotch and stay for the food.

Gotta try the Angus Burger w/ Fat Onion Rings. One of my favorite things in town.<br/>Also, MacNiven's offers a monster beer menu. I think the count is around 200. Quite a few on-tap options as well.<br/>Overall 4 stars

Great Food and Beer. This is still our favorite English/Scottish/Irish resturant in the Midwest...Extensive beer menu...Small pub food menu but great fish and chips, etc.

Great Pub!. Had dinner there last night. I had a Wee Mac Scottish Ale (Sun King0 which was very good. An order of Scottish Eggs (Hmmm Good!). And the Fish and Chips with Malt Vinegar. This may be the best Fish and Chips in town!

Special place in my heart. And a special place in my alcohol problem! great pub food, haggis is a must try at some point of everyone's life. the beer selection is staggering and awesome. they got the Sun King, too!

I love you,but stop smoking!!. The food is absolutely spectacular and the drink selection is awesome. However, I rarely come here because there are other places close that are nearly as good and do not permit smoking.

Good food and beer. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of MacNiven's. They offered a nice selection of beers on tap, and the had a variety of vegetarian entrees to choose from. Will definately go back next time I'm in Indy.

Excellent Experience. MacNivens was a fantastic meal. They have a great beer list and quite a selection of scotch as well.<br/>The Scotch Eggs are amazing, and the Haggis is outstanding. Atmosphere is classic scottish pub, wait staff is friendly, knowledgable, and efficient, and the roll up garage-door seating is the best in the house.

Good selection of beer and food.

Best Bar in Indy. MacNiven's has the widest selection of beers in Indy, and an ever-changing tap smorgasbord. On warm summer days, they open the front windows to allow patrons a front row seat to Mass Ave. Although I no longer live in Indy, I still crave the dark wood, cold beers, good music, and relaxed atmosphere I used to enjoy every week with my friends. If you are looking for something to eat, try the Scotch Eggs. They are a unique twist on "bar food".

My first-born son and I decided to recognize his Birthday with lunch; rather than dinner. Initially it was to be Saturday dinner but he got some tickets to the National Drag Races. No father can compete with a dragster. So we decided on MacNiven’s; a Scottish American Tavern, since neither one of us had ever been there before. Frankly I was looking forward to trying their version of Haggis . I had also had read good reviews of their burgers. They take 8 ounces of Angus beef , shape it into a über thin patty 6 to 8 inches in diameter, soak it over night in Worcestershire and cook it on a flat top and serve it on a toasted bun with the usual garden. They also offer a nice selection of house cooked beef selections. In addition to a Haggis entree they also offer it as an appetizer. That is the first thing I ordered. Along with a Tennents. A Scottish brewed Lager I have never tried before. Unfortunately Adam has had haggis before and did not like it. So I was forced to go it alone. I must t

I know it sounds bad, but it’s not. The heart, liver and lung are chopped up finely and when you place it on the rye bread it spreads like semi-chunky peanut butter.

... things were darn tasty. First of all you know I love eggs in pretty much any format, so that was a plus (and cheers to the kitchen who obviously knows how to boil an egg properly which is a skill many do not have). The sausage gave it a salty, slightly spicy kick...

Celebrating our anniversary, we decided to try a place we couldn't take Ozzy. Since we seem to have noticed a preference of suds-soaked eats, a new pub sounded perfect. Located on Mass. Ave in the heart of Indianapolis, this dark, yet airy downtown hotspo