With so many places to eat in downtown Indianapolis, it is easy to find yourself in any number of settings or simply overwhelmed. MacNiven’s Scottish-American Restaurant & Bar is a great place to settle on eating at when you are walking down Massachusetts Ave. As soon as I walked in, I felt very welcomed by the staff and in the environment. The restaurant is open concept and has a spacious feel thanks to its high ceilings. There are Scottish flags everywhere, and the atmosphere is such that you get the impression that you are walking into a true Scottish bar and restaurant.
There are a variety of options on the menu, and the creative sandwich names enticed me. On the menu, the sandwiches are called BAPS, which according to seriouseats.com is “at its simplest a bread roll. At its most complicated, it is a tender pillow of dough, often made with milk, lard and butter.”
After deciding on the chicken BAP, a friend and I were waited on by a very attentive staff. While waiting for the food, we talked and watched the multiple televisions placed around the restaurant, which prevented the wait from being tedious. The food arrived in under fifteen minutes, which was much faster than I anticipated.
I could tell just from the way the food was prepared that I was very much going to be enjoying my chicken BAP. The BAP was prepared with a near perfect amount of lettuce, cheese, onions and tomatoes. I asked for honey mustard on the side, but the BAP was flavorful enough that I did not need it. All it took was one bite to assure me that MacNiven’s could very well become a regular spot for me to come eat.
I went into MacNiven’s Scottish-American Restaurant & Bar with unknown expectations only to be blown away. Even along a street where so many restaurants options vie for attention, MacNiven’s stands out thanks to its authentic setting, attentive service and delicious food.
