The Pub Indianapolis

The story of this place has been and continues to be poor service. This isn’t really because the bartenders and waitresses are bad at their job, it’s because there are NEVER enough of them to actually do the job. I’m not sure if they have an issue with staffing, if the management just likes to skimp by on minimum service, or if it is because they end up with a lot of crowd rushes during Colts games, Pacers games, or other Georgia Street events and can’t get servers to just work the 2 – 3 hours they will be rushed (of which I can see them having one legitimate excuse). Regardless, it keeps me away from here and is the reason why this is the last place I tell anyone to go if asked about getting some beers in the Georgia Street area.
The Pub itself sits in a great spot. It’s in the shadow of Bankers Life Fieldhouse and on an end of Georgia Street where a lot of fun events take place. They have a small outdoor area, but the inside is quite large and has a really long bar. The layout is a little awkward, but they do have a lot of seating and it is certainly a place that you can see a TV from every single seat. The food menu is pretty small with a bunch of the traditional unhealthy American bar options. Their tenderloin is good, and their prices are right around $ 10 for a large sandwich and side. Beer options aren’t too great here, but they keep a handful of stuff on tap including a few craft items and some Indy brews. Specials during the week are decent, but during the weekend there is nothing that is actually special here, regardless of whether they label it that or not ($ 4 domestic bottles on «special» on Saturday).
I’ve stopped in here on a few occasions before Pacers’ or Colts’ games and have received slower service, but didn’t care too much since I was just getting something to stand around and drink with friends before we headed out shortly after arriving. The reason I was drawn to write a review is because they absolutely dropped the ball on Saturday during the Big 10 championship game in which 80,000 people were expected to come into downtown, part of the street they are located on was closed for a giant tailgate, and a couple blocks away was ESPN Gameday to attract a giant crowd that was going to disperse into the area looking for food and beer when it ended its broadcast at noon. So what did The Pub do? Scheduled 1 waitress to take about 3 times as many tables as she should, which led to the worst service I have ever seen at a place. It took 3 hours for a table of 3 us to get through some bottles of beer and an order of food each. I felt embarrassed about Indy’s reputation as a great place to host these sporting events after overhearing all of the people around us who were from out of town complaining about how crazy it was that they didn’t have more people to work that day to handle the extremely predictable rush of people.
I don’t know what it takes to manage a bar like this. I haven’t worked in the service industry so I am not aware of service issues and scheduling decisions. I hopefully will never be in charge of anything like that. What I do know is that from a customer perspective, this place has delivered sub-​par experiences on a number of occasions while the places around them continue to avoid this (also, those places always fill up before I get there leaving The Pub as the last place to actually find a seat).
They have a ton of regulars, and the few times I have stopped in here on a night when there wasn’t an event in the area haven’t been as bad, although it’s never been great. If you are passing by here when there isn’t something special that is attracting a crowd, I wouldn’t say don’t stop here, although there are a lot of other places I would go to first in the immediate vicinity. They do like their regulars here, and know a lot of them by name. It certainly feels like a more laid back place than the majority of the places around it, so this would be the place to go if you are looking for that kind of atmosphere. They have plenty of TVs, and there is always a group of Pacers’ fans during those games. They also have a Golden Tee game in the corner that seems more empty than most of them in town.
If they can just get their staffing figured out, this place would be alright, but until then, It’s going to remain towards the bottom of my list of places to go in this part of town.

A sports bar right across the street from the field house. Good service and I had a big tasty breaded tenderloin sandwich. We sat outside and it was nice watching people going to the pacer game. Limited menu options and beer options seemed slim as well.

Very «meh», food was standard bar food that taste pretty standard. Not bad, not great. The service was okay but not great. The waitress was texting on her phone sitting at the bar most of the night. But she was tentative from time to time. Beer selection was lame and lacked in the craft beer world. This is the place to go if you expect «standard» everything across the bar, and they can because they are right across for Bankers Fieldhouse.

Decent. I can’t say too many bad things or too many good things. A solid mediocre place. Not too pricey, not too cheap. It’s an average place all around. That’s not always a bad thing.

Very cute place. Kelly was the best and practically got our drinks before we even say down. That was great since we just came from another bar where we waited 10 minutes for someone to even come up to us. Excellent!

We ate here after reading Unilocal reviews. Yum! Great place to eat but can get very crowded & loud b/​c of the type of restaurant it is. Have eaten there several times now & always had good food. Sometimes a long wait (hence the 4 stars not 5).

Great downtown Indy dive bar and lunch spot. I just checked out taco Tuesday for lunch and it was pretty good. Nice salad bar, nachos and tacos. Can’t go wrong. Good selection of beers.

If you enjoy watching sports (TV’s everywhere), great service with good pub food then drop by. We hadn’t been in for years and stopped by for lunch Saturday. Misty, our server, was very friendly and personable plus we enjoyed our lunch as well as the laid back Saturday atmosphere.
Fish & Chips were decent with 2 thick filets breaded & deep fried. The Reuben (cornbeef) was piled high, smothered in swiss, cheese, Kraut and thousand island dressing on marble bread. The onions rings were really delicious! Now of course I’m describing deep fried foods so obviously we’re taking into consideration a little grease here… not offensive. Nice large bar area for size of Pub and great place for drinks before or after an event at the Fieldhouse.

Overall, this place was OK. Their drink special was indeed delicious (a wheat ale special for Gen Con). The atmosphere was so-​so, with many patrons who shouldn’t have been allowed an additional drink barely making it to the bathroom. Service was very quick which I appreciate, but sometimes pushy.
The flaws I mention are relatively minor, and I would have given this place 4 stars. However, I ordered breadsticks and it was just horrible. The sticks themselves were cheap but palatable, but the cheese sauce with it was not.

A great place for lunch Downtown. Better than average bar food, nice salads, decent prices and good service. A buffet is also offered at lunch if you are in a hurry. This is also a good stop before or after a game since it is very close to Bankers Life Fieldhouse and not far from Lucas Oil Stadium.

Have come here a few times (mostly related to Pacers games/​drinking «holidays») and have never had a complaint! Great service and employees despite large (pre-​game/​post-​game) crowds.

After a concert in Monument Circle, I scanned my Unilocal app for a nearby watering hole. My fellow Unilocalers gave it 4.5 stars, which was enough to direct me to the Pub.
But seriously, guys, this place is average.
On the night I arrived (Saturday), it was overly loud. A DJ alternated with karaōke. The place is spacious and dark. Typical of nearly any bar in any city.
Service left something to be desired. We had to flag down a waitress to take our initial order. We sat with our check for ten minutes before getting fed up and tracking her down to pay.
I did like the fact that each beer came in its own special glass. The Fat Tire glass says «Fat Tire,» Stella’s glass says «Stella.»
We ordered some kind of stuffed breadsticks with cheese and pepperoni inside. They were obviously frozen, but definitely hit the spot.
The Pub is fine, I guess. But it’s nothing special.

The pub has some good sandwiches and a nice little sidewalk café on Georgia Street. It’s more affordable than a lot of the nearby places and you can usually carry on a conversation inside.

No thanks. The food isn’t that great and the service is horrible.

My husband and I went for dinner at The Pub before a Pacer game since it was so convenient. The beer selection was pretty good and there were definitely a lot of other Pacer fans who had our same idea. One thing I wanted to note, is if you order a burger to make sure to ask for lettuce, tomato, etc. I made the mistake in thinking it was a given but when my burger came out, it literally was only bun, meat and cheese. Their onion rings are good but it’s a small portion (in my husband’s eyes at least). Would go back definitely before a game in the future.

The Pub Indy is a great place to start your night downtown. It has been my downtown hangout for a few years. Food is above the standard «pub» style eats. It might be weird but the Pub has an app called «M80’s»: A cone filled with large shrimp, coated in a spicy coating, on a bed of coleslaw.
The secret is that on Thursday’s they have half-​priced drinks. Any drink, shot, or beer all half off. Can’t beat the deal downtown.

Good food, typical bar atmosphere, prices very appropriate. Great location

We visited this place twice while we were in town and had good experiences both times. The burgers were awesome for bar food, although I wasn’t a fan of the fish and chips. Lots of different beers on tap but the waitress looked confused when I asked her which hard ciders were available.

Unfortunately, the A/​C was out when we visited The Pub this afternoon for lunch and a beer. Nonetheless I was determined to use my Groupon before it expired. Because of the air situation, we were only allowed to stay at the front bar so I wasn’t able to check out the entire establishment. Luckily they had delicious and refreshing Sun King available and they have a pretty fair amount of grub on the menu. The bartender was very sweet and apologetic about the situation and was super attentive. The food was your average pub fare. I had a pizza with mushrooms, green peppers, and onions. The crust was actually quite good, though the sauce wasn’t very flavorful. My boyfriend had a burger and fries and he seemed to enjoy both. Overall, a decent place to stop for a couple of beers before or after a night out.

I’ve been to The Pub on more than one occasion *even before I lived right above it* and i found it to be quite a solid deal. I tried the pub first when I started going to Howl At The Moon with my buddy Steve. It was right next door and we figured «Ah what the hell» and we gave it a try.
It seems The Pub is actually one of the only Indy themed restaurants in the city. There are posters of Colts players and Pacers logos as well as Indy 500 memorabilia. This is the kind of place you’d take someone who was visiting Indy.
For my first meal, I had a cheeseburger… I know what you’re thinking «Real original Malcak». But stick with me. Anyway, So I had the burger and I about passed out from the awesomeness. It’s almost as good as the burgers over at Big City. If I didn’t like them I wouldn’t be coming back all the time.
The staff is really cool and very knowledgeable about the mixed drinks they serve. Go and eat. If I’m wrong I’ll buy your next meal. Seriously…