Nice place to hang out with mostly good food
For the price this place is hard to beat. The service has always been good and the patrons are always friendly. The food varies between ok and great which is why I knocked it down a bit. I have never had anything bad there, but some things were just.. meh.
But seriously with all of the food and drink specials that they have, this is a nice quiet little place to sit and have a drink or enjoy some food.
Went here with 2 friends tonight. We ordered 2 2 for 1 burgers, told waiter one burger was to go. He brought 3 burgers so we thought the 4th one since it was to go would come after we ate the for here ones no such luck. We asked the waiter several times for the check but he never brought it. A grey haired guy asked if we needed anything we said yes our check. Waiter brings check and asks if we asked Darrel for the check. Â Waiter says he didn't know if we wanted the check split. The waiter never asked us how we wanted it even though we asked him several times for the check.
This place used to be really good 6 years ago or so when I first moved here but the service now sucks.
Sometimes you want food late night and you actually want to sit down, have a drink, and eat something. English Ivy's is close by, and the staff is always friendly. The food is just classic bar food: Wings, sandwiches, fried everything, pizza, steaks, and pasta. Nothing has really blown me away, but it's all solid in quality. The drinks tend to be both cheap and strong, though the beer selection is severely lacking. Once it gets late enough the menu shrinks down, but that's ok, there are still plenty of foods available to fill you up and keep you going till the place closes down. The jukebox has some good selections as it's one of those internet connected ones. Over all we enjoy this place a lot, and being someone who works late I like to sit down and eat rather than cook at home or grab fast food. This is the place that provides exactly that.
Review Source:Just a note to add that  I have no idea what their house wine is but this is the only place I get a hangover from drinking 2-3 glasses of pinot grigio! Aw hell, I don't care, it is $3/glass on Fridays and I can stumble home.
For Colts fans, I've seen their promos that they serve free pizza during the game and also have $10 buckets of 5 domestic beers. The TVs are better quality than my 10 years old (and still ticking!) giant box ...
Justin and I walk in to English Ivy's, already a few drinks in from the bar we'd been at before. We wanted some place where we could keep drinking, keep to ourselves, and talk endlessly. We pulled our stools up  and ordered a couple of vodka cranberries. Generic, just like our tastes and experiences. Just like this review.
The first sip of the drink gave me chills causing the hair on my arms to stand on end. Goosebumps covered the sinewy muscles of my forearms and my butt puckered up. I wondered if anybody would ever know that my forearms were not muscular enough to be sinewy. Casting that thought aside, I focused on my drink.
Justin complimented me on my jacket, so I complimented him on his good taste. Laughing at how hilarious we are, we marveled at the rib eye special. $12.99 for some ribeye, a salad, bread, and two sides. Well played, English Ivy's. Well played.
By the end of my first drink, I'm feeling a buzz. English Ivy's doesn't mess around. I go up to the bar to order another one as Justin starts pushing bills into the juke box. He's shoving them in hurriedly, getting prepped for a dancing frenzy. This isn't the type of place where dancing makes sense, but we don't care. We're always dancing. I'm dancing right now. The bartender asks me if I'm bringing up a random empty cup or if the cup is mine. I tell him the cup is mine and he proceeds to pour my next drink into that cup, on top of the ice I've already used, my slobber intermingled amongst the cubes. 'I don't like to waste cups, and it's already yours' he tells me as he dumps an impressive quantity of vodka into my glass. He can count on zero fingers the amount of shits I give if he reuses my cup or not. He makes it extra strong to compensate for the inconvenience of me never really being inconvenienced.
Brit Brit starts blasting out of the speakers and smiling heads begin bopping around to the beat, feet tapping, hands pummeling the air. It's dark inside of English Ivy's. The ceiling is strewn with Christmas lights and their reflection gleams within Justin's heavily dilated eyes. 'There's lots of scary decorations in here. I suspect withcraft'. We cackle maniacally and move to another seat.
By the time we order the third drink, we are talking about god, the power of words, and are leaning on each other for support, even though we are sitting down. Our foreheads touch as we whisper and giggle, telling each other not-so-secret secrets. We vow to be BF4L, but irl, just like we do every few days. Unable to drink anymore, we make our way to the sidewalk to admire the architecture and call a cab.
ALSO!
This place has <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbomb.com&s=bb4f996415a9c2f21137e27cfb68f439a48cec2652b53e9b50dd7e766dbe177e" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://bomb.com</a> fried pickles with a spicy remoulade. The drinks are strong and cheap. They are everything.
Where else in the city can you get a steak, shrimp (fried or scampi-style), mixed vegetables, soup/salad and bread for $10? The steak is sometimes a bit dry, and it certainly doesn't compare to one of the well-known steakhouses in Indy, but English Ivy's is a great place to meet friends after work, or a place to grab a late night dessert.
Review Source:I've gone to Ivy on occasion for about 17 years. Â It's always been excellent to me. Â I've been just for drinks, and I've been for lunch/dinner/late-night fare/and-or drinks.
A couple of nights ago, I went with a brand new friend and found it refreshingly the same. Â
The decor did not seem as "special", but this is not a big deal to me....and seasons change, etc. Â
No smoking, which is a relief. Â My friend was content with his food and the atmosphere, which was more important to me than my own satisfaction.
Here's why I can't give 5 stars.
No fresh mushrooms. Â There's just should always be fresh mushrooms. Â I needed them for my entre'. Â That's all.
This is truly the old gay supper club, and I mean that in the most honest and endearing way. And not that just old gays go there, I mean, they do, but it just feels like an old gay supper club. Monday Night Surf and Turf - soup or salad, a bacon wrapped fillet, either a skewer of grilled shrimp or a handful of fried shrimp, sauteed veggies, a baked or mashed potato, and a roll for $10.99? And $5 Absolut, Effin, and Hedrick's Gin martinis? Â You can't beat it. Â It feels like the 1950's, for what it would have cost you in the 1950's. Â
I mean, where else can three people all have steak dinners and three martinis a piece for less than $100? Â F**k St. Elmo's, i'm going to dinner with the gays. Â Plus it becomes a legit fun bar at night. Â AND they have parking!
This is my absolute favorite bar for any day of the week when I'm looking for some stiff drinks and some fun.
The best part for me is that it has a non-smoking and a smoking side. I love dancing and chatting it up on the bar side, but I also love that I have the option of sitting in the non-smoking/dining side.
The staff is very friendly, and I consider them friends. It's in walking distance from my apartment, and I definitely get my workout from walking there several times a week.
Ivy's is so much more than a bar/restaurant combo. Let's get this right, I love bars, and one with amazing food makes it that much more fun to go to.
First of all there is a giant menu with daily specials that are tailored to the seasons. In winter the pot roast is to die for. The drinks here can only be described as strong and priced to keep your wallet happy. Specials abound on different drinks on different days! Bloody Marys on Sundays, complete with a Slim Jim in them. Definitely creative. The waiters are always polite and beautiful.
Why would you want to go anywhere else? Ivy's has such great food and atmosphere that it does get super packed during Pride Week.
I had not been to Englis Ivys in over a year. This morning my partner and I went to Le Peeps for breakfast. We dont normally eat breakfast out so this was a nice Sunday treat for us. When we saw that there was a line outside the door at Le Peeps, we opted for breakfast at Ivys.
I knew that they allowed smoking but I did not expect the place to smell like an ashtray. The worst part is that although the place wreaked of smoke, I did not see anyone smoking.
This place is in great need of a cleaning. I mean a good scrubbing. I figured I could get past the smell and the grime so I placed my order with Craig, who said we could call him "Craigy" because there was another server named Craig there.
I ordered coffee and the potato omlette with cheesy potatoes and a biscuit. Â My partner ordered a "make your own omlette" with cheesy potatoes and wheat toast.
I will admit that I am hard to please when it comes to coffee. At the very least the coffee should be hot. It was lukewarm at best.
Our food arrived within a reasonable amount of time. Both of our omlettes were good. They were fluffy and flavorful. Â The cheesy potatoes that were scooped out of an ice cream scooper into a little dish like you used to get served at the high school cafeteria were cold. My biscuit was cold and hard on one side. My partner remarked that his toast tasted like cardboard.
"Craigy" was not very attentive. He only came back to the table once while we were eating to serve me more lukewarm coffee. Â We had to ask for our check after sitting for several minutes after eating.
This place must keep busy because it's target market is the gay community and no one else has stepped in to do it better. I guess they think people will come there just because its a "gay restaurant." I could not recommend this place to anyone, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
A somewhat decent gay bar/restaurant. Â The food in the restaurant is not too bad, but not too great either. Â The bar side is kind of sad -- the same group of older men sitting and drinking. Â It gets especially sad as the night goes on. Â Also . . . the smoking. Â Oh, and the extremely inadequate air conditioning during the summer months. Â Still, I go there sometimes. Â Jeff, Daniel and Brodie are excellent, friendly bartenders.
Review Source:I went to English Ivy's last night for the first time. Considering we've been in the downtown area for 5 years, it was about time. We kept avoiding it due to smoking, but found they had a nonsmoking dining room which kept the majority of the smoke at bay in the bar area. The atmosphere was dark, like a good Midwestern supper club. Our waiter was very helpful and the staff was attentive.
Our meal was the $10.95 surf and turf that included soup or salad, bacon-wrapped steak, 6 shrimp, roll, vegetables and potato. Extremely good value. There were also cheap drinks. They have other food specials every night of the week.
Overall, I would recommend English Ivy's to anyone who misses their local, hometown place and enjoys a variety of good food and drink.
I've been patronizing the ivy for years..They serve cheap stiff drinks and have some of the best bar food in the city.
I used to live/work next just blocks away from this spot and would be in at least once a week, but my visits aren't as frequent these days.
Bar side is smoking, dining side is non-smoking which is FABULOUS.
Yes, it's a gay bar.
Wanted a late-night bite and so many places close their kitchens early on Thursday nights if they're slow, so Ivys can always be depened on to be open, albeit with their Extended Latenight Menu (ELM), not the usual dinner menu.
That have a great selection on their ELM. Salads, and soups, sandwiches and appetizers as well as pizza and lasagna.
We started with the appetizer combo platter. Fried mozzarella, fried pickles, fried mushrooms, fried onion rings and fried chicken wings. One might think that's a lot of fried, but I am not one of those people. It was great, especially when paired with some mild or spicy dipping sauces.
For my meal I was lulled into sweet blissful states of comfort with their toasted cheddar cheese on sourdough. Other breads and cheeses are available but I find the hearty sourdow not only holds up to the butter and grilling but add some edge to the taste of the cheddar. The coleslaw that came with it was creamy as I like it but a little lukewarm which made me go hmmmmm.
My companion had their burger and potato salad. The burger was reported to be juicy and the potatoe salad also very creamy.
Dessert was the caramel turtle cheesecake (just an ordinary slice of cheescake with caramel sauce on top along with pecans and then chocolate syrup drizzled over the whoe thing) and their 24-Karat cake (carrot cake, get it?)
Our server was attentive and our glasses were constantly refilled.
Highly recommended as a late night place to eat.
Ivy's is a great place for a tasty meal and a cheap brew. Â It's reasonably priced and the servers are awesome! Â
I highly recommend the stuffed portabella dinner - it was a huge mushroom cap with sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, capers and gorgonzola cheese. Â Yum!
ok.. i don't bitch often... so please bear with me for minute...while i prove the old phase that a happy customer tells 2-3 and an unhappy one tells 10 or more.. only I am telling 1065 + those that read the review on CitySearch
I Had dinner at English ivy's last night.. not their fault that I left my charge card and No I was not drinking!. So I went in to the bar today and told the bartender "I left my charge card here yesterday at dinner" and no I never shared my name ...did not need to... thanks Brodie.. when I shared my frustration with the manager Brock that they made no effort to try to contact me on facebook or by phone...and it's not like my name is john smith..or I left the card at national chain.. it's a neighborhood bar in the "community"! So, Brock's response "it's our policy that we don't even try to contact people" it's not our problem that you left your card.. I told him I agreed it's not!.. It's called customer service.. a concept that seems to have frankly gone from Ivy's along with the quality of the food... My response.. they have made their choice .. I'll make mine on who I want to patronize...
English Ivy's has never disappointed with the quality of their food, or their servers' great customer service skills. Sunday's dinner special is Grandma's pot roast and Monday night is $9.99 surf & turf! Â Two wonderful meals that I keep finding myself returning for. Parking can sometimes be an issue, as can the cigarette smoke findig it's way into the non-smoking side...but my experiences have always been good ones.
Review Source:Recent visits to English Ivy's have knocked a star off its review.
Why? Â Well....
One blazing hot day in June found the doors open and no air-conditioning running. Â Was the air down or were they saving money? Â (shrug) Â I dunno. Â There was a fan, but, man, it was still brutal.
Apparently, the day bartender has changed since before my first review. Â The present barkeep mixes a good drink, but the previous bartender was friendlier and livelier. Â And he could talk movies.
Wait staff are not so visually interesting anymore. Â Probably those polo shirts everyone now wears. Â What? Â No punk or goth hair allowed during daylight hours anymore?
Finally, I'm all live and let live, but I can do without the aggressive down-lows when I go to a gay-friendly bar. Â I'm there because I don't want or expect to be hit on or harassed. Â Also, the really ancient regulars probably want to keep negative comments to themselves and not make them to other paying customers. Â It doesn't encourage repeat business.
Saving Grace: Â The lunch service remains consistently good and ingredients fresh. Â The drinks continue to refresh.
It's definitely not going to win any awards for good food. It's very average, but the Surf and Turf on Monday nights for $9.95 is a steal.
One bit of advice: It's 2009. Be innovative and go smoke free. The major downside to eating here is you smell like a nasty ashtray. (The dining room is nonsmoking, but there isn't much separation from the dining room and bar, where you could cut the smoky air with a chainsaw.)
I was here with an out of town friend & a coworker last weekend. Â Had the raspberry chicken and ate like a pig. Baked potato, sweet rolls, great vegetable medley, salad. Â I was so stuffed I was ready to explode. Â The meal was priced really well. Â The server was very polite, the only issue we had was my friend had ordered the prime rib special and they had run out, but she had debated the two specials to begin with & was not disappointed in her shrimp. Â
I would go back in a heart beat. Â Loved it!!!
I drove up to Indy to visit a friend who lives off Alabama and we quite naturally wound up at English Ivy's. Walking through the smoking area to get to the restaurant was the first sign that our experience wasn't going to be that pleasant. The waiter was nice enough, he took our order and off we were to a nice dinner. I ordered lasagna with house salad and my friend had the bowl of black bean soup and caesar salad. Our salad and soup arrived reasonably quickly--then an hour went by! We had to finally ask another waiter about our server--and he gruffly complied after several attempts to get his attention. The lasagna that finally did arrive was the worst gummy Chef-Boy-r-dee-like mess I've ever had served as lasagna. My friend's black bean soup came out of a can. Because our social occasion was of more importance than the poor meal we'd just been served we decided to stick around for dessert. More of the same...key lime pie out of a box that had NO lime flavoring whatsoever but was really just cheesecake with a poor texture, and berry pie that was the temperature and texture of pie uncovered in a refrigerator.
English Ivy's isn't to blame for the continued allowance of smoking in Indianapolis, but the atmosphere was ruined for me by that fact, otherwise I'd add that it seemed like a nice place to hang out.
My gay hair dresser snuck me in here one time when I was 16, Â I had a vodka and cranberry juice. (i still drink that today, but I have upped it to Ketel 1)
I eventually ended up living down the street from it in my  20's.
I am not really sure where I am going with this review... but the place is a little different but in a rather nice area of town.
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
