I didn't know this chain still existed until I saw someone's review by chance. So I decided to check out this one because the reviews are slightly higher. The expectations are probably higher at the other locations since they're all about the same I suspect. I got worried when I found the last parking spot left but there was no waiting inside. The dining room is very nice with a huge amount of booths and clean carpet on the floor. The chalkboard said Blue Plate: Fried Catfish with two hot sides & bread so I ordered that. From the main menu it appears that this is their regular Wednesday special. I asked for only two of the three catfish fillets as that was going to be enough food for me. I also elected not to take any bread. All of the food was good however I would have liked the food at a hotter temperature. The broccoli was room temperature. For dessert I had slice of white cake with white icing. That cake was excellent. Based on their menu, I would come back and try the Chicken Parmesan or the BBQ Chicken. And probably the Breaded Shrimp special on Fridays. I walked around the whole place and never found any restrooms or signage. If they are there, they are well hidden. When I came outside at 1:15 pm, the parking lot was only 25% full. read more

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I always forget about this home cooked goodness place! This cafeteria style restaurant is known for a place where senior citizens frequent and for it's amazing fried chicken and delicious liver and onions! Upon entering, you grab a tray and silverware and the DECISIONS begin! Salad choices, what flavor jello? Blue plate special or something else? Dessert or no? if so, what? What kind of bread? CHOICES! TOO MANY CHOICES! SO, I decided on the Monday's Blue Plate Special: Chicken special with two sides and a roll for $10.39! PERFECT decision! The chicken was hot and crispy, the mashed potato and gravy was seasoned well and the green beans were very good and the bread pudding for dessert and it Was DELICIOUS! Overall, friendly service, great food for a great price! read more

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Large buffet restaurant. This is like a cafeteria, grab your tray and go down the line, you pay at the end. I ordered the Beef Manhattan. They carve the beef as ordered and place it on bread and then add mashed potatoes with gravy on all of it. The gravy was noticeably lumpy. First bite I really wasn't that impressed, but as I kept eating, it got better. I would say they have an older customer base and the food is a little under seasoned. The corn was really not that good, even after adding salt and pepper. The cookie was really good. The wait staff kept checking on me. Overall I would come back if I'm ever in the area again. read more

MCL Restaurant & Bakery - Beef Manhattan - American Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

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The food tasted old...it just didn't taste very fresh. I'm not sure if they need new appliances but something is off. The fried chicken was very dry and the lasagna didn't have much taste either. The corn on the cob and mash potatoes were the best part of our meals. My cherry pie had a weird after taste and the cheesecake tasted old and it's effort to even put your spoon through it..Kool Aid is good as hell nonetheless. read more

MCL Restaurant & Bakery - $40 for everything here. - American Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

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Attitudes! They act like if you ask them to do one extra thing it's a chore. No hospitality just a bunch of sour faces ! But you spending your money on there !!!! I wish Indianapolis had more cafeterias to choose from. This city is to big just to have MCL they need some competition. read more

Visited here a couple weeks ago and was very disappointed! This used to be our favorite and we always visited when we were in the area. Food was cold. Carrots were too salty to eat. Chicken was over cooked. Cinnamon rolls were still outstanding. read more

Can I please just tell you that the best people in the world work here. We went to cafeterias every Friday night for my whole life. MCL has been the place we would go for at least the past decade or so. These people have doted on our entire family for years, and I just want to say thank you!h read more

We had a great meal tonight! After a day of landscaping work, I felt like I was starving! lol I had a small Cobb Salad with ranch dressing, marinated Beets, Prime Rib Steak with sautéed Mushrooms, Spinach, Lima Beans, and Bavarian Chocolate pie. (My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach! lol But I made it all fit, except for the Cobb Salad, which I've boxed up to take home. The serving line staff were all very friendly as well as the two gentlemen who were hosting the floor. A very nice dining experience for my entire family! Thank you, MCL!!! read more

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The food is amazing! Quiet atmosphere, spacious dining rooms. They had Staff help my mom (82) with her tray and getting her settled! It was Mom's first time at MCL and only my 2nd. They were so gentle and helpful when I told them we were new. Love Love Love!! There was even a VERY NICE MAN who paid for Mom's meal as a Random Act of Kindness! Mom was stunned! She said she never expected something like this to actually happen for her! Wholesome bliss! Thank you so much to this man! I hope he sees this and knows what a huge thing he did for Mom! She'll never forget it! read more

I have been going to MCL's since I was a little girl. It is one of the most consistent places you can eat. They've had some of the same foods on their menu for years and the taste doesn't vary much. This is a good thing because they haVe some things that they do well like fried chicken. I will continue to support them as long as they are around. read more

The website says "Homemade Food" but the potatoes are instant and much of the food is scraped out of a can. It's better tasting than fast food but man is it expensive. I got chicken and noodles, potato and pie. That's it. Over $15. I also had to ask for water. read more

Mcl on township line road has good food! Except for Mondays they have way to many chicken choices and not much else. There biggest problem and why I am giving them 2 stars is they need to open there carry out side of the restaurant for carry outs and have the main line for dine in customers and signs need to be posted!! To many take out orders holds up the main line where people like to get there food and eat it while it's hot! Waiting in line for carry out orders and employees who don't know how to run the cash registers!! Come on and get your act together! read more

Thursday is Liver & Onion day plus a special on pie of the day for 99 cents. The liver is always tender and can be cut with a fork. The flavor and taste is perfect. And lots of onions. I always feel rushed thru the line. I don't get to MCL but a couple of times a year so I need to look over the selections before deciding what I want. read more

Wonderful atmosphere. Courteous staff. Food tasting food served in generous proportions. I enjoyed my lunch. read more

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It's a little pricey for the size of the portions and the quality of the food. Also, if you have never been there before, prepare to feel stupid. It's not clear where the line starts, whether salad is included, what some of the dishes are, etc. It was also very unclear whether you are to get your water, refills, and sauces yourself or have your server do it. Maybe I was just out of it that day, but I found the whole experience just confusing. I had the chicken parm and it was good, but very small. I can usually split a meal with my toddler and still have leftovers. We ate every bite and we were still hungry. We then split a very disappointing piece of "cherry" pie. I say "cherry" because there were only about five little fruits in there, there rest was just pie gel. It was pretty gross. Our server was cheerful, helpful, and made the experience better. The food was subpar though, not worth going back. read more

There was nothing really great or really bad about this place. The food was average, but you do get a ton of it. There are lots of choices: fried chicken, chicken and noodles, pork, stuffing, green beans, mac and cheese, potatoes, etc. The options are endless. The prices are good, less than $10 per person. All the employees were friendly and provided great service. read more

MCL Restaurant & Bakery - Chicken and noodles, Mac and cheese, crispy potatoes #carbaholic - American Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

Food is always good. Fried chicken, fish, chicken parmigiana. Tea is excellent. The wait staff is always superior.

This is a cafeteria style restaurant. The food is always consistent. I enjoy the Mayfield plate. It includes a reduced portion entree, 2 sides and bread. They are always accommodating. I see the staff helping people to their tables and getting them extras they need. No tips required, but I always leave a little, just cause they are so kind. read more

MCL Restaurant & Bakery - American Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

So I work between several hospitals in the area and get carry out at the keystone location and the castleton or this location depending on the day .when I went in to get to go I went down the main checkout register to place my Togo order ! However the lady running the cash register today told me I needed to get in the line where you'd get a tray and walk they the line ? What ? If I had an hour lunch to walk thru and pick out food I would just eat there ? Strange since I've been visiting the other two location almost weekly for 30 years and ordering at the end of the register line with no problem! So if you'd like carry out in a timely fashion this is not the location for you :) read more

We stopped for early dinner and ordered Salisbury steak, fresh summer squash, mashed potatoes and Mac and cheese. I had taken 2 bites of the Salisbury steak when I discovered a big long hair in my steak--yuck! Additionally, I was looking forward to the squash but in both my husband's and my portions there was grit in the squash--tasted like sand--making the squash inedible. For $29 for 2 meals we expected better quality. The manager did substitute our squash for broccoli and give me a new meat but overall very disappointing meal. No refunds were given by manager. We will not be returning to this location. read more

J Niah was So Helpful, i call ahead to see if they have cranberry salad &/or Chicken salad, theirs is some of the best

Met with our niece for a small get together on December 23 to exchange gifts. My husband and I got our favorite, the fried chicken. When I bit into it I could smell the raw chicken! We cut into our pieces of chicken and very red juices poured out. The table server was great and the manager replaced our entrees with something else and comped us 20%. During our meal, we saw another table send back fried chicken! MCL kitchen this is a dish that you are known for, quality control isn't hard with a thermometer. Pull it together. Kudos to staff for handling the situation right. read more

Oh man, I guess I should have looked up MCL on Yelp before we headed over there. I think Aaron and I were the youngest people there - with the exception of some grandkids. We wanted fried chicken last night while we were out driving around, so I used my blackberry to look up fried chicken places in Indy. The food was alright. It's obviously cafeteria style, and they have about 10 different entree choices. Everything is sized for senior citizens, which was fine for me, but Aaron looked at his plate and was like "are you kidding?". This is probably not a place we'll be returning to again. There's just too many other great places to eat to settle for okay. read more

MCL is without a doubt geared towards the blue-haired crowd. I'm not exactly sure why it's such an old-people haven, but it really is. Still, I have a certain fondness for MCL. You can get some serious Southern-influenced comfort food here. I always order what I think they're now calling the Mayfield plate, which is roast beef with two sides (I can't resist the mashed potatoes and the amazing macaroni and cheese). You also get a choice of bread with this deal. If you're not into roast beef, there's also always other selections of meat, and plenty of very cooked vegetables to choose from. Dessert selection, oddly, comes before the entrees, so if you like the looks of it, you better go for it! MCL is filling, hearty and very cheap. Come later--like, after 5 p.m.--to avoid the grandparent rush. read more

Excellent place to get your liver meal at!!! Seasoned to perfection!!! Looking forward to getting some more next Thursday!!! read more

MCL Restaurant & Bakery - Wonderful Pumpkin Cheesecake!!! - American Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

Let me start by saying that I really wanted to like this place. I haven't had a fried chicken fix in a while and was hoping to find some good fried chicken in our area. I will definitely keep looking. We stopped in on a weekday, hoping for some good cafeteria food. I know that putting 'good' and 'cafeteria' in the same sentence sounds a bit crazy, but we used to live fairly close to a couple of great places. We ordered a fried chicken thigh MVP (their version of a "value meal") with macaroni and cheese and green beans, along with a dark meat chicken entree with mashed potatoes and green beans. We both selected the white dinner roll as our bread du jour. The only pleasant part of the meal was the bread. It was the largest roll I have seen, but was still your basic dinner roll. It didn't seem home-baked. The chicken was very greasy and not incredibly hot. Since we were there during peak lunch hour, I expected that the chicken would be constantly replenished and hot. The macaroni and cheese tasted like the American cheese powder from a can and was a disturbing bright orange flavor. My dining companion, who always orders macaroni and cheese at cafeterias, wouldn't even touch it. The green beans were the basic canned variety. I asked for BBQ sauce for the chicken and was brushed off and told that they probably didn't have any. Seriously? I have to agree with the reviewers who said that the staff needs some work. Lunch for 2 was over $20 and you do need to tip your table attendant also. (after carrying your own tray and getting your own beverage at the beverage station, that's just strange) read more

Just took home some fried chicken for the first time, and it was very good! The skin was crispy and on the salty side, just the way I like it. The meat was just a little dry on the outside, but very moist closer to the bone. The side of glazed sweet potatoes were delicious - rich but not sickly sweet. I didn't spend long in the restaurant, but it was clean and the service staff were excellent. Everyone met my eyes as they helped me, which I really appreciate. Perhaps you have to be a member of the AARP to feel like you belong here, but I'm now a fan of their chicken and look forward to grabbing future meals to go. read more

You will figure out what you like and what your favorites are. Personally I don't get the tomatoes and bread dish but I'm sure my mother would have and I'm 66. But then she ate pickled pigs feet. my husband and I get carryout from the 86 location about once a week and we are always very happy with the food and the service most of the time. read more

Food was hot & fresh! Service was friendly & helpful. Their fried chicken is so good! I love this place because you can get a healthy meal that actually tastes great. And they have lots of menu options which vary from day to day. If you have kids, are disabled or a senior, or just maybe need some help, they will carry your tray to your seat for you. They also checked on us several times and kept refills going. The manager even adjusted my bill after another customer gave us a 'kids eat free' coupon after we had already paid. I could eat here several days a week. read more

I have been coming to this location for years after the moved from inside Washington Square Mall. I love the food choices which allow you to make a sensible healthy complete meal for yourself. Service is always friendly with a warm smile. I just love MCL and I recommend anyone to visit. read more

Blue haired heaven??? Really? Well there ARE at least three "old folks homes" in the area. But the food is good old American fare. My only complaint is they have started serving smaller and smaller portions at higher prices. Last week I got a Beef Manhattan and the guy put 1.5 THIN pieces of beef on the plate. A small side of veggie runs over a buck. PULEEEZEE, that's not a meal, that's an appetizer. My advice is if you've got the time (and money) drive up to Carmel and go to the original cafeteria/deli that inhabited this corner before MCL moved in. Won't name names, but they "cook good and server generously". read more

I get carryout here multiple times a week. Their vegetable plates are my go to choice. The food is always served hot and staff has always been friendly. Great place For dinner with the family. It's the perfect dinner to make me happy! read more

It's impossible to walk into this place and not feel like you are walking into an old folks home. Everything from the customers to the look to the smell wreak of it; I am shocked they didn't try to change my diaper. The food selection, which reminded me of the selection I saw back in prison, was not propitious. I tried to play it safe with the roast beef and fried chicken but I quickly realized my mistake the second I picked up my fork. The chicken was dry, bland, and I could have changed my oil 10 times over with the amount of grease on it. You know how they use the phrase "grass fed" to indicate quality beef? Well I wouldn't be surprised if they fed their cows with rocks, maggots, and death itself. The Sahara desert would be jealous of my mouth, which was so dry I still haven't regenerated any saliva 40 minutes later. If you're looking for inedible, overpriced food, this is your spot. If you're looking for something better, a bucket of your own excrement would suffice nicely, I suppose. read more

Good food when you want a quick dinner. If you have kids is perfect. They have a large selection of salads. Also great fried chicken and Mac and cheese. The best is the chicken parm. Still family owed. That's a Star in my hat for them. You'll probably be the youngest family in the restaurant but just go with it. I'm sure you'll have fun. read more

A good place to take retired parents. The food is a B, the serving size and price are an A, and the service is usually A+. Very friendly wait staff, very personable. Ok place to hang out with a laptop. read more

Pretty good food. Not really worth the price. Service was mediocre. I got fried chicken, broccoli and water to drink. I wanted asparagus, but they looked gmo. They were the double the size of the asparagus I've bought at the grocery store (Fresh Thyme located right behind this MCL). My daughter got fried chicken mashed potatoes corn and sweet tea. The total came to $22. I went to wash my hands and the restroom smelled awful and two toilets were stopped up. No one ever cleared our table of the extra glasses. I guess I was supposed to do that myself. I was disappointed with the total experience including the tight parking lot. I doubt I will ever visit this location again. read more

Love the cafeteria style and the carry out is incredibly quick and convenient. Hands down the chicken and noodles are my favorite and the coconut cream pie is fabulous. read more

The tilapia was really moist and tasty and the squash was so good! This was my first visit, but I'll be back!

Stopped in for a bite to eat after a long day of traveling and was greeted with smiles and welcoming attitudes. Even though it was near closing time, the entire staff presented a professional level of customer service that's becoming harder to find these days. As usual, the food was great and tasty. It kept me from cooking, so, that made it even better. Keep up the good work and I'll be back in the very near future. read more

Mom and I have been eating here monthly recently. It's easy to quickly run up a bill of $18/person if you include, salad, entre, 2 sides, beverage, roll (we don't get dessert)! Everything is attractively featured and servers are enthusiastic, which will have you probably selecting more than normal. Attractive dishes, but not the best tasting. Bland - probably to satisfy the palates of older diners. Fried chicken is yummy. I like the cobb salad, cole slaw (vinaigrette version), and mac & cheese. However the meatloaf is 'mushy' (not solid) and looks like dog food. No sides are included with your entre, so if you're used to 2 sides with a meal, your bill will reflect your multiple selections. Also, unlike typical restaurants, bread is also not included with your entre. I'll give 3* for consistently great, responsive and friendly service at table. Note to diners we've seen: please leave a tip for your server! We recently noted a table of 5 did not leave a tip. Shame. Your server waited on your large group and had to 'schlepp' all your dirty dishes in several trips after you left. MCL is an easy last minute dining decision but just remember -- the enticing selections don't match taste expectations. And it gets pricey. Gripe: coupons are confusing and not really helpful. If you have a coupon for a free dessert, you can't use it with another coupon; i.e., if you have a 1/2 off coupon for 2nd entre with another entre. And what YOU think is an entre, isn't always so your coupon wouldn't be valid. Annoying. Plus, a side of acorn squash counts as TWO sides. 'huh'? read more