ADD THE BEER GARDEN TO YELP! They have great food and good beer. A cute patio to sit on and the staff is super friendly. read more

The Cafe at Newfields - Kismetic cold IPA - Cafes Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

Always just an ok dining experience - usually out of necessity due to hungry children age 5 and under. Food always fresh and soothes hungry tummies. Last visit my kids spotted the hot cider displayed on the counter and I caved to the sugary drink. They were thrilled. Food and drink in hand, we sit down and I am about to hand my daughter the cider and I see bits of plastic floating around in the cup. The cider was so, so hot. Like almost boiling. So hot the plastic inside the cup was melted off. Hot drinks like this should be served in ceramic or other non-plastic cup. And the drink temperature itself was simply way too hot for human consumption for quite some time. I know this is a crazy long rant about cider, but it was not my day to deal with disappointed kids. The cashier did refund my money (which I think was $10 for two ciders????) It is nice that the food offered here is ready very promptly and the views of the fountain are always calming. read more

My husband and I went to The Cafe at Newfields after the hot lunch service had ended. There were a variety of packaged foods that were available. We split the cherry walnut chicken salad. The sandwich was just average but cost $12. The seating area was nice with a good view. For average and expensive food, I would skip The Cafe at Newfields. read more

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Great cafe at Newfields (Indianapolis Museum of Art). Friendly service and a cafeteria style atmosphere but with dining room staff to bring your food out and clear the dishes. Also employee was wearing a suite who took the order which I thought was a classy touch. I ordered the Collections Combination ($12), which includes a soup and sandwich combo. I had half a Chicken Banh Mi with seared chicken breast, pickled carrots and jalapenos, cucumbers, cilantro, and honey sriracha aioli on a toasted baguette. The soup, a butternut squash barley, was delicious. Drinks were $3.50 for a fountain soda, a bit high but standard for museum dining. I have eaten here a few times and always find it a great spot to take a break and grab a bite while exploring Newfields, IMA, and the grounds. read more

The Cafe at Newfields - Cafe - Cafes Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

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What a great place for lunch! I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful the food is in the cafe at Newfields. I had taken a friend to the museum and after a couple hours of art, we were hungry and needed to take a short break. The Cafe is on the 1st floor. The menu is simple with healthy and vegetarian options. They have a kid's menu and daily soup specials. We ordered at the counter. The clerk was friendly and we bantered about happy hour. Food is delivered to your table ad comes out fairly quickly. The dining room is lovely with a lower terrace that overlooks the museum gardens. The soup of the day was wonderful, warm and filling. The bowl is huge and the soup is served with a roll. The BLT sandwich is very good, served with thick cut bacon, a nice fresh lettuce and tomato. The sandwich comes with chips. What a great meal at a great price! Members get a discount. read more

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For a museum cafe, this has alot to offer. Good salads, soups and sandwiches. Self serve soft drinks and teas. Loads of seating in an atrium facing the fountain. Excellent all around. Order and pay at the counter, food is brought to your table. Real dishes and silverware is a bonus. read more

My daughter and I enjoyed a delightful lunch yesterday at The Cafe at Newfields; she had dined there before with her sisters, but this was my first time. Definitely looking forward to returning. Service was so polite & friendly and the food exceeded my expectations. I ordered the Chicken Caesar Salad and my daughter ordered the Quinoa Vegan Wrap which was served with multigrain chips. We both thoroughly enjoyed our fresh selections! The herb grilled chicken on my salad was some of the best I've had. If you're planning a mid-day visit to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, I'd recommend having lunch at The Cafe which is currently open 11 am - 3 pm. Note: They offer a nice variety of beverages including bottled drinks (sparkling waters, Kombucha, etc.), fountain sodas (Coke Zero - yay!), and beer and wine. read more

The Cafe at Newfields - Grilled Chicken Caesar salad served with a petite baguette. Fresh & delicious! - Cafes Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

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Great chef! Good lunch while you're at Newfields. There's a cooler of grab and go food available when the cafe counter is closed. Ambiance is nice with the gardens and fountain vies from the dining room. read more

So, when you go to a cafe that's in a museum, you tend to lower your expectations, right? You won't have to do that here, at least in terms of food quality and food quantity. The portion sizes are huge on practically everything, and this cafe could easily survive on its own as a standalone restaurant. And, it passes all my new requirements, since we seem to be living in a bizarre world where many of the restaurants in business today probably should have been Covid casualties, but they're still limping along. Just to be clear, as a message to restaurants everywhere in mid-2022, let me issue a new challenge: The message is, Yes, you can. Take it from this cafe in the Newfields museum of art. You CAN still hire people who want to work in restaurants. Yes, you CAN put out a quality food product, if you expend just some of the effort you did back in 2019 rather than phoning it in. Yes, you CAN charge a fair price and still earn a profit without price-gouging the customer using an exaggerated post-Covid narrative about inflation and supply chain woes. Just come to this cafe, and you'll see how it can be done. read more

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Location Location Location! We decided to grab food here since we would likely be here most of the day. It was just ok. Nothing to write home about. Being able to walk to the Cafe and grab sustenance then continue to enjoy the museum is a worthwhile reason to visit here. Full sandwich and a cup of soup is enough to feed two people or they have a half Sammy and a cup of soup option for $11. read more

Friendly, swift service. Full portions. Good museum atmosphere. The best salad I've had in a long time. At a museum to boot, imagine that. Listen the chicken Caesar salad is crisp, chilled, fresh, flavorful, herby, crunchy, and flavorful. The fries are a little limp and the garlic aioli saved the day. read more

Expensive but tasty. Kid friendly options are available. Healthy options are also available. The food is well presented and the funds go to paying the workers well and keeping the IMA open to the public. You can also bring your lunch and use the cafeteria area to eat. I wouldn't suggest trying to walk around the museum eating. Security might have to approach you. We don't want anything getting damaged due to our munchies. read more

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If you're looking to grab a bite to eat during your visit to the IMA, the IMA Café is your only option. The café has a bird's-eye view of the fountain. The space itself is very open and is decorated in a modern fashion. Its menu is touted as contemporary fare that offers soups, salads, sandwiches, light entrees, and a few deserts. For drinks, you have the standard soft drink (Coke) options. They do offer a few espresso drinks, as well as a small selection of wine and beer. The menu is has a nice selection, that is tidbit high; however, the ingredients are fresh and they pretty much have a monopoly in terms of food service. They do label which items on the menu are or can be modified to be gluten free. If you are required to eat GF, salads are pretty much your only option, which you can add on a protein. The Oldfields Orchard salad, mixed greens, leaf lettuce, crisp apples, toasted walnuts, dried cherries, honey pear vinaigrette was fresh, but heavy on the dressing. I opted to add on grilled chicken, which was pretty bland. Overall, it is a nice place to take a break and grab a quick bite to eat. read more

The Cafe at Newfields - Oldfields Orchard Salad with grilled chicken - Cafes Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

I was surprised by the quality of food at this museum cafe. The room is large with outdoor or indoor seating and a large window to look out onto the property. My husband had a very tasty chicken sandwich and I had a great salad with pears, butternut squash, Brie and salmon. The salmon was amazing, full of flavor, charred crispy top, flaky and moist. Delicious. It was nice that we spent hours at this museum and had a nice place to eat with quality food and rest for a bit. read more

I don't usually expect much from museum cafe food...I just expect it to be something that is there, and overpriced, to tide you over for a few more exhibits. So to say my expectations were low might not be an overstatement... That being said...the menu is really interesting. I ended up just getting a the bacon burger, no bun (because caaaarbs). And even without the bun, the presentation was pretty great! It was really nicely done and tasted GREAT. So, as long as you don't expect suuuper fine dining, you will probably be pleasantly pleased with what they have to offer. read more

I have had tea, coffee, sandwiches and water here. Oddly enough, the water was the most interesting part. It's boxed. Like a boxed quart of milk with a fold-to-pour triangle spout. Adorable. The food was fine- if anything lacked some flavor. Staff is super nice, LOVE the cafe area. Great to work from remotely. read more

Stopped in here today for an unexpected lunch after touring the Lilly House. They looked pretty slow so we thought it would be nice to give the cafe business, and we are so glad we did. The gentleman behind the counter was very friendly and just a really great guy...the do serve beer and wine which was a pleasant surprise. read more

I stopped in for lunch with my wife after a fun round of mini-golf at IMA. One side of the Cafe is fairly simple cafeteria style, while the other half is all windows and overlooks the beautiful Sutphin Fountain. If you wish to order something from the "cold" side, you simply make a selection from the refrigerated section and pay for it at the counter. If you wish to order from the "hot" side, you place an order and pay at the counter. They give you a number to display on your table and will bring your food out to you. Unfortunately, the wait for hot food can get a bit long depending upon how many orders are ahead of yours. In our case, my wife had finished her "Collections Club" (Peppered Bacon, ham , turkey, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, dijon aioli on toasted sourdough bread) and was moving on to her Chocolate Chunk cookie by the time my meal arrived. She liked the flavor of the sandwich, but because all the meat was rolled into a 1.5 to 2 inch diameter log and placed on the sandwich, the sandwich was kind of clumsy to eat. She ended up cutting the sandwich with her knife and fork and it became more manageable. I ordered the Peppered Bacon Burger (7 oz Angus beef burger, peppered bacon, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, blue cheese horseradish aioli on brioche roll). The bacon was crisscrossed over the burger so each corner had a porcine extension. This was very tasty and the bacon had plenty of cracked pepper. The burger came with "Food Should Taste Good" whole grain chips (more cracker than chip; tortilla chips made with brown rice, flax, sesame and sunflower seeds, and quinoa). The chips had a great crunch and were delicious, especially when paired with the burger. It would be nice if the cafeteria of an art museum could be made over to compliment the settings of the rest of the museum instead of appearing drab. Although the flavors were good, it was rather awkward having to watch each other eat the cold and hot meals. Not sure what can be done about that without sacrificing quality, but the folks on the grill really need to be aware that "the heat is on" them to get the food out quickly. Review #135 read more

The Cafe at Newfields - Peppered Bacon Burger - Cafes Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

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Forgettable food service, with long lines on the day I visited (a typical Friday) and extremely expensive prices for food that's just like the stuff you'd get from other restaurants like Panera Bread or Corner Bakery. There's a lot I probably would have liked here, though the cheese nosh was the highlight of lunch and a decent value for the amount and diversity of cheeses offered. The line was so long that I gave up on getting anything from the kitchen, opting instead for the grab-n-go Gallery Caesar salad. To make one experience worse, a third of the seating area was taken by school groups eating their own bag-from-home lunches, and a special event forced everyone away from the beautiful view of the fountain. read more

For a museum cafe, I was very impressed by the IMA Cafe. I have been here twice now, and each time, I was pleased with the quality of my food. Their menu has a wide range of items with some especially good looking salads and sandwiches.On my most recent stop here, I got the bacon burger. It wasn't anything super fancy, but it was a delicious burger made fresh. Since everything is made fresh, they bring it out to you and bus your table, again more than I would expect from a museum cafe. Great service and great food. read more

After visiting the museum I was feeling thirsty and stopped by for water. But the coffee smell upon entering was very tempting and I also purchased a chai latte. My sparkling water was cold and refreshing. I read my book as I was enjoying my latte. The place is very spacious, comfortable and quiet. But, the counters were not clean, there was sugar and milk spilled. read more

The Cafe at Newfields - Chai Latte - Cafes Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

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If I were still a student, I would study here. Quiet. Open tables. Wifi. Nice lighting. Free parking. Clean restrooms. Tables outside. A/C during those wretched hot days. Coffee and water and more snacks than many coffee shops. And if you need a break, the gardens are right there or a recharge. read more

Great choices. I wish they had more option for a dinner. Nice there is a cafe though!

After wandering around the museum for hours, you may forget that you've missed a meal and need food NOW! At least that's what happened to us. I was expecting pre-made, cold sandwiches, and those were available, but don't miss out on their freshly prepared dishes! My brother and I had the open-faced spinach and artichoke sandwich. We both loved it! It wasn't dripping in cheese grease and actually contained chunks of visible artichoke and lots of spinach (imagine!). Plus, the serving was huge - I couldn't find the bread below until the middle. My dad got the turkey, brie and cranberry sandwich and was also very impressed. Yes, each sandwich was $10+, but for the convenience, location and taste - worth it! The cafe was busy when we went (Father's Day), so we waited about 10 minutes for the food to arrive at our table, but I can see why it takes a minute to prepare. This place is not some little cafe for a snack, it's a full-blown lunch stop! read more

I love the natural lighting in this space as well as the easy access to bathrooms and the museum gift shop to wander if you need a little retail therapy. Seating is comfortable and staff is very friendly. This is a nice little "hidden gem" for remote workers--note that you do not have to pay for admission to the museum in order to visit this cafe. read more

Following an early morning event for our work, three co-workers and I went to the IMA Café to get lunch and do some off-site work. The café is a wide-open, modern space looking on to the IMA fountain and front entrance. Offering plenty of natural light and free WiFi, it's a great place to get away from work or campus, grab some lunch and do work. Speaking of lunch, the menu has a wide variety of soup, salads, cold and hot sandwiches, light entrees and desserts. All ingredients are fresh, and the menu even notes which items are gluten free. In terms of beverages, there are Coke products, ice tea, espresso and some wine and beer. I ordered their signature tomato soup and an avocado turkey burger. The soup was the perfect temperature for the chilly day and was just the right amount to serve as an appetizer before my turkey burger. The burger was grilled and featured generous slices of avocado, white cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and chili garlic aioli, all on a brioche roll. Hands down, it was one of the best turkey burgers I've had. I was really impressed with modern feel and quality of the food in a museum café. Fair warning, though: it was pricey. It was nearly $20 for my lunch alone. read more

The IMA Cafe is located in one of the city's most beautiful settings - facing the museum's noted water display and garden. Sad that the food offered falls so short of expectations, given the surroundings. Sunday, the 26th, in between two outstanding anime films, I stopped at the cafe for lunch. I selected a pre-made, boxed honey walnut chicken salad sandwich for $10. I also asked for a glass of Chardonnay, but the order taker could not find Chardonnay. (I settled on Sauvignon Blanc.) But back to the sandwich. Dry, chunky (awkward to eat), tired, tasteless (except for the unexpected raw onion). The salad was centered in the sandwich leaving several inches of dry bread. Enough said. Please encourage the IMA to do better. read more