Jane Mark, 45, and Cheryl Odore, 42. (Neal Taflinger for The Star)

Kate Hursh, 28, and John Pertile, 28. (Neal Taflinger for The Star)

Destination: MacNiven's Restaurant and Bar

9:30 p.m.

Brian Moore is moving. The 31-year-old Live Nation concert promoter got himself promoted to a position in San Diego, so his friend Mark Lafay is sending him off with a few beers, a few shots and a few more beers. Both live near Downtown and are regulars at MacNiven's, Indy's only Scottish-style pub.

"They have a good selection of scotch, but (the bar) doesn't compare" to pubs Lafay has visited in the United Kingdom, he said. Lafay, 25, manages several bands and has toured Britain extensively with them.

"(MacNiven's) doesn't play Scottish music and no one's talking in a funny accent," Lafay said.

Scottish culture, like the whisky it produces, is best consumed with a splash of water by Americans. But MacNiven's does its best to represent Britain's nor' end with flair. The hardwood-lined pub is airy and open, divided into a bar and dining room by a wall that doesn't quite reach the ceiling.

Scottish tchotchkes (scotchkes?) fill display cases, hang on the walls and rest on top of shelves and cabinets. The glass garage doors facing Massachusetts Avenue are rolled up tonight, keeping the air moving along with the help of slow-turning ceiling fans. More sophisticated than a party bar but livelier than a professional drinkers' tavern, MacNiven's attracts 20-somethings whose faces are only starting to look experienced.

10:19 p.m.

Kate Hursh and John Pertile, 28, both attended Carmel High School but didn't start to get to know each other until their high school reunion last weekend. Hursh, an event producer, lives Downtown and bashfully admits that MacNiven's is a regular stop both after work and late at night. Pertile lives in Broad Ripple and doesn't spend much time Downtown, but the bar is hitting on all cylinders as far as he is concerned. "TVs, good beer, good food," he says, "I like it."

10:46 p.m.

Jane Mark, 45, is an adventurous beer drinker, but she's sticking with Miller Lite tonight. "We ate and lost our momentum," the Elkhart resident said. Cheryl Odore, 42, lives in Indy and comes here several times a year for the Scotch eggs -- that's probably as often as someone could eat the deep-fried sausage-and-egg concoction and still hope to maintain good health.

11 p.m.

It's a school night, and Taffy is losing his momentum. I gather my stuff and hit the bathroom to spend some quality time with Halle Berry. I've always wondered if any problems resulted from having a large portrait of the bikini-clad Berry hung where a multitude of men handle their equipment.

I wash up and settle up with our waitress. "Are you good?" she asks.

"I'm trying to be," I respond. Then I head home.