j k o'donnell's irish ale house

yum!. perfect for a beer or irish coffee! you must try the lamb pasty and the scotch eggs!

can be expensive but its worth it! great food and plenty of drink choices. i love that they let u sample before you buy.

don't expect traditional irish food. i visited j k o'donnell's for dinner with my mom and sone. she ordered fish and chips and i ordered bangers and mash. the only thing irish about the food was the name. the "chips" were potato wedges, not the traditional soggy, steak-cut type chips you get in the uk or ireland. the fish was also battered in a crispy, fishstick type batter.
as for the bangers and mash, the sausage tasted like bratwurst and the gravy looked and tasted like instant brown gravy. the gravy was milky and opaque instead of dark brown and more like onion soup broth, which is what i have had at any other traditional irish/english pub.
neither dinner was bad, but they were a huge disappointment when we were expecting traditional irish food.

the absolute worst restaurant experience i have ever had.

my family loves going to irish pubs, so when we saw there was one close to us with good reviews, we were excited to go.

we walked several blocks in the cold from our hotel and were greeted by a sign that said “please seat yourself”. ok, fine. so we went around looking for a place to sit 4 people and there were none. there were plenty of couples taking up a table for four and plenty of open twos and threes, but no fours.

so we walked around looking. then we tried to flag down a server. for ten minutes, we couldn’t get a response. every one just walked on by.

we finally found a table where people were leaving. great. so we waited patiently there for a few minutes until this bulldog-looking thug (the bouncer) came over and got right in my face (seriously? the first person to talk to us is the bouncer, and he comes over to intimidate me? am i in a mob bar?)

he said we couldn’t sit there because of the kids, we could only sit in family seating. i asked him where that was, he pointed to three tables in the back. yes, seriously. this big, bustling place and they have three family tables. and they were all filled with non-families.

so i get a little annoyed at this and how close he’s been in my face and how tersely he’s been speaking to me, so i ask him to step back. instead, he gets closer and tells me to leave.

i can not believe that this actually happened. strong arm tactics in a irish pub that advertises being family friendly. i mean, i’m fine if a pub wants to be adults only. but this place advertises that they’re family friendly. they are not.

if you’re a tough guy soldier on leave, you might have some fun here. but all reasonable human beings should avoid it at all costs. i can’t believe any business would treat any customers this way.

a friend took me there sometime last week, and omg, i loved every minute of it. the bartenders were beyond sweet and helpful. amazing atmosphere

what a wonderful experience!

there were 9 of us here today. my wife and i along with our daughters and families.
audra was our server. she was simply amazing!
the food and atmosphere were wonderful. our server, audra, was so attentive and knowledgeable about the menu.
there were three who ordered from the children's menu, the rest ordered from the adult menu. a rueben, burgers, soup and salad, scotch eggs, corned beef and cabbage were all delicious! as good as the service was, audra was the high point of our meal.
well done audra! we will ask for you the next time we stop by.

my last rant about jk's was not good at all, things changed for the worst and went from being my favorite spot in fort wayne to not going there any more. it's been well over a year since my last visit so thought i would give it a try again. 100% improved. brought back some items that were deleted from the menu and added some different things as well. i ordered the scotch eggs and the bangers and mash, both were excellent. friend of mine got the pot pie so i tried it and it was excellent as well, very hearty and tasty, perfect for the cold winter days. my brother ordered the shepards pie and he enjoyed that as well. bravo jk's for making this spot a favorite again.

this place is truly one of a kind. the food is delicious, and the atmosphere of the restaurant makes you feel like you've stepped into another world. definitely one of my new favorites!

food is great. excellent beer selection. friday night trivia at the bar and the dice game are always fun!  bathrooms are always in need of serious attention.  fun place to go

one of my favorite places anywhere. the food is superb with a daily rotating special in a few different areas. always have fresh local options for new craft brews. some of the best prices in town for the atmosphere and quality.

service bad. service was so bad. sent my drink and my burger back. the burger looked really good but it was raw, i ordered medium. i'm paranoid about sending food back so i asked her not to bring it back. the waitress seemed like she couldn't talk or something. the other food at our table was pretty decent.

going down hill. i used to love this place. i've been there about once every two weeks since i found out about the place. the food and drinks are still great, but the last three times i've been i was extremely turned off by the service. my last visit the waiter was more concerned with getting us out and flipping the table than asking us if we wanted more to drink. i could maybe understand if my party and i were just sitting there not ordering anything, but we were actually trying to make our way through all the taps. we left after struggling to order three beers (but he was extremely quick to bring us our bill) and went to a bar that actually wanted to earn our money. the next thing i do not understand is that the restaurant is "seat yourself" but they always have reserved tables. and not like "we're going out for a smoke" reserved table, the table looks ready for someone to just sit down. what is the point of having "first come, first serve seating" if all the tables are reserved? i hope thing turn around because i enjoy the beer selection and menu, but until then i am going to spend my money at a bar that is happy to serve customers.

i used to love this place, but i've been there twice at lunchtime over the past three weeks and had terrible service. the wait staff seemed more intent on congregating behind the bar and talking about customers in the bar than taking care of their patrons. in addition, they were out of the first three beers that i ordered on my first trip.

for a pub that used to be excellent, it's fallen pretty far.


-----02 aug, 2009-----

easily the best irish pub in the city. the chef's special (and yes, they really have a chef) is great, no matter what it happens to be. add this to one of the most extensive beer lists in the midwest and you have an easy, inexpensive dining choice with a great atmosphere.

i've never had a manager be so rude

my 10 year old son hated the mini burger, my wife had to send her burger back because they overlooked it twice. but the service was horrible. wrong drink refills, forgot to ask if food was okay after serving, has to ask for the manager, had to wait on check at the end.