mcnamara's irish pub & restaurant

one of my best friends and i went tomcnamara'sto cap off our summer restaurant experiences. we saved it for last because of its super high reviews and it did not disappoint. we started off by splitting the irish nachos. these are thick cut fries covered in melted cheese, diced tomatoes, shepard's pie meat, and sour cream on the side. they were delicious. the fries were crispy enough to avoid becoming soggy too fast like similar dishes might. for my main course, i had to try the bangers and mash. the sausage was the best i've had anywhere. period. mashed potatoes were great as well. the weak link was my side dish: macaroni and cheese. it almost tasted like kraft. i'd order a different side next time (there will definitely be a next time). for dessert, we split a piece of the snicker's ice cream pie. i would strongly suggest not ordering one for yourself. we barely finished half together and that was a stretch. it was outstanding. it had vanilla and chocolate icecream and was covered in various sauces. i believe i tasted caramel, peanut butter drizzle, and chocolate sauce.
lastly, i'll go over the atmosphere. it felt exactly like a pub should. our waitress was friendly and happily made suggestions. the vibe wasn't too busy. i will come back repeatedly.

visitedmcnamara'swith a bunch of coworkers while in town for a business meeting. we had a few appetizers (kettle chips, fried mushrooms, corned beef sliders, etc) which were ok but nothing special.

i had the steak and guinness pie while several of my coworkers had shepherd's pie. they entrees were also good but nothing to write home about.

nobody ordered dessert (if that tells you anything). not a memorable experience.

wow! what a night to remember!!!. last saturday night (july 5), we had our daughter's belated birthday dinner at mcnamara's. our daughter made the reservations,since she knew where she wanted to be seated, and how many guests she was planning to invite. we have been tomcnamara'sseveral other times and have always had a fantastic experience but saturday night topped all of them. as it turned out our daughter had a surprise for all of us. as everyone arrived, we began ordering our meals. my daughter informed me that she had made a special song request and it was to be a surprise. i assumed she had requested one of the songs i like best and thought nothing more of it. as it turned out, she and her boyfriend had made a special request of sean. so at the end of a song he and the band were playing, he announces that he has a "special song request from kristi and elliott". "they got engaged last night!" and then he and the band begin singing "500 miles". i could have fallen out of my chair with surprise as could have my husband and elliott's parents!! our whole table erupted!! so the belated birthday dinner turned into a surprise engagement dinner. lol. it was wonderful!! sean was so gracious to do the request for kristi and elliott and we thank him so much for it. and the surprise affirmed to all of us that we do not have any heart disease as none of us suffered heart attacks... lol.

the food was fantastic as always. i had shepherd's pie again -- it's so good. my husband tried their 1/2 pound cheeseburger and loved it. we also started out with the chicken tenders -- we had no idea it was the size of a meal and came with delicious fries. i tried something new for myself -- the bread pudding-- it was to die for!!! usually i order a guinness but saturday night i ordered magners cider. i truly enjoyed it. our server, maureen f., was a sweetheart. she took good care of all of us; i think i failed to mention that there were about 14-16 of us. she was always right there whenever we needed anything. plus she was instrumental in pulling off the surprise engagement announcement as she gave the request to sean.

so if you want to have a truly one of a kind, fantastic, family evening or want to surprise your family and friends with a special "announcement", we highly recommend you go to mcnamara's. sean and his band (nosey flynn) will provide the best entertainment you could ask for(i recommend you purchase their cds) and his staff will take the best care of you possible. you won't find a better place or food more delicious!!

mcnamara's has always been a special place for us; now because of the events of saturday night it will hold a very special memory for me and my husband. thank you sean and maureen for giving us, our daughter and her now fiance, his parents and our friends this wonderful memory!! you are truly the best!! now we are planning a late fall wedding!! :)

thanks again,
debbie & wayne f.

truly authentic experience!. my husband and i happened uponmcnamara'sirish pub & restaurant about 2 years ago simply by chance. what a win for us! i cannot understand why anyone would have a bad experience at this restaurant. i have indeed been outside nashville and my family is of irish decent. i have lived in several different metropolitan cities across the us. i have visited irish pubs in manhattan, boston (there are more than a few irishmen & women in good ole bean town), orlando to name a few. i must saymcnamara'sis more authentic with superior food and entertainment than any other irish restaurant we have ever been to. i think we have been tomcnamara'snow probably a dozen times.

we have enjoyed lunch in the regular dining room a few times, wonderful times watching a game while enjoying a beer and a meal in the sports bar upstairs and several truly entertaining evenings in the "music room" listening to nosy flynn perform while savoring our delicious dinners and taking back a guinness or two. we have never been disappointed in the food, the service or the atmosphere. on the contrary we are time and time again impressed with all of the above. every server we have ever had has been a delightful, helpful, professional and courteous.

if you are looking for a real treat please do not hesitate to enjoy my favorite restaurant in nashville (correction: in the us - and that is only because i have not been to ireland, yet). but if you want to enjoy dinner in the music room, make reservations in advance (like at least a week or two) because so many of my fellow nashvillians feel the same way as we do and thus they book up quick.

my recommendation: try the kettle chips followed by the corned beef and cabbage and end off with a nutty irishman (adult coffee beverage). trust me, you'll be itching to return again and again.

my mouth is watering now, i'm dialing for a reservation as i type....

i highly recommend mcnamara's!. excellent atmosphere. superb music. great food. extensive drink selection. committed staff. you must, absolutely must, go see sean mcnamara and the boys perform traditional irish music and drinking songs on fri, sat, and sun nights! they are insanely talented and so entertaining! i lived in nashville for 7 years andmcnamara'sis the place i miss the most since moving away!

not sure if we caughtmcnamara'son an off night, or if everyone who has given this place a positive review has never been out of nashville. being raised in new york, i have been lucky enough to enjoy incredible food from all corners of the world for my entire life. my parents were in town for the weekend so i decided to take them here for dinner. our favorite restaurant back home is an old irish pub, so we had to try it out here in nashville. as soon as we sat down i immediately knew this wasn't going to be a good experience. the food was all extremely bland. shepherds pie, fish and chips, and corned beef and cabbage were ordered at our table. the corned beef was so dry and chewy and the fish was soggy. the "scotch eggs" we got as an app was also extremely bland and had almost no flavor. however, the guinness was on point, so that was good. (i refuse to order guinness if i'm not at an irish restaurant/bar). probably won't return here ever.

the shepherd's pie is absolutely divine and probably the best homemade dish i've ever eaten at a restaurant. the service i received was excellent and my waitress was an absolute peach.mcnamara'sis high on my recommendation list!

great time for my staff!. for the second year in a row, i took my staff of 17 and their spouses tomcnamara'sfor our annual christmas dinner. and, for the second year in a row, we had a fabulous time. we had a big party (33) and were in the sports bar upstairs. the service was great, as was the food. even with such a large party, we all got appetizers and food relatively quickly (and correctly!). most restaurants mess up with a group of 10, let alone 33!

kudos to sean and his entire staff! what a great place!

nashville's finest dining experience.mcnamara'squickly became mine and my boyfriend's favorite place in all of nashville tennessee to eat. from our first visit we were in thrall with the authentic irish cuisine as well as the music. we've always been tended to quickly and with the utmost of professional courtesy imagineable. the staff is knowledgeable about the menu and is always happy to take the time to help you decide on your meal. they are prompt with the food delivery and check back to see to any other needs you might have.

nosey flynn is the band that plays there, and the music alone is a delight for the ears as well as the soul. sean mcnamara, david cole and josh culley make up this awesome trio and are always happy to take requests and their musical talent gives new meaning to the phrase music to the ears.

i highly recommend to any and everyone to come tomcnamara'sany night of the week. we've been going for a number of months now, and each visit surpasses the last. i look forward to seeing all my friends there!

my favorite place!!!. hello everyone! my name is andy o'guin. i am overjoyed to reviewmcnamara'sirish pub & restaurant!
my girlfriend and i have been delighted to join in on the food and fun at this establishment for about six months now. from our first visit we were hooked! mr. mcnamara has achieved a great high with his place of business!
mcnamara's is the highlight of my week! such great food and such talent and entertainment! best of all, it's for all ages! mr. mcnamara is a friendly, caring, talented business man who makes you feel like you're home away from home! i highly recomend coming on, i believe, thursday through sunday evenings to see his band, "nosey flynn" perform. the music stays true to traditional irish, even when more modern songs are thrown in, which is a joy to the ears and the heart! his amazingly talented band consists of david, (forgive me..i forgot last names here) who plays the fiddle well enough to impress any virtuoso, and josh, who plays everything from the flute to the mandolin to the sqeeze box to the bouzouki! mr. mcnamara cannot be forgotten as the ever entertaining leader of this trio. he even tells short stories of irish history between songs which does not in any way slow down the evening. it brightens it!
the food! i cannot forget the food! such a joy to the tastebuds! a vast array of traditional irish food cooked to perfection! if you enjoy adult beverages, you will not find a grander selection thanmcnamara'shas to offer!
the staff know and respect what mr. mcnamara expects of them which is fast and friendly sevice and they do achieve this!
you do not have to be irish to completely fall in love with this establishment! if you're looking for great food, refreshing drink, and in my opinion the best live music possible, do yourself a favor and visit this treat of a pub & restaurant!
thank you for taking the time to read my review. i hope it was helpful and i hope to see you at mcnamara's!
take care everyone,

andy o'guin

love love love mcnamara's. i held a surprise party for my husband's 40th birthday atmcnamara'srecently in the upstairs lounge. it turned out to be a wonderful event and couldn't have gone smoother. the food was wonderful. sean and kirk were super easy to work with and the total bill was very reasonably priced. i received tons of compliments during the event and afterwards on how wonderful everything was. if you are looking for a place to hold an event, definitely check out mcnamara's. they are fantastic and will do everything possible to accomodate!!!! love them!!!! and the bailey's irish cream cheesecake too!!!!!!!!!!

great food! great music! great craic!. my husband took me tomcnamara'slast night for my 50th birthday and we had a blast. diane (who has been there since the doors opened and will probably be there until the doors close) was our waitress and she was so friendly and knowledgeable about the food which was excellent! the atmosphere is definitely cozy for a date and we really enjoyed the live irish music featuring colm kirwan, laura mcgee and the guy from maine. stop and take a look at all the cool irish "stuff" that is scattered about the place...it is interesting.

what a wonderful night!. my husband and i combined our 33rd wedding anniversary celebration along with our daughter's birthday last night at mcnamara's. it has become our favorite "special" place to go. there were 16 of us and we all had a wonderful time. the food was delicious, the entertainment provided by nosey flynn was outstanding and our server, jessica, took exceptional care of all of us. this was the first time some of our friends had been tomcnamara'sand they, too, were impressed with everything offered and also had a wonderful time. most of us stayed until the last song offered. another wonderful surprise for us was that a nosey flynn cd was available for purchase which was great as i had been wondering if they had ever made a cd. needless to say, my daughter, one of her friends and i each purchased the cd and can't wait to start enjoying their music in our homes any time we want! sean, bill and josh even autographed our cd's!! the shephards pie was delicious as were the stuffed pork tenderloins.... so tender they would melt in your mouth. and the irish nachos are something you should also experience --- a really greater starter to our meals. it was a wonderful night and would highly recommend (and have) that everyone come to this wonderful establishment. we will continue to come back and bring our friends with us!! thanks sean, bill, josh and jessica for a truly wonderful night! and thanks for playing the "wreck of the edmonds fitzgerald" for us.... you were great!! your are #1 with us!!

wayne & debbie fletcher


-----19 nov, 2011-----

birthday celebration. my husband, daughter and her boyfriend took me tomcnamara'sfor my birthday last night. it was the first time my husband and i had been there. our daughter and her boyfriend have been here before and wanted us to experience the restaurant and music ourselves.it was fantastic!! the food was delicious and the live irish music was wonderful. i have been to concerts that i didn't enjoy nearly as much as i did the music of sean mcnamara and the gentleman accompanying him. i could have stayed there until the restaurant closed just to listen to them!! one of the lady servers even did some irish dancing. she was very good. sean sang "happy birthday" to me and one other person celebrating his birthday as well. oh, and the bailey cheesecake is to die for.... the best i have ever eaten --- including the cheesecake factory. you have to try it!! so if you want great food and a night of wonderful irish music, i highly recommend you try mcnamara's. you won't be disappointed. i surely wasn't and we will most definitely go back there again. it's a family friendly restaurant for all ages including children. i told my daughter that this is now my "new favorite place". it was one of my best birthday's ever! i have never been to ireland but i felt like i was there last night.

wonderful taste of ireland. my fiance and i went tomcnamara'sfor our anniversary because it had high ratings on this site. well deserved!! the food, the atmosphere, the decor was fabulous! every corner is decorated with pictures and nostalgic irish items. will go again! i had the shepherd's pie and my fiance had the belfast steak dinner. we both completely cleaned our plates. we also ordered aunt hannah's chocolate cake and it too was a dream. it was a little on the pricey side but well worth the bill. will visit again!

great family & event dining. we lovemcnamara'sfor our own family dining, our two year old loves the music. we love bringing friends and family here for the great atmosphere. always a dinner hit.

call way ahead if you want a table in the music room on friday or saturday, sundays & thursdays you don't have to plan that far in advance.