o'dowd's little dublin

the food was decent and came out pretty quickly for it being a weekend day. the service could have been a little better. we tried more of the traditionalirishfair. i liked what i got which was the boxty, the fish and chips were tasty, but the other things i tried were just ok. i would say go try it if your in the mood foririshfood and see for yourself.

usually good..today was a miss!. beautiful friday, with temperatures in the 80s (after all that snow!), naia, st. patrick's day weekend, and a co-worker's birthday seemed to be the perfect formula for a office lunch on the deck at o'dowd's. i've eaten there several times, and i could hardly wait to get my chops around the fish and chips! but, this lunch was a disaster! two of our co-workers got there early (11:15 am) to get a prime spot for the other 11 of us who would join them at 11:30 am. our server, kelly f. (greatirishname!), came around to take drink orders. she then disappeared for a while. as the clock continued to tick, we realized it was close to noon, and still no kelly to take food orders. she finally did. by 12:20, some were starting to get their food. at 12:45 (now, over an hour for us who have to work), two people didn't even get their orders. one person ordered a burger with no bacon and no aioli and received both. kelly was obviously overwhelmed. we asked other servers for tableware and were told "i'm not your server." we found out later that this was kelly's first day on the deck. the manager, while apologetic, wasn't very much help. why in the world would you set this employee up to fail, and epically at that? i am really disappointed with how this worked out for both our group and this poor server. especially with the activity on the plaza for this weekend, one would think they would have amp'd up the staffing. food was great, btw, for those of us who got to eat.

consistantly good for -me-!. i've heard many mixed reviews of this pub, which makes me question their consistancy. i've gone here for lunch many times and it has always been good. i generally order the fish and chips or steak boxty, which are always delicious. all the times i've had company, they've enjoyed what they ordered. the place has a great selection of beer, but the atmosphere is a bit lacking for the dining crowd in my opinion. the dining area also gets a bit cramped on the weekends. in conclusion, if you enjoy a good beer and a heartyirishmeal, check this place out.

mmm...reuben.... okay, so we didn't start off great here - the service was a little slow, to say the least. but the ambiance and beer selection made up for it. i just wouldn't plan on getting in and out really quickly. i had a reuben sandwich and my companion had a shepherd's pie. both were outstanding. i wouldn't have minded a little more corned beef on my sandwich, but what i did have was tender and juicy, with just the right amount of thousand island and sauerkraut, topped with melting swiss. it's in the country club plaza, which can cause parking headaches, tourist crowds at certain times and often overly priced items, but we had good food, two beers a piece, for less than 40 bucks with tip. a little pricey, but add in the liveirishmusic (not the riverdance kind, luckily), and the evening was lovely.