McGuire's Irish Pub

TheMarkE

California

4.75/5  rDev +18.2%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.75 | $$

If you ever get a chance to eat at McGuire’s Irish Pub, I suggest you do. Great food (from the 18 cent Senate Bean Soup to the 30 different burgers to steaks and seafood), the best wine cellar in Northwest Florida, and they brew seven different beers on premises (including a great root beer).

Then there are the dollar bills covering every wall and ceiling, the very tricky restroom signs, the Irish Wake served in a mason jar (limit 3 per customer for your safety), and even a $100 burger (ground filet mignon, served with a side of caviar and a Grand Magnum of imported Moët Impérial Champagne).

The original in Pensacola nearly always has a line, sometimes a two hour wait in the summertime. I prefer the newer Destin location. I've never had to wait for a seat, and if you can sit upstairs on the deck you have a fantastic view of Crab Island.

01-13-2013 20:51:23 | More by TheMarkE

PorterLambic

Florida

4.33/5  rDev +7.7%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4.5 | $$$

Where to start. This a trout amazing place, unique in my experience. A great steak house that is also a brew pub.
The ceiling is covered in dollar bills. In fact, every piece of woodworking that isn't the bar has dollar bill stapled to it. I can't even describe the place accurately. And busy like I've rarely seen. Tuesday night at 7:30 and Friday at 6:30 were interchangeable. A wait but they move them through well enough.
And boy is it worth it. They food is fantastic, perfectly made, and well presented. As authentic as you can probably get without going to Ireland. Lamb stew with big chunks of parsnips, carrots, potatoes and Lamb, all well seasoned. The steaks are the best I've seen for under $50 though they are over $20 each.
Six different brews on today (of their own brewing). An Irish stout, a porter, red ale, Oktoberfest, a light ale and a raspberry wheat. Full bar as well.
There are tv's spread around so you can keep up with the game, especially if it is Notre Dame (boo, hiss).
Service is good but it can be hard to get the bartenders attention as they keep busy.
As to the price, the food is a bit expensive, $15 & up for entrees but the quality is impeccable. The beer is quite a bit cheaper @ $4.25 a full pint. In case you can't add it yourself that's 4 beers = 1 entree, maybe.

10-20-2012 00:16:21 | More by PorterLambic

JayS2629

Alabama

4.83/5  rDev +20.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$$

I say a bit pricey, but it is reasonable for the quality. Everything I've ever ordered is divine. I love their steak, their prime rib, and their sheppards pie which is what I had this time. I also enjoyed a delicious deconstruction of a Reuben which was an egg roll with corn beef and sour kraut with a thousand island style dipping sauce. Delicious. Rich and decandent, savory, irish, traditional meals. Quality and quantity.

Spacious and clean. Fun environment. Classy, but rugged in an Irish fashion. Beers are ok. At least they are original recipe. The red aint bad.

Service was great. A little prissy, but he was precice and conversational. Stayed on the ball. A bit slow, but to be expected for things that need to slow cook and come out right.

Overall, absolutely awesome place to eat and drink. Nice, spacious, clean environment with great service.

09-15-2011 04:17:30 | More by JayS2629

brewskifan55

Mississippi

3.63/5  rDev -9.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $$

I went in late May with my wife, son and a dozen other kids from their youth choir. McGuire's has one of the coolest decors, lots of old wood and Irish attitude.
Hamburgers are the main event on the menu. For about $10, you can get a huge burger (from a choice of 20 on the menu)with fries. There're also sandwiches and po-boys. Nothing is truly exceptional except the atmosphere.
You can order a sampler set of their six beers, brewed on location. The waiter brought out a rectangular board with holes in it to fit the test tubes of brew. Once you try them all, you can decide on which pint-sized portion you'd like. The waiter was very knowledgeable about the styles. Nothing really outstanding about any of the beers. Not bad, just not memorable. Made me look forward to visiting Four Winds later on.
McGuire's has a great gift shop to get lost in. Lots of t-shirts and mugs. Wander around the place and check out the decor.
Fun for families, decent sampling for beer fans.

08-11-2011 20:13:41 | More by brewskifan55

DrWangerBanger

Connecticut

3.1/5  rDev -22.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 2 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 2 | $$$

I went against my usual instincts of avoiding really touristy looking places to go here because I saw they brewed their own beer. In the future, I'll know better. The beer isn't great to begin with and in addition to this, they are served in 14 oz "falsies" - an annoyingly popular trend these days. On top of all this, glasses are chilled to freezing, another annoying popular practice that helps demolish any trace of flavor the beer had to begin with.

Food is overpriced for what you get. I ordered a burger I had heard was good, and got a pretty typical, slightly larger than usual burger with cheese that the chef hadn't even attempted to melt.

04-17-2011 15:16:50 | More by DrWangerBanger

BoilerUpNavy

Wisconsin

3.78/5  rDev -6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

I may label the beer they make as "tourist style." It is by no means a high quality craft brew, rather a middle of the road product made to please the masses. It is at least a step above macros bought in local big box/grocery stores.

The food is all tasty, if not a little over priced. The burgers are huge and can be split between two moderately hungry people.

The atmosphere is very good for an Irish bar. The dollars hanging everywhere are quite the sight to see. Write on one of your own and leave your mark!

With not much else to do in Pensacola (besides the Naval Aviation Museum), this is a mandatory spot to at least grab a beer.

12-08-2010 23:41:49 | More by BoilerUpNavy

kevinv

Virginia

4.43/5  rDev +10.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$$

I decided to review McGuire's as I was feeling a bit nostalgic today and missed this place. I lived in Pensacola for about 5 years and visited McGuire's at least once a month. It's a really fun place if you go on a Friday/Saturday night. Great place to hang out with friends and have some great steaks and Irish food and listen to live music.

Atmosphere:
Doesn't look like much from the outside and you'd probably pass it by if you didn't notice the packed parking lot and great smell as you pass by. Depending on which side of the restaurant you park on, you'll notice the large copper beer tanks as you walk to the front door. Once you enter, you're greeted with a dimly lit atmosphere, dark woods, and hundreds of thousands of autographed dollar bills stapled to every surface possible. There are a bunch of framed photos of celebrities with their own autographed dollar bills on the walls too. If you're a regular there, you may have seen this article on the wall, but there is a funny newspaper clipping of somebody who had ripped a bunch of the dollar bills off the wall and then tried to use them at a store down the street. To any local, it's well known where those dollar bills came from. Needless to say, he was caught/arrested.

Quality:
I never had a bad meal here. The steaks are top notch. As this is BEERadvocate, of course I have to comment on their beers. They have 5 beers on tap, my favorites being the Irish Red and the Porter. Great taste. If you're there with the kids, get them a McGuire's Root Beer, also brewed in house and so thick, the straw won't stay in the glass.

Service:
Overall, I had great service every visit. It's a fairly large restaurant and they always seem to have adequate staff. It can get busy at nights, especially on the weekends, so there will be a few times where you're waiting for the waiter, but it's expected and is never excessive.

Selection:
The beer selection is good, but I believe a bit smaller than the McGuire's location in Destin. The food selection is pretty good too and they have something for everyone, but there have been a few times that they've been out of certain cuts of steak.

Food:
Everything is extremely tasty. My favorite was the peppercorn crusted steak. All of the pepper on there makes it very hot. My fiance loved their Shepherd's Pie. For an appetizer, I recommend the Irish Boxty's, which are garlic mashed potatoes rolled in bread crumbs and then fried. If it's your first time here, you should order their staple drink, the Irish Wake. From what I remember from one of the bartender's, it's got Bacardi 151, vodka, gin, a white rum, blue curacao, and orange juice. As they make the drink, you can watch them fresh squeeze the juice from the oranges behind the bar. The orange juice mixed with the liquors causes the drink to turn a murky green color. It's served in a mason jar that you get to keep.

They also have an extensive vintage wine/champagne list for others if that's what they desire.

Value:
Can be pricey, especially if ordering steaks and multiple drinks. The experience is worth the price though, especially if you go when they have the live music and dirty limericks going on.

This is a place that can't be skipped when you're in town. So if you've vacationing in the area, go here for a night out. If you're a local and haven't been, why not?

12-08-2010 15:47:23 | More by kevinv

Adonis

Florida

4.78/5  rDev +18.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

From the moment i walked into McGuire's Irish Pub i knew i would like it. They brew their own beers, they have an authentic Irish Restaurant and bar feel, and they have live Irish Music at nights several nights of the week and weekend. They hold one of the largest timed runs once a year around St. Patrick s day and just for entering you get free beer and irish wakes. All of their brews are very good and i've never been disappointed. Their Blue Cheese Chips, Artichoke Dip, Guacamole Burger and most of their finger foods are great. Definitely on the top 5 of things to do in Pensacola. It can be pricey but definitely do-able on a budget.

09-23-2010 20:16:01 | More by Adonis

jadpsu

Georgia

4.88/5  rDev +21.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

For a number of years we vacationed in Pennsacola Beach. We never missed going to McGuire's.
Perhaps, my all time favorite. Everything about this place is exceptional.
From the hourly drink specials that are decided by spinning a numbered wheel, the misleading signs on the restrooms, the Irish folk music, the Green Aligators songs leading to having to kissing the Moose, the micro-brewery, the extra large portions and of course the $100,000 plus dollars on the walls and cealings.
The sign outside says FUN,FOOD AND DEBAUCHERY. If you go on a weekend the wait could be long, but the weekend is when the atmosphere heats up, it is a wow kind of place. Make sure you ask for the room where the band will be playing.

05-05-2010 03:59:22 | More by jadpsu

db84

Florida

3.85/5  rDev -4.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$$

Been here 3 times in the past month. Twice for dinner with friends, once for drinks after a wedding reception. The interior may be a bit over the top, but it is certainly welcoming and the staff is generally very friendly. Since a large portion of the cliental are tourists, dollar bills cover the walls and ceilings. The menu contains a decent selection of steaks, burgers, salads, some pasta and seafood, and what they refer to as "typical pub fare". The fish and chips were some of the best I've had on this side of the Atlantic but at $15 were a bit pricey. Overall the prices aren't bad and you certainly get plenty of food, but for the Florida Panhandle I think the prices are a bit higher than usual. The only draft beers are McGuire's own, and I've never asked what they have in bottles. The beer prices are pretty good at ~4 per pint and samplers are available. Overall it's a pretty good place to go eat dinner or just have a drink. IMO this is one of the better places to grab a beer in the PCola area.

01-08-2010 02:47:15 | More by db84