Corktown Irish Pub, The — Restaurant in Hamilton

Wow!!!!!! I have Never ever had such a deceitful experience in a pub!

I thought I would bring my kids to a pub atmosphere and have a good meal and a few drinks. It was 20 minutes before we had anyone come to the table and I let that slide because it was clear to me, the waitress was in training. We were there for an hour and a half and I was served one drink.

We decided to go outside for some fresh air and the second time we went out a strange person was watching us. I again let this slide because I am with my kids and did not want to cause a scene. As soon as we headed back into the pub, this stranger ran in front of me and said “I better get to work”. This person stood in front of me and said “are you here for the band” I said we have been here for an hour and a half and had no idea a band was playing tonight. He said “$15 cover charge to see the band”. I continued to let him know that we were not there for the band and wanted to eat our food which had just arrived. We were told by this person that if we wanted to stay on that side of the bar we had to pay $15 or we could go to the other side. My family was absolutely blown away by the rude and disrespectful behaviour. I asked to speak with the manager. Jimmy was kind enough, but said he had no say in the matter.

We left in disbelief as to what just happened. I really wanted to spend a night with my family because they have all worked so hard in school, jobs and life itself. We were celebrating each other and to have a person demand money from you for something you had never been told about was absurd. I looked on the website afterwards and I did vnot see anything stating that a cover charge of $15 is expected at anytime. The website does not have any information about staying on one side of the bar or the other depending on your preference of seeing a band.

My grandparents, uncles and aunts and myself are owners/operators of many businesses at one time or another and no one has ever treated their customers with dishonesty.

My Grandfather always said….you never know who is walking through your door. Treat everyone with kindness and respect.

Media is a strong tool and I hope that person who gave us an ultimatum will get assistance with their mental health. Perhaps working with the public is not their best approach to society.

Squires was a much more relaxing atmosphere and we can always count on the best service, management and transparency...

I’ve been wanting to come here for a while now. I had really high hopes for this place, but I was extremely disappointed. For an Irish pub that has been around for 90+ years, you would think it would be as traditional Irish pub as you can get. Well that is unfortunately not the case. I was expecting a good selection of beer, a nice variety of Irish/English dishes, and some really good entertainment. I guess the entertainment was good, but that’s about it. The only Irish item on the menu was the Stew. There was the fish and chips as well but that’s it. There wasn’t much on the beer list other than the typical Guinness and Harp and then a few Molson products. The entertainment was nice. Wasn’t a band, but it was just a group of people playing Irish folk music. I ordered the Philly Cheese Steak sandwich because there was nothing else that sparked my interest, and also it was with shaved steak which is the way I prefer it. Well the steak onions and peppers were very under-seasoned and made the sandwich really bland. We also ordered these Mac And cheese balls for an appetizer. It was basically overcooked macaroni in what I think was a cheese wiz type sauce dipped in a batter and fried. It wasn’t great…

Like I said, I had really high hopes for this place. Pubs are my first choice to have a nice meal when you don’t feel like cooking, and knowing this place has been around for a very long time, I was really excited. It’s also just down from where we live so having a great Irish pub close to home is nice. Fionn McCools has better food, and that’s saying something as it’s not even that good. I’m really sad and disappointed that it wasn’t anywhere near as good as I was hoping...

We came in tonight to see a show. After the show was finished we went to the main level and spoke to the “host”. Asked him for a table for three. He literally laughed in our faces. I said “is that an odd request for a Saturday night?” Instead of making us feel welcome he simply just gestured us to the empty hall, I assumed was the dining room. We sat down while three young women ran the empty bar. We were sitting in the middle of the room, very in view of all the employees. After 10 Minutes a group of 10 men came in and sat next to us. Only then did the servers, who were more happy to talk amongst themselves than actually do their jobs, give the new guests menus. While bringing the new guests menus, we were met with. “Did you guy want menus too?”. After waiting for nearly 20 minutes with nothing but a host laughing at us for asking to come in we decided it was best to not even bother. I thanked the “host” for their service and left. Was excited to try a new venue since we traveled from Toronto for it. But unfortunately the Corktown Pub met...