Fionnbarra — Restaurant in Cork

Four of us were in here with friends on a weekday night. A man was sitting next to us drinking on his own and kept interrupting our conversation (we were discussing a friend of ours who is vegetarian but eating meat during her pregnancy, he took exception to this). We attempted to ignore him at first but he became very agitated, making nonsensical statements, insulting us and passing notes to us to the point that one of my friends got up and walked away, he then proceeded to point his finger in the face of the two girls that were with us and use vulgar language when they asked him to leave us alone, this went on for around half an hour. At this point there were a number of people looking. He roared at us to get out and we said that we wouldn't as we were not the ones bothering him. He jumped up to go inside and pushed past two of my friends, spilling his drink over the girl who had originally said to leave us alone, her boyfriend followed him inside, calling for the man to come back and apologize. 5 minutes later, the barman came out and told us that we had to leave as my friend that went in to confront the rude man "assaulted" him by putting his hands on his shoulders. We were wanting to leave ourselves at this point but were unhappy that the man that had been bothering us, was not being reprimanded at all. The barman told us "I asked him to leave but he wouldn't". I assume this means he is a regular customer so subject to different rules. We were also told that our actions were on CCTV but when we questioned the barman on the CCTV footage from outside he said that made no difference. After all of this what struck me is how rude the barman was. He said to us that he had been working there for a year and that this was the worst carry on he had seen, taking the rest of our drinks away and telling us to leave immediately. This seemed to be exaggerated as we had ignored this man's behavior for the duration, only responding when he had become physically aggressive towards us. It was very disappointing as I have been to this pub a number of times after work and have never encountered treatment like this before. When we were escorted out it was as though we had been the ones behaving in a rowdy or obnoxious manner, this was very embarrassing for me as I have never been accused of anything like this before. This all seemed to stem from this man being a regular customer who is perhaps known and tolerated for his anti-social behavior. We will not be...

So I I in Milan and while we we’re there I kept saying I’m not sure this holds up to Fionnbarras. Needless to say this won’t down with some scepticism. When we got back I invited my friends to Fionnbarras to compare. While I was here and enjoying the nice pizza I confirmed this with staff, only to be told to go back to Milan. Really liked this place. Encouraged friends to come and spend money, only to have it thrown back in my face. Not cool. At least the service I expected here when trying to convince was meant to be up to scratch. It was the pizza that was in question. Now I’m not so sure. I know the pizza here tastes great. It’s such a shame for the service to be down. Thought I’d never complain...

EDIT 2022: - This is now one THE BEST bars in Cork. Alan has been doing the hard yards and hired/retained some of the best bar staff around.

Older Review: I've been visiting Fionnbarra's on and off for 15 years or more back to the days when I was working nearby and Alan & Goran were running it jointly. Since Alan took the place on by himself it has certainly grown and improved. Good atmosphere, good music, decent beer, big beer garden area and, from what I recall, solid bar food choices - including baked potatoes and toasted sandwiches - I haven't eaten here in a long time. The clientele can be a bit eccentric (and downright odd on occasion) but that's par for the course on Douglas...