Mackenzie's — Restaurant in Dublin

Myself and my two daughters went to McKenzie's for a pre show meal at 3.15pm. We had not made a booking, which is what we stated at the front door when requesting a table. However, the host said she had available seating, which we were delighted about.

When we were sat down, we were told that the kitchen would not be open until 4pm, which was not an issue, and that we could order a drink beforehand, which is what we did. We were also given a low table and as I was on crutches, I was delighted. We ordered a Guinness, cider and sparkling water.

We ordered a cheeseburger, a fish and chips and a salad. The cheeseburger was beautiful, the fish was lovely but the salad and my chips were completely inadequate for the prices charged. The chips were raw and hard and the salad was lacking chicken and was absolutely nothing to write home about. We then ordered coffees and another Guinness after the meal.

We had felt that the staff were waiting on us to leave. That was just the feeling we got as they constantly circled us and repeatedly asked if we wanted anything else. My daughter then said `we better order something else'. We had asked for the dessert menu as well as another pint of Guinness. We were then informed by our server that he was actually on his way over to us with the bill and that we were supposed to leave at 5.30pm. It was now 5.45pm. We explained that we were not told about having to leave and that we actually wanted to order dessert. He left to get the hostess.

The hostess came over to us and very condescendingly said `oh...did I not tell you I needed the table back? Sorry'. I then asked if there was another place we could move to as there was a few empty tables. She said that she could maybe ask but that there was a booking coming in. I again asked if we could be moved to another table as there were many free. The host offered us a seat at the bar. I apologized and said that I couldn't sit at the bar with my crutches as I had just had a hip operation and that I needed a low table. She again reiterated that we needed to leave the table and that she could "maybe ask my manager if there's a possibility you could have another table".

At that point we had felt so uncomfortable that we decided to leave. We counted 14 free tables on our way out of the door. We were highly disappointed with how we were treated after spending money in this premises. We will definitely not be...

Horrible customer service. Me and my partner booked a table for brunch at this place on a very special day for us. We were running late because of traffic, so we tried to contact the restaurant to notify them. We tried calling them several times, texting them, even sent them an email, texted them through OpenTable platform where we booked the table; no one replied to anything. When we finally arrived, they already cancelled our booking. We explained that we tried contacting them in all ways possible, to which they didn’t apologise or anything, and just said that it’s busy so they didn’t reply. They sat us inside, and the entire time we were at the restaurant, it was packed with customers, however, there were always several staff members available to check if someone tried contacting them about bookings, but of course they didn’t do that, because they’re “busy” as they say. The restaurant inside is extremely noisy, and at least half of that noise comes from the staff members themselves. They talk and laugh with each other louder than customers. For a place that aims to provide a fine dining experience, something like this seems very inappropriate. The staff members are definitely not trained to provide customer service whatsoever here. Also the table we asked for in our booking was outside. However, they somehow did not notice that we want a table outside. The tables outside are also only available from 1 pm, which is not mentioned literally anywhere and we found out about it only at the restaurant after making a booking. So we wouldn’t have been able to sit at the table we booked, even if we arrived on time (which was before 1pm). In the end, the staff did not apologise for not replying to our calls or for not checking the booking info correctly; in fact, it seemed like they don’t even think it’s their fault. The food here is good, but many other restaurants have food of the same quality or better and also treat their customers well, unlike this place. Would not recommend this...

Only gave it 1 star because can't give any lower. We made a reservation weeks ago from Australia for our wedding anniversary for 6 pm. After travelling for 24 hours we just wanted a nice meal and an early night. Arrived at 5.50, the greeter asked our name, looked us up on the screen and told us we were 30 minutes early. We said no, we have a booking receipt if you want to see it, he grunted, grabbed menus walked to a table and dropped them and walked off. The waitress came over and asked what we wanted for dinner, we said, can we have a drink first, drinks ordered, we looked at the menu and it was the pre theater menu, which was very limited, a burger $40, small steak $80 etc. We checked the website in Australia before we came and we liked the alacarte menu. When asked if we could see that menu, we were told, no can't order before 7pm. Got our drinks after 20 minutes, my g and t was excellent. The waitress came back and asked if we were ready to order, we said no, explained why... she came back after another 15 minutes and said she consulted with management and they agreed to allow us to order off the alacarte menu 30 minutes early. True Story, We read a lot of revues on here and think they are made up, but.... How dare a restaurant have the audacity to not allow us to order off their after 7pm menu 30 minutes early in the first instance. At no time did the sour faced greeter come near us, the poor waitress was a little embarrassed and we assured her it was not her fault. Having travelled from Australia to Dublin and expected a lovely dining experience to be treated like this is hopefully not the standard of customer service in Ireland which I don't think is. So if you are thinking of going to this restaurant think twice. If you are going go after 7 pm if you want the full menu. I have read many revues on here and doubt a lot, but trust...