Riley's Pour House — Restaurant in Carnegie

Three years ago this would have been a five stars review without any doubt. But, since the new owner took over in 2019, I have watched changes taking place here that make me think that I might need to find someplace else to go in Carnegie. The food is usually good enough (depending on what you order and how busy they are) but the atmosphere and the way the owner views his customers is so NOT Irish. This place is about making money and not about serving the legacy of the bar or "keeping the torch lit" as it says in the bar. I was in there two weeks ago to get some fish and chips, which are quite good, and I look forward to them every time I am in Carnegie for a show. September 17th was "halfway to St. Patrick's Day" and there was going to be a party at Riley's later on. But, it was 2 PM and the place was dead with maybe 30 people and a mediocre musician playing guitar. Five bucks cover per person. Okay, I just want lunch. But, it's halfway to St. Patrick's Day, they tell me. Fine. I'll pay for the bad guitarist because I like this place and the food is good. I ask if I can go in the bar because I don't want to be in the very loud garage with the bad music. I'm told that I can, but it's a limited menu and there's no table service because... it's (you guessed it) Halfway to St. Patrick's Day. Fine, says I. I usually sit at the bar anyway... except there are no barstools because it's halfway to St Patrick's Day. Jesus Christ! Really? Okay. So, we order drinks at the bar that has no stools and I order food. They bring us nitro beer in plastic cups because it's halfway to St. Patrick's Day and we can't be trusted with glass for reasons that are only clear to the owner. Okay... it's fine. I'm not amused but whatever. Then, my fish and chips arrive... in a to-go container with packets of ketchup and malt vinegar and plastic utensils. Because... it's Halfway to St. Patrick's Day and we are only doing takeout. Mind you, there were thirty people in the place. I resent paying $57 with tip for takeout. If I wanted to eat out of styrofoam, I would have gone to Long John Silver's! Oh, and my daughter's shot was served in plastic too. Then, they tried to charge me extra for the mediocre tartar sauce that I didn't receive. I was shocked that it wasn't in packets.

On a side note, I was last at Riley's in March and they weren't giving patrons silverware then. Everyone was getting plasticware. The coffee is always in styrofoam cups and brunch is served on paper plates. At the time, I didn't think about it too hard. If you eat in the garage, I can see not wanting glass out there... but, this is about the owner not wanting to hire a dishwasher or not wanting to pay to buy real dishes. The credit card surcharge will pay for either in a busy weekend.

There's a dollar added to everyone who uses a card. They don't tell you. That's not okay.

The horrible green led lights in the bar belong in a frat house; not in a pub. And, the two things in the small bar that made it so special was the tiny stage and the real piano. The tiny stage used to have real Irish music before this new owner took over. Now, it's used for storage and it looks tacky and cheap. The piano is sitting silent. The server told my daughter it's "broken" and that's why it's collecting dust. In reality, the new owner doesn't care about the small pub. He just wants to make as much money as he can and bleed Riley's dry so he can retire and leave the shell for the next owner, if there's anything left to pass.

The servers try their best but the owner cares so little about his patrons that they just shrug and offer to "cash you out" if you complain... and then they avoid you rather than trying to make you happy. It's a shame. I used to love this pub. I'm sure I won't be back until the torch is...

So this review is about a specific event held at Riley's. I remember coming here about 3 years ago and the food being decent. But after my most recent visit I was very disappointed. A few Sundays ago me and my boyfriend attended the St. Patrick's Day event. We had to pay a $10 cover even to just set foot in the restaurant which seemed silly to me. My boyfriend said places usually do that because of entertainment performing, but no one was performing the entire time we were there (45 minutes to an hour). We ended up sitting in the outdoor area set up on the street for the event due to it being so packed in the restaurant. The menu was limited, you could only pick from a list of certain items, some of which were already sold out. When we ordered at the food tent the 2 girls had apparently been putting orders wrong and someone came out to correct the problem which made the wait even longer. Some orders of food were done sooner than others and just sat in boxes on a table until the rest of the order was done, resulting in some of the food being cold. I ordered the rueben rolls and tots, the tots were done way before the rolls and ended up being cold. Reuben rolls were good, just pricey for what you got ($13 for 2 egg rolls cut in half). My boyfriend ordered the fish sandwich meal which was supposed to come with fries and coleslaw. What he got was a single small piece of fish and a bag of chips. He went back to inquire, and they gave him just a bun. The drink tent was having technical difficulties so my boyfriend ran inside to get us drinks. The whole experience left me feeling unsatisfied and I felt like we definitely overpaid. I hope they figure things out so it's less chaotic in the future. Note: my boyfriend and his friends who have lived in the area for years mentioned ever since ownership changed hands the food and service has went downhill. Let's hope...

I read the reviews before heading out to the bar and it stated that the bartender was a issue to say the least and I figured hopefully the person who all these people are complaining about isn’t here if she is that’s fine they have a pool table so I wont sit at the bar, I go in and the vibe of the place was less then terrible and the bar tender was a straight up you know what I am 26 years old I am covered in tattoos with my birth year tattooed on my wrist she couldn’t care less she said my ID “didn’t feel right” I pulled out all of my credit/debit cards I offered to show her my address on Amazon orders social media pages she said without a passport she refuses service …realistically she was just being ignorant that was the entire problem she was clearly having a bad day so she was taking it out on me based on reviews everyday is a bad day for her she clearly lives in straight misery I will be happily come in and show the owner my ID anytime if they would like if they ever have cops there to scan it oh I would love that I tip super good so it’s really her loss more or less the owners I could only imagine how many customers she’s ran off with her attitude I would not recommend this bar to anyone I see why the bar was empty on a Friday night every other bar I went to in Carnegie last night was completely packed I didn’t get the bar tenders name but it’s the dark haired fake Yonkers with a flat back bartender I'm convinced any good review on this bar was when she was not working in my small...