Irish Democrat — Restaurant in Cedar Rapids

Wonderful customer service from Liz. Best part of the experience. Second, retro atmosphere.

The last time, a few years ago, when I’d visited with friends didn’t like the food. Didn’t finish my chicken sandwich. A first.

My friend really wanted to eat here. Shared my previous experience. And, agreed to try it again. This visit, veggie sandwich with Portabella.

The mushroom was nicely grilled. The rest of the sandwich didn’t make sense after I began eating flavor wise. I asked to skip the cream cheese. That was a weird topping. The ranch was good on the side.

The pepper and onion was raw. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Grilled would be better. Once the mushroom was gone didn’t finish the rest of the sandwich. Mainly because the veggies weren’t fresh. Guessing they were running low and mine was at the end of the bin.

You may like this restaurant if you’re use to eating fast food standard prepped veggies.

I’ve been to chef school and ran a couple of high end kitchens. Plus, have worked in a restaurant similar to this place. The difference would be in veggie prep and combinations of food on the plate. Not sure what brand of sour dough this was. Didn’t taste like it.

The veggie sandwich with mushroom would benefit from fresh sliced Roma tomato and mozz or provolone, grilled onion, and a couple of leaves of Romaine. It’d be very easy to have a head to rip a couple of nice pieces off. They’d make the sandwich look lush. A few basil and oregano leaves chopped with a scissor. Garlic olive oil grilled baguette for bread.

Or, if making like hamburger style, improve the veggie presentation. Fresh sliced. More lettuce. For the prices this would be a welcomed improvement.

Overall a...

I dont like to say things that aren't nice. To be fair, it was my second time and it was St Patrick's Day weekend. But at the same time, I feel like management should have known that, too. My server was running like a chicken with her head cut off, she had about 8 or 9 tables and I was a party of 6. We planned for dinner and drinks, and we could hardly catch her to say anything. My food was burnt. My girlfriend's food was burnt. It took an awfully long time to come out, but again, I forgive. The restaurant was totally packed. By the time I was finished though, I wasnt hungry, yet a remake magically came out in less than 5 minutes. I ordered chicken strips and fries. The portion was rather light for $11. It looked like they shredded a single chicken breast and breaded it. I had to wait until after I finished to get the cole slaw I ordered. The alcohol selection was rather limited, which isnt what I expect from an "Irish" establishment. I had to talk to the manager three times before anything was done, and he comped the burnt meals. The bill was still $200 with the included gratuity charge, and he didnt seem much concerned about my complaints about the service. We intended to spend another $100 and leave a pretty generous tip, but we decided to cut our losses and leave. My cousin and roommate heard our server muttering on the way out. I dont expect that I'll go back, but I might consider it sometime. My wife's French dip was amazing and some plates I saw going by looked great. I'm sure the food is good and the service is fine on a slower day, but the Irish Democrat did not bring their A-game for a holiday that called them up for...

We called ahead to ask how late they were open because their website is unclear, it has opening times for the bar but only closing times for the kitchen. We were told that the kitchen closed at 11, and the bar usually closes about 30 minutes after that BUT if there were a decent amount of people there they would stay open. So we let them know a large group of us(about 20 people) would be there after work to celebrate our wedding. Most of us got there around 1030. We ordered food and asked if we could move to the back because the front didn't have enough room. After commenting on the fact that she had already closed down the back, she reluctantly said she would open it. She stayed busy to make sure we were checked on...but in a very pushy manner. I suppose even though we called we caught her off guard? Everyone with my group was drinking. I requested water with a bunch of lemon...which apparently is 2. Our food was....ok. the nachos were HUGE and in good portion but the chicken was way over cooked as though it was cooking all day...which I guess is what we get ordering food in the last 30 minutes. The waitress announced last call for drinks at 1140....so I guess when they said they'd stay open later they meant...minutes later. Our group collectively spent around $400 just to be rushed out. I'm sure if I felt like going during the day my review would be better....but if we would have known set closing hours and not been told they'd stay open, we would have just gone elsewhere. Definitely expected better hospitality for the amount of money we spent there in the...