O'Malleys In the Alley — Restaurant in Cincinnati

I was told that I needed to give them a try. Being a corporate traveling hospitality professional in the food and beverag industry, I did.

I am expecting a traditional Irish restaurant and my want for a good reuben sandwich along with some great hospitality. Well, unfortunately, I received none of that. The two bartenders were less than welcoming and did nothing to make my visit worth a repeat. I was told to come to the bar to place my order, which i did, and the guy behind the bar actually walked away when I came up to place my order. The lady bartender was not welcoming either. Nevertheless, I ordered the reuben and chips along with an old fashioned with Woodford. The drink was less than sub-par (some will remark) it's an Irish pub. That's no excuse for not knowing a nationally recognized beverage for a bartender. The sandwich was definitely not a suitable sandwich for an Irish establishment. I asked for my check upon completing my meal, and the same guy at the bar told me to go to the bar to get it. I did, and the young lady was busy, so he ended up getting it. Again, being in the hospitality industry, I respect my service staff and normally tip at least 50% or above. I did that in spite of not feeling welcomed by the staff. Interesting as it may be, I felt more welcomed by other patrons than I did from the staff.

Would I recommend or return? That's a definite "NO."

If you decide to venture to this location, please have very low expectations, and they may exceed them.

I'm only giving them the rating I did because of the patrons that spoke in passing or at least made me...

O'Malleys is kind of our go to staple when we're downtown... or rather when we decide to do something other than what we came down for...

"I'm hungry" "Lets go to O'Malleys!" "I just want a cheap beer" "O'Malleys!!" I just want to go sit down someplace warm" Got the hint yet?

And then its off down the yellow brick road... or the red one? or... ok it's one of these 2, ok maybe 3 alleys... or that one. OH! There it is! Even if you've been before it doesn't guarentee you can ever find the danged place. But thats part of its charm. That its not going to be packed, and its especially not going to be packed full of hipsters. In fact it'll be semi full of all sorts of people! Young, old, downtown, burbs, you name it.

Their food is typical yummy greasy dive bar goodness with a twist. Their specialty by far is the smashers. A panini like sandwhich served with chips and amazing ranch dressing. (seriously turkey and provalone dipped in the ranch, YUM!) They have a shortened menu for major events, but it's still good. For Opening Day they had a HomeRun Sundae. Mashed potatoes, roast beef, gravy and a cherry tomato on top. It was great after a day of drinking.

You won't find girly drinks here, unless it's a mixed drink. And their pitchers are $6 or less! Also feel free to help yourself to the giant barrel of peanuts by the firplace. Don't worry, you can throw the shells on the floor. The bathrooms are cramped, but decent.. so you're not going to cram 5...

We happened upon this place while in the area for the Van Gogh experience. Everything about this joint was amazing, from the atmosphere to the service to the food.

We started with a round of beers, as one is wont to do while traveling. They had a few local beers on tap, which were really good. If you like onion rings, you should definitely get these. They were hot and crispy and delicious. All three of the empanadas were really good and we would have been happy with just more of those for our meal.

We decided to just share a couple of chicken tender baskets with our appetizers. I don't think I can accurately describe how surprisingly large the chicken tenders were, but the 3 of us would have been fine with one order. They were very large, but they were still cooked to perfection.

Anyway, if you're debating about it, you should just go check...