McGillicuddys Five Corners — Restaurant in Essex Junction

I'm a disabled vet in a power wheelchair with a black German shepherd service dog. I just finished a four hour ride home from Boston and was starving. I went to this pub. When I came inside I sat just inside the door for about five minutes and there was no seats at the bar I could sit comfortably at the bar so I slowly drove around since no one greeted me or asked me to wait. Bartender or waitstaff. I found a seat on other side of restaurant where it was almost empty. I waited for ten min before someone came and wiped the table across from me but not mine. she came back twice intentionally ignoring me before I stopped her. She glares at me then angrily tells me I'm not allowed to seat myself smacking her hands together. I told her I had waited at the door but no one spoke to me and because I am partially blind I did not see a sign telling me to wait. She was screaming and slapping her hands that if I raised my voice to her she does not have to serve me. I told her I do NOT want HER to serve me. I had an alleged Manager speak with me and I explained what had happened. She told me no worries she would have a server come assist me. Couple seated next to me couldn't believe how badly the waitress had treated me said she should not be a waitress. I couldn't agree more. Never have been threatened by an ignorant child waitress before. I have eaten at many Irish pubs from Maine to New Jersey. Never have been treated so badly not even close. Not at any of hundreds of restaurants I have eaten at around the world. The couple who witnessed everything couldn't understand why she was so overwhelmed in a restaurant that wasn't even half full. I couldn't agree with them more. I was so disgusted I couldn't enjoy a meal there and just left. Ignorant waitress almost walked into my service dog as I was leaving and all I can say is extremely good choice for her that she didn't. I just spent $46 for steak tips and a Guinness in Boston before tip. Amazing service and food. I was at this bar once before and was ONLY person at bar. Service and staff like this are the reason so many fail and close. Personally I would strongly recommend avoiding this...

I really wanted to like McGillicuddy’s, I really did. Some friends and I went to Thursday night trivia - which was pretty fun, good mix of questions - but the rest of the experience was terrible.

I ordered a soda which they gave me in a broken cup, so it leaked root beer all over the table. They brought me a new one, but they didn’t give us any more napkins to replace the ones we’d used up cleaning up the soda. I then ordered the most basic thing on the menu - chicken tenders - and they were raw (see the attached photo). When I asked for a new batch (after trying to flag down our server for a good ten minutes, a whole round of trivia) the server took it away and then came back to ask me if I wanted a whole new batch, or just to have the raw one replaced. ??? Obviously I wasn’t going to eat anything that had raw chicken juices on it, what kind of a question is that? The replacement basket was the thinnest, most overcooked chicken I’ve ever seen in my life; I guess they really wanted to make sure I didn’t have any underdone pieces, but it felt like they were punishing me for their mistake.

All in all, there are way better places for bar trivia in the area. Avoid McGillicuddy’s unless you like your tables with a side of root beer puddles and your chicken with a side...

I don't know how this place is in the winter, but it definitely is great for outside dining in nice weather. The food, while mainly limited to pub fare, is rather delicious with ample portions. The waitstaff is quite friendly, too. The only thing that might be off-putting to out-of-towners is their very strange entryways. You have to go through a strange, dark and desolate corridor from the parking lot to find your way to the bar and dining room. If it weren't for the signage, you might think that you entered the wrong place. One thing though that I truly despise about this place and any of our local pubs in general, however, is the massive televisions that litter virtually every flat surface in the whole place. I've always felt that television watching is best done at home and fail to understand how anyone could even remotely enjoy watching it with the sound off. I just find them archaic and distracting because if you need to know that big game's score, you probably already have a device in your pocket that can find out for you. But whatever, go ahead and subject the rest of us to your...