The Legendary Monarch Public House — Restaurant in Fountain City

I hate to do this because I really want small businesses to thrive (especially in the food scene) but since I value honest reviewers while in search of a great place to eat/drink, I feel obligated to share back.

Our visit to the Monarch Public House started high and ended low. I really enjoy the feel of an old pub style building and this building, for the most part, has it. Pleasantly dark, tall ceilings and lined with an old wood bar. The decor is a little over the top but not so much to be gaudy.

Ordered a Guinness - I'm not sure I got a full pint, it was in a strange hour glass shaped "pop" glass, but maybe that's what they offer. Things started downhill with the service. It wasn't bad, just not good. I had to get up twice after waiting for over 5 minutes for my server to recognize I had a question or wanted another Guinness. I tried to ask her if they made their own fries and she said no, with a side of hostility, as if to be offended by revealing the fact they're not homemade.

When the meal came, my family and I quickly discovered that just about everything was from the freezer. I ordered the 2 piece fish and chips. The only thing I partially enjoyed were the french cut carrots. My onion rings and fries were soggy and had a slight taste of freezer burn. The fish was borderline gross - think fish sticks as a kid that Mom took out of the freezer, under cooked and then forced you to eat them. My wife's pork sandwich was mediocre at best, the roll it was served on being the only good part (seemed like it was fresh made but not sure).

Our kids split a burger and said it was OK - I tasted one of their cheese curds - tasted only like fried question mark with no sign of cheese taste and were obviously from the freezer.

The owner is helpful and quick to help in his lazy wait staff's absence but as you will read in his replies, his pride supersedes his humility which is off putting.

My summary - charging 10+ dollars a plate for frozen food with an authentic "Irish" branding is cause for a bad review. I can go to Culvers fast food (which I would never choose) and get better food. It was simply disappointing to walk out having spent that much on lunch on something that is not supposed to be fast food. Everything served at a place like this should be fresh made, not frozen. Might work as a bar only but the food doesn't qualify...

5 stars is not enough. Seriously one of the best places I've ever eaten. My husband and I got quite a lot of food because everything sounded delicious! We shared the Irish potato soup and Dingle Bay Dip. Both were so good we almost licked the dishes clean. I had the Shannon plate which was amazing and my husband had the Steak and Bacon pie which he said was fantastic. Even the drinks were awesome! The bloody Mary was perfect (I'm very picky with my Bloody Marys). A little kick without being too spicy. My husband had the Great Golden Lager. I'm not a beer person at all, my husband usually gets my chaser for my Bloody's, but wow was it good! I almost got a glass myself it was so good. The staff were just absolutely phenomenal. It was a quiet night and we were the only ones in there so the staff would come over and make conversation with us. They are easy to talk to and very down to earth. As soon as you walk in you can feel the love and passion they've put into everything about this place. It almost feels like going to someone's place to have a great home-cooked meal and connect with the people around you. They even had trivia cards at the table which we loved because we talked and laughed with each other instead of being on our phones. Back to the food though because I can't explain how delicious it is. The Irish Potato soup. Best. Thing. Ever. I almost went back to ask if they would fill a thermos with soup. I'm so sad I don't live closer because I would survive on food from here for the...

We were in there Saturday night and the bartender told us that as long as we sat at the bar we didn't have to wear masks and we complied accordingly. Other than the 8 of us in our party there were 4 other customers in the bar who quickly donned their masks the minute we entered and kept them on until they left 30 minutes later.

Shortly after they left the owner walks through the door with an angry look on his face and states, "I spaced these bar stools apart for a reason!" The only problem was we never moved the bar stools other than pulling them out to sit down. Other than that though, they were in the exact same spots they were when we walked in. In addition there were no markers on the floor to indicate where the bar stools were supposed to be placed so in the absence of a tape measure we were pretty much left to determine our own safe social distance.

After we informed him that we never moved the chairs he proceeded to walk into the kitchen, yelled at one of his employees and then stormed back out the door. I'm not sure what his problem was but it's safe to say we'll never go back there again. That said the Golden Frog just down the block was awesome, great food, great staff, great clientele and a huge drink selection. Also want to say that the bartender at the Monarch was awesome as well but the owner could not have been more rude or...