Frank O'Dowd's Irish Pub & Grill — Restaurant in Galena

Went to the pub around 2p on 6/3/23. The place was pretty empty. My party and I had just come from downtown Galena but had arranged to meet my wedding cake baker to go over things at the pub as she and I are both from out of town. We were seated at a table as I had my two underaged daughters with me as well as my mother in law and best friend. We were asked what we wanted to eat and I explained we were just going to have drinks as we were waiting for someone. The waitress got a little snotty and said "you have another person?" in a not friendly tone. I said yes we are waiting for my baker, we won't be eating but we would like to order drinks. I started to order and the waitress just walked away without saying anything while I was speaking. Minutes pass and a manager comes and says "I hear you're bringing outside food in." I said no we are not. I said we are meeting my wedding cake baker to finalize things but wanted to have drinks while we waited. She said she'd charge us for the cake brought in. I said cake is not being brought inside. I then explained it was rude her waitress left without saying anything. She could've said excuse me or anything of the like. We were then treated like a waste of space by the manager and we had planned on tipping a huge amount for taking up a table, even though the place was sparse. The manager took our drink order. When we got our drinks the glasses were dirty with food particles we could scratch off. We decided to pay our bill and leave because I wasn't up for another confrontation as that truly is not my personality.

My fiancé and I have been to the pub quite a few times in our travels and recommended it previously but won't anymore. The entire encounter was bizarre and unprofessional.

Many people come to the pub for drinks only, it was hot outside, above 90 degrees and we wanted a place to relax and drink while we waited for the baker but were treated as an...

Having visited Frank O’Dowds several years ago before moving back overseas to Éire, the couple who previously owned the Irish Cottage and pub were very lovely and had an authentic menu and Irish pub experience.

However, just recently visited the pub for dinner and a few different drinks were not available (understandable as we just went through a pandemic) so I order a pint of Harp and Lime, for those who don’t know would be Harp larger and lime juice.

I was brought a small glass of harp and half a lime.. when asked if they had lime juice at all, I was told “they don’t do that here”.

moving forward to dinner I got the cottage pie (Shepards pie on the menu) and we also got the Bangers and mash and we asked if they had HP or brown sauce and was told they only had Tabasco sauce.

The food was alright, but overall the food and drinks are lacking certain aspects of a proper Irish pub and didn’t wow me as it did several years ago.

When the food was brought out so was the check, which meant the waitress was never seen again, and upon giving the cash to pay, the waitress assumed that $40 was her tip, and had to ask for my change.

Frank O’Dowd’s has the all the characteristics to be an amazing Irish Pub but unfortunately with it not having certain aspects it feels just like a normal...

My husband and I come to Galena for our anniversary. We love coming to this restaurant! The food never disappoints and the service is always excellent! Our sever on 2-12-2022 was Sydia! She was so nice, attentive and even waited until I was off the phone (needed to take the call, otherwise I would have let it go to voicemail) before approaching our table to take our order! Due to their expansion of the kitchen and outside dinning, they offered a buffet-style dinner which was very good! The salad was really good even though i wasn’t sure of some of the optional toppings, but if you are adventurous as I am with food (I’ll try anything, within reason) you will experience a wonderful culinary experience! The buffet side offered fish and chips, grilled chicken with a tomato salsa relish, roasted potatoes, roasted Brussels Sprouts and green beans, a bourbon whiskey salmon, a patti- burger (I think) on a pretzel bun, and a few other choices I can’t remember … and a large selection of sprits! Hearthfire Duo was playing that night, whom we have seen, and they are very good! We look forward to coming here every year and made Frank O’Dowd’s a part of our anniversary tradition. You will not be disappointed when...