O'Huids Gaelic Pub — Restaurant in Hocking Township

Walked into this bar, expecting to see more of a restaurant. Stood at the front door for around 10 minutes before being acknowledged. The bartender finally took 3 second to let us know we could sit anywhere. There were a few high top tables just inside the door, to your left, upon walking in. There was an elongated elevated bench, beyond that. It had "tables" that came up to around knee level. The bar was to your right, which sat around 7-8 people, if I recall correctly. In the rear of the bar were 2 low top tables in the middle and 3 high top tables to the right. At the very rear was the kitchen entrance, just beyond the jukebox. There were no printed menus. The only available menu was at the entrance, written on a sandwich board. Our waitress was not... versed (for lack of a better term) on what the menu was today. I don't necessarily blame her, since the "restaurant" had only recently opened. The claim was that the menu changed every day. That left us with a slightly unsettled feeling. We ordered drinks first. 1 bottled beer, 1 draft cider, 1 scotch, and a mixed "shot". We were told that there was going to be a delay on the drinks. From our vantage point, we could observe the bartender in full view. She stood in front of one customer and didn't move for a good 10 minutes. No one's drinks got started until the barback went behind the bar and started making drinks. The beer, cider, and scotch sat on the bar for an additional 10 minutes, before the "shot" was made. I was charged more for the scotch than they had advertised on the chalkboard above the entrance. We ordered 2 orders of fish and chips, and 1 order of "lamb lollipops." The fish and chips were decent. They had a good breading. A little sweeter than I typically like, but still tasty. The lollipops... well... there were 2 chops, each served atop a slaw-esque salad. It felt like they were trying to serve gourmet, yet fell short. I was truly hoping for a much better experience. I had been looking forward to eatting here for over a month, ever since I saw the sign go up above the entrance. I feel that the failure of the staff to simply acknowledge us when we walked in the door really set the precedence of the entire meal and visit. It truly marred what could have been decent. I doubt we will...

This is an over due review by almost a year. My husband and I stopped in on a Saturday in the fall of last year.

They have a beautiful storefront on Main St., in downtown Lancaster that catches your eye driving by. Their small, but adequate patio is dressed with loving touches and garnished with colorful flowers.

PARKING A bit challenging at first, but there is street parking and there are parking lots for downtown Lancaster.

Recognizing it was a ‘mom and pop’ upon walking in, sitting at the bar and being greeted by Tori and Judy. Mom, daughter and at times, family owned/operated establishment. You can see that there is heart and soul in this place.

ESTHETIC Dressing the dining room with unique and antique furniture/decor gives the feeling of a Gaelic (Scottish/Irish) pub. Giving the space a feeling of home for those familiar with ‘traditional’ pub-style aesthetics.

FOOD Wonderful, juicy, creative burgers and offering Gaelic-pub inspired options adding a sense of comfort to their menu. *

Drinks Many of their cocktails were incredible, delicious, elegant, hand-crafted and beautifully garnished. These cocktails take time to make, be patient because they operate best, at a rate they can handle. Guinness Draft and cider a couple of others. Bottles of Imports, a few domestics, ciders etc

SERVICE The service is excellent and personable on moderate volume nights.

PERSONAL NOTES I extend ‘grace’ to many ‘mom and pops’ that I visit and observe are family-owned/operated. They tend to have a small staff and are doing the best they can to handle the challenges of owning a food/beverage service business. They do more than you think and it is hard-work. They truly do a great deal and genuinely do a great job.

*NOTE: At the time, the food menu(s)were way too big and there were too many food(3-4)/drink(3-4) ‘separate’ menus. Too much to read, look at and absorb.

PERSONAL NOTES As a person whom has 20 years in food/bev service would say having too many menus makes it ‘too busy’ to execute efficiently, too crazy to prep, difficult to manage/update menus and can be overwhelming for guests. I am not saying they have these challenges, but my experiences would suggest they...

This was our 3rd time visiting this venue and the last 2 times we gave them some grace being a little slow becuase there was a big weekend event going on. This time we were excited for date night and made a reservation ahead of time. Our chairs were far to tall for our table to it was really uncomfortable not to mention that we felt we were sitting in the middle of the room. It was also very hot in the restaurant. Our reservation was at 645 we didnt get to order our drinks until about 715 so we went ahead and put in our appetizer order and food order too worried how long it would be if we waitied again. We finally got drinks around 730. The drinks were ok. We got a Guinness old fashioned which was far too sweet and not what I would call an old fashioned at all, an nutty Irish coffee which was very strong and not balanced and if it has whipped cream and described eas melted by the time it got to the table and the green tea cocktail which was very bland and lacking flavor. We each ordered an appetizer one regular and one off the test kitchen menu. Both had clearly sat under the lights and were cold, dry and flavorless. The stuffed mushrooms (seeking the fae) were chewy like rubber and the filling was soggy and bland. The cheese curds were burned and all of the cheese has melted out of them. We only has 2 sets of silverware and 3 napkins for 4 people and ended up walking up to the bar to get more since we ordered ly saw our waitress when she took our order and brought our stuff out. 2 of us ordered the cottage pie, which was ok. It was lacking the gravy that was supposed to be in it and was a little dry and also bland. The bread that was served with it was delicious though. The other two ordered the seafood plate and fish and chips, fries were cold, fish was cold and the clam strips were rubbery and also clearly sat under the lights for a while. The coleslaw was good as was the fresh tartar sauce. I would not go back, sadly this was a very...