Culhane's Irish Pub & Restaurant — Restaurant in Jacksonville

They opened earlier than usual for a Jaguar game (that was being played in London). We decided to go there to watch the game. They advertised food, drinks, tv’s -(the usual) on their social media. We get there well before doors opened (at 8am). Once we saw people walking in (BEFORE 8am) we decided to go in and find a place to sit and watch the game - there were 4 of us. There were signs posted on the front doors saying NO RESERVATIONS. We walk in, a hostess/waitress greets us (not very friendly) and tells us all seats with silverware are reserved. Huh? I thought they didn’t take reservations? We scope the place out and thankfully find 4 seats, together. As we looked around, every single table had 5-7 “reserved seats” that were randomly selected.

Food. - we ordered the Reuben rolls and while they took 20+ minutes to come out, they were delicious. We also had the pretzel (they have two on the menu, a smaller one and a larger one). We got the larger one. It came with a hot mustard sauce and a cheese sauce. Cheese sauce was runny (not thick at all) but good. The staff/owners walked around and offered a local bakery’s Jaguars themed donuts for a small price. We declined.

Drinks - we ordered their $16 special, a bottle of champagne and OJ for mimosas. This was for 3 out of the 4 of us. It came with a very small container of OJ, which we were told if we wanted more OJ, it was $2/glass. I ordered a lemon martini in addition to the mimosas and while it was good, for the $10 price tag it was literally the smallest martini I’ve ever had. Friends ordered beer and a cider and were pleased with their drinks. A waitress was offering free shots of whiskey and we did indulge in that, which was a nice gesture.

Our waiter was OK. When we initially placed our order for drinks he asked for ONE card to open the tab. My fiancé gave his card but told our waiter the card was only for him and me. The other two people in our party were to pay their own. He was very quick with his response and was more concerned with getting our drink order. We place our drink and appetizer (2) order. The drinks and food come out. We ate, drank and watched the game. He comes back to check on us (not as often as we would’ve liked) and we ask for another round of drinks and one person in our party wanted more food. My fiancé agreed to put the mimosas and my additional drink on his tab but when we AGAIN stated the other 2 people in our party were to pay their own, he got an attitude, was quite snippy and said “then I’m gonna need additional forms of payment from them”. They already had their cards out and gave them to him, while wondering why he had an attitude. I get it was busy and loud but he needs to learn how to talk to people. He seemed rushed and impatient.

Overall, our experience was OK. Based on our experience, we will find somewhere else to go...

I am a huge Food Network fan, so whenever Guy Fieri features a local establishment, I must check it out. This place is one of the original Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives restaurants.

It's a great Irish pub with friendly staff and plenty of TVs on the walls to keep up with the latest sports. However, I was a bit put off when I walked to the entrance and was greeted by a cloud of cigarette smoke, as the smoking area faces the parking lot.

Once inside, we were greeted and seated promptly. Our server was polite and provided detailed information about the menu, even offering samples of a few top choices for us to try.

The Guinness Beef Stew was delicious, featuring large chunks of beef, potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms in a rich, thick, flavorful broth. The potato and leek soup was also full of great flavor.

The sweet shepherd's pie was different from what I expected; I’ve never had it prepared that way before, and I wasn’t pleased enough to order a whole serving.

The menu has many appealing items that would warrant a return visit. They are renowned for their fish and chips, but I wanted something more traditional this time.

We started with a Scotch egg, which I had seen on the show and wanted to try. I was pleasantly surprised by the mashed potatoes, which added a flavor that complemented the dish beautifully.

For our main course, we ordered corned beef and cabbage, as well as mac and cheese with blackened shrimp, paired with a side of hot sauce.

The mac and cheese was spot on! The collaboration with Goat Cheese offers a pungent flavor that complements well. The corned beef and cabbage were well-presented; the corned beef was incredibly tender, and the flavors were good, but it could have benefited from additional seasoning. One drawback was that the dish appeared to have been left under the salamander heater for too long.

The cabbage mixed with sweet onions offered a nice flavor. The horseradish sauce would benefit from a more potent punch of horseradish flavor.

We visited on trivia night and participated in the event while sharing bread pudding.

I'm still undecided about the bread pudding. I understand it is made in collaboration with Cinnotti’s Bakery, another local favorite. I didn’t entirely dislike it, but it wasn't appealing enough for me to finish.

Even though it’s an hour's ride to get here, I would return to try more items from the menu...

My husband, best friend, her father and I had dinner here tonight. I’m extremely disappointed. Normally if the food is amazing and service is bad, I can handle it. If the service is amazing and the food is bad, ok cool. Tonight, everything was terrible. Our server, Desiree, was either too far in the weeds or new and needed way more training. She was much more concerned with her other tables. We were left for 15 minutes without her even approaching us yet visited the table next to us four times. She didn’t know what nonalcoholic beverages were available. She also didn’t know which beer and liquor offered. Our joiners hadn’t arrived yet and would be 15 minutes late but we knew what they wanted to order. When she finally came back to the table we told her that we could go ahead and order and she asked us to wait while she went and tended to the table next to us again. She came back after the other two arrived. Food came out looking absolutely disgusting. The corned beef had definitely been sitting in a pot all day and was inedible. Desiree also forgot to put my husband’s food in. She blamed the kitchen but you see, I’m a server and know that trick. I watched her go right over to the POS and put it in then go to the kitchen to tell the cooks. The restaurant was busy but not busy enough for all of this to take place. Then when it came time to sign our bills she made sure to be super attentive at that point so that we’d be kind with our gratuity after our terrible experience. She knew she messed up royally, neglected us, forgot food, left us needing refills and generally gave us a terrible experience and was trying to make her money. Make sure you’re not serving a server who knows all the tricks. It’s a shame because my experience with the Culhane’s at the beach has been quite different. Definitely won’t be back. I still tipped her 20% because I understand bad nights but this definitely needed to...