The Irish Whisper — Restaurant in Maryland

This review is more of a warning to potential customers, especially if you are local to the area like us. I’m guessing that management is likely taking advantage of the conventioneers and their expense accounts, with their expensive food.

First, my wife and I had an early dinner on a Saturday around 6:00pm. This was unplanned as I had left my credit card at the bar the night before, and we had to return to retrieve it. More later on why I may have forgotten my card.

My wife selected the Craic Burger for $16, described as “ground beef, Irish Cheddar, brioche bun, served with waffle fries or salad,” and then there are 3 add-ons listed: “Bacon - 3 Avocado – 3 Fried Egg – 3.” When she ordered it, the waitress asked my wife if she wanted cheese, and, of course, she said yes because “Irish cheddar” is listed as included.

I chose the Warm Pastrami Reuben for $14, described as “sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, 1000 island, marble rye,” but I was told that they were out of rye bread and was asked whether Texas toast would be OK instead.

A Reuben without rye?! I think not! And there are at least 4 grocery stores within a 10-15 minute ride of the restaurant.

So I then selected the Craic Burger as well and told the waitress that I wanted mine just as my wife had ordered hers. I also washed down my meal with two ice cold Smithwick’s ales (at $7.50 each) that the Irish Whisper welcomingly has on draft.

The food was delivered, and our burgers looked good, with a layer of white cheese covering them, served with an ample supply of tasty waffle fries along with lettuce, tomato, and onion. The burgers were smaller than I would have expected for a price of $16, but they were good, albeit over-cooked instead of being medium as we had ordered them.

We finished and asked for the check. While waiting, I mentally calculated the total - because that’s what I do – and told my wife to expect it to be $47.00 before tax (2 x $16 + 2 x $7.50). The check turned out to be over $50 before tax, and upon inspection, it was because we were charged $18 for each burger, with “Swiss cheese” noted on each one. When my wife questioned our waitress about this – and I am not making this up – she was told that the restaurant does not have Cheddar and only has Swiss cheese, and that’s why we were asked if we wanted cheese on our burgers!

We asked for a corrected check as we were not about to pay for cheese when it was included in the menu price, and when it was returned, the price of the burgers was still $18 each, but the amount had been reduced by a “10% off” discount. What this told us is that the restaurant must have their POS system programmed for an $18 Craic Burger with Swiss Cheese, despite the menu saying that “Irish Cheddar” is included with each burger! It should also be noted that throughout all of this, our waitress never offered an apology, as if we were more of an annoyance.

NOTE: Inebriated conventioneers probably never notice this discrepancy.

Now about the credit card I had forgotten the night before. My wife and I stopped in for an after-concert drink around 11:30pm, knowing that this establishment would have Tullamore Dew. After we each enjoyed one on the rocks, I asked for the check and paid using my Marriott VISA card, which is black in color with some very light silver etching. I seemingly did not notice my credit card in the Guest Check Presenter (GCP) because it fit exactly in the plastic sleeve and was not turned vertically in the slot so that it would be protruding out of the dark-colored Presenter. The bar was also very dark with very dim lighting.

When I picked up my credit card at the bar the next day before we ate dinner, I was also shown a stack of credit cards about an inch and a half thick that other customers have left. And until I had seen the GCP during the day when the restaurant was brightly lit, I would not have known how easy it is to overlook my credit card. I now wonder if other customers are experiencing the same problem and is this an attempt to get...

This is the second and final time I visit this place when I'm in town for a convention. Nothing against the bartenders, but the kitchen is a mess and the place not well cared for. It's probably nice (a bit overpriced but less so than several other restaurants in National Harbor) if you're just going with one or two other people, but it is uncomfortable with 4 and bear impossible with a large group. Both years they were out of corned beef, this time even on the first full day of the convention (which makes me wonder if they even carry it most of the time). Both years our food took awhile.

This year was exceptionally bad-- we came in with a group of 8 and found a large table unoccupied only to find out it was so because they had fewer bar stools available than actual tables (we ended up with 3 people standing to eat, and 3 of the 5 stools we did have had to be taken from other tables/the bar as they became available). Two of the stools were stable but clearly damaged-- they had large splits in the wood on the seats and the rivets were loose so that my tights caught on one.

Upon ordering separately but at the same time, the tables' food came out slowly, out of order from who ordered first, and then all but my husband and I received their food. We ordered a burger and a cottage pie, as several others at the table did. He and I waited 20min longer than everyone else before we checked with the bartender and she said that if we didn't receive our food in 10 to check with her again. People from other tables that ordered after us received their orders. We checked again and told it was coming. 10 minutes later again my husband asked for a manager, who said the food would be out in no more than 20 min. Obviously the kitchen had lost our ticket and the first time(s) they were alerted to having done so they did not want to admit and ask for our orders again. 20 minutes passed and the manager checked with the bartender and that we received our food, and he was visibly upset when we had not. My pie came out first, with the dressing forgotten. Almost 10 minutes later my husband's burger came out, with the special order of an egg on top forgotten- at that point my husband didn't even ask to fix the order because that confirmed they had lost the ticket and it wasn't worth the fight.

We had missed our event we had planned to do 2 hours from when we went out to dinner and in order for my husband to make his next one he had to just eat the salad at the pub but eat the burger walking back to the convention center. The manager comped our food but not our drinks as we received them on time (which was fine) and we tipped our bartender, but we do not intend to ever come back and risk a third...

When I was in DC in 2019, I came to your restaurant and had a wonderful experience. So when I returned to DC today, I was excited to come again.

The experience was terrible from the moment I walked in the door. There were no clean low-top tables. They hadn’t been bused and weren’t until I was nearly done with my meal. I went up to the bar to order since no one was waiting on me. The server left my iced tea sitting at the bar. Didn’t know I needed to fetch it myself. I ordered my food and it came out. I ordered the pot pie. It was terrible and barely warm, but I hadn’t eaten all day so I ate it.

The pot pie was mostly crust and had one chunk of chicken. I was nearly done eating and I accidentally spilled my tea in my lap. The server didn’t offer me any napkins or a refill; she didn’t even come over! I cleaned up the spill and picked the ice up off the floor. Even when I went back to the bar to pay, she didn’t even acknowledge it.

The server seemed only concerned with paying attention to the guys at the bar buying drinks while ignoring the rest of the customers. She was laughing and carrying on with the guys, while I had to serve myself.

For the cost of the food and the mandatory tip, the service could have been better. I left feeling like I wasted my time and my money. I came to your restaurant for a good meal and another good experience - I got neither and instead got ignored. Needless to say, I...