McNamara's Irish Pub & Restaurant — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

I've only visited this place a couple times and it's just fine. I can't really remember what I had the first time. I think it might have been the fish and chips but it could have been some sort of pot pie? Do they even have pot pie here? I went in about a month ago and was seated in one of the dining rooms on the main floor and there was music and the gentleman playing was good, sounded very irishy, and that's great. But it was too loud and I wanted to have, or be able to have, a conversation with my dining companions. After being seated, I got right up and dragged my friends with me and went back out to the hostess desk and told them I wanted to sit somewhere else and asked if it was okay if we received it upstairs. The two kids at the desk looked a little confused by my request as if I had been sorted a la Harry Potter fashion when I was seated and was required to abide by their placement. There's also the possibility that I was quite confused and so there's that. So we went upstairs. Well there was music upstairs too and it was also too loud. We turned around. Came right back downstairs and the kids had the desk who looked confused by my last visit continued to look at me curiously. I noticed that there was a dining room apparently in the back or to the side of the hostess desk that looked brighter and notably, had no music. So I walked back there and found a booth and a lovely server who was probably my age, understood my desire to talk to my dinner guests, and that I didn't come to dinner for a concert. She was very sweet. And funny. I noticed that my dining companions were still standing at the hostess desk for some strange reason and I turned around to beckon them to join me in the new location and the waitress was right on board with that and encouraged them to come as well. The kids still looked confused. We all sat down and they told me the hosti, I think that's plural for hostess, we're not pleased with me just barging in and seeing myself. Our server was charming, the food was just fine, and I would certainly...

It started out ok, with a seat at the bar with a friendly, (at first), bartender. The broccoli soup was delicious, as was the steak sandwich which was the daily special. Getting enough mayo was a challenge with two measly packets, followed by one add'l when I asked for more. When it got busier, it went downhill. Half the bar is in one room, the other half in another room, so the bartender has to pass through the connection in the middle to handle both sides so he'd disappear for a while. I wanted to take two desserts to go, and I asked how different the Irish Cream Cheesecake was to which he responded, "Well, it's made with Irish Cream so...". I asked about the bread pudding and he said both were good so I ordered one of each to go. It was like I was bothering him by asking two simple questions. Fifteen minutes later, I got it, with another almost ten minutes to check out, only to realize getting in the car that one of them had ice cream that was melting because it was wrapped in plastic wrap with the bead pudding that was heated up! It barely made it to my hotel. Not even a heads-up and the menu doesn't indicate that it comes with ice cream. The cheesecake was so-so, but the bread pudding was literally inedible. It was made with apple slices, had zero flavor, and the oddest texture. I got half a bite through it and it was spit out and tossed in the garbage. I ate a couple of bites of the cheesecake but it went the way of the bread pudding, and at $12-15 per dessert. The steak sandwich didn't cost much more than the dessert and was delicious. Stick with the regular food, but definitely...

The good: Tea was spot on perfect Irish potato soup with a touch of salt and pepper was pretty good Shepherd's pie potatoes were very nicely done, meat was about average. A little lackluster but solid Service was decent

The bad: The steak and Guinness pie. We love, love steak and ale pies, and got very excited to see this on the menu. It's bad. I rarely don't finish food, I couldn't eat this. It gave bad cat food vibes, and I'm a nut about corned beef. I'll eat about anything from pickled Herring to various fermented oddities, but this actually had me nearly spit it out. It was bad by Navy standards, and I truly am sorry to have to say that. The onion rings weren't cooked all the way either, as in still raw onion and raw flour and very sad tasting.

If you avoid the steak and Guinness pie, it's pretty decent. I want to like this place but I'm too worried about a kitchen that's okay putting that kind of quality out, and it definitely ruined the lunch. If there's some better QA of the dishes, this place would be bangin', and I want it to be bangin'.

McNamara's, sorry to throw shade in your direction, but that's a bandaid that needed to be ripped off and I want to give constructive criticism. I'd love to give you guys another shot after we find out what the heck happened...