Tommy Doyle's

I've been residing in Nonantum for more than six years now, and I take pleasure in patronizing and supporting the local businesses and restaurants in our community. Tommy Doyle’s has good food and probably the best tap list in the neighborhood. However, on several occasions when I've visited, I've encountered issues with the waitstaff. As noted by other reviewers, they've sometimes been slow, impolite, cranky or irritable. Also, some of them just seem like their kind of “off” or strange.

Instead, I tend to frequent Buff’s and Café Martin instead for bar-type dining experiences because both places consistently offer excellent service and have friendly staff. I do make the occasional visit to Tommy Doyle’s every few months or so when I feel like a change of pace.

Tonight was one of those times and I must say my experience with Tommy Dolye’s staff this evening left me quite bewildered. Here's what happened: My fiancé and I had initially tried to dine at Patzcuaro down the street, but they were too busy to seat us. So, we decided to head to Tommy Doyle's, where we hadn't been in a while. We chose a high-top table on the bar side, and shortly thereafter, a woman approached me and requested a conversation. She asked me when the last time I was there and I responded that I wasn’t sure maybe, 6 months ago or so. She then identified herself as the manager and claimed that I had been involved in an incident at the establishment and needed to leave.

I was taken aback, as the only activities I've ever engaged in at Tommy Doyle's involved enjoying a few beers and eating some food. On a previous visit, we even generously paid for a fellow patron's bar tab, who had experienced a terrible day with a totaled car. Anyways, I tried explaining to the manager that she must have me confused with someone else but she seemed resolute in her decision and refused to discuss it further.

After the manager left our table, we sat there in disbelief, trying to make sense of what had just occurred. My fiancé then got up and attempted to speak with the manager once more and the manager explained to her that the bartender recognized me as a person who threw a chair at her (the bartender) on “Paddy’s Race Day” therefore we needed to leave. The manager would not look up from her phone, nor would discuss any further.

After it appeared that there was no sense in arguing or attempting to convince the manager that I was indeed not the chair throwing maniac they were accusing me of being, we just decided to leave and head to Café Martin down the street. While eating, I researched "Paddy's Race Day" and found that it was a road race in Newton that took place on October 16, 2022. Looking at my Google Timeline, I discovered that I wasn't even in Newton on that date, let alone involved in any chair-throwing incident at Tommy Doyle's. Today's date is September 30, 2023, and it's astonishing that the manager didn't consider the possibility of a mix-up after almost a year had passed and that the bartender could have me confused with someone else. I certainly must have looked confused as I was.

Following this bizarre encounter with the staff and manager at Tommy Doyle's, I have made the decision not to return to the establishment. No love lost here. There is a reason that Café Martin and Buffs are packed almost every night of the week while Tommy Doyle’s sits mostly empty, and I can tell you it isn’t because of the tap list or food.