Mary O'Neill's Irish Pub — Restaurant in North Carolina

After a long hike, we happened upon this wonderfully warm and cozy spot in the middle of charming Waxhaw. Restaurant was beginning to fill up as we arrived on a late Friday afternoon. We were impressed at the cleanliness of the interior and were welcomed by a charming hostess and seated immediately. The restaurant is decorated nicely and has high top and booth seating, as well as a nicely adorned bar.

Our server was cheerful, very friendly, professional, and made entertaining small talk. She was delightful and was attentive during the entirety of our meal. NZ was pleased that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was on the menu and enjoyed it immensely. Cold water served in a vintage-style glass bottle was a nice touch and was refilled without asking.

Although the service and atmosphere were fantastic, we found the food to be a bit lacking. NZ always gets excited when she finds her homeland’s comfort foods on the menu and had difficulty choosing. She ordered a cup of Potato & Leek Soup for an appetizer and the Bangers & Mash for her entree. Unfortunately, she wasn’t impressed with either but enjoyed the Bangers/Mash slightly better than the soup which she wasn’t impressed with at all. She did mention that the accompanying soda bread was good. She’s a tad biased, and perhaps a bit snobbish, when it comes to English/Irish food and has very high standards for these dishes. She grew up eating the best of it so she can be entitled, I suppose. 🙄Additionally, after seeing another customer order the fish and chips , she was happy she didn’t order them because they were not served with “proper chips”. 😳

I chose a healthier option and ordered a large specialty salad with grilled chicken. That was a mistake. There were zero detectable flavors from both the salad or chicken. Although I realize that these salads need to be made in advance and refrigerated, I dislike an ice cold salad. I also dislike unseasoned proteins. Even the suggested dressing was bland and did not help. I feel like I ate nothing and left feeling rather unsatisfied.

We’d return again solely to enjoy drinks surrounded by friendly people and employees in this thoughtfully themed restaurant in this lovely town. We’d most likely try a different food option (perhaps the highly rated Rueben) next time around, or just stay for the drink....

We finally got around to checking out this place in downtown Waxhaw. Great location and it seems popular. Not sure why because the food is not very good. We started with the "Bread & Butter." As per the menu "If you like our Irish soda bread..." Now, I expect Irish soda bread to be dry, but whatever it was they serve at Mary's was utterly flavorless. The 3 little cups of flavored butter were somewhat redeeming, but we didn't have anything to spread it with because the hostess had seated us without any utensils or napkins. We had to wait till the butter softened enough to dip the mean little biscuits in it.

How does an Irish pub screw up Irish soda bread?

We ordered the signature salad with salmon. When it arrived, we had to ask for those utensils. The greens were fresh enough (no great feat in summertime NC), and the dressing was a bit sweet for my partner. She asked the waitress for oil & vinegar, and the waitress returned with a cup of oil, and informed us that they were out of vinegar.

But I digress. About that salmon. It was devoid of seasoning overcooked to the point of being barely edible, like someone slapped it on a griddle and put a hot iron one it and walked away for a smoke. I took most of it home, where at least my dog was grateful for it, but then again, he's not too picky.

The bill came to $50 (plus tip), including a beer.

Waxhaw is a growing town, with more and more upscale folks moving in. It's hard to see how Mary O'Neils can sustain itself if it doesn't step up it's game, especially when you can walk across the tracks and get far...

Stopped in for a late lunch on a Monday. Hostess sat us immediately (it was quiet as expected) and our server was very nice, attentive and friendly. They have a full bar (w/ Guinness of course) and some microbrews available. The restaurant had some nice Irish music playing and sports channel playing on the bar TV. We sat and were given ice cold water in a vintage milk bottle (loved it). It was blistering hot and humid so it was a nice touch. Shepards pie and Rueben with a side of fries and coleslaw was delivered fast and fresh. The pie was delicious and a perfect proportion. It had beef/lamb in a nice thick sauce with peas and carrot topped with the smoothest perfectly mashed potatoes. The rueben was tender, moist and very large in size. The fries were nothing special. Then again, they were just fries. The coleslaw was fresh and crisp but could have used a bit more seasoning. We order chocolate ice cream for dessert that is sourced from the local creamery and was absolutely delicious. Seriously, I would gladly drive the 15 miles to get that ice cream again. All in all a...