McGuire's Irish Pub — Restaurant in Panama City Beach

We were thrilled to see McGuire’s had opened in PCB and planned a visit during our family vacation. As expected during peak season, there was a wait, about 45 minutes for our four-person party, but we didn’t mind. The outside bar made the wait pleasant, and the bartender was great.

Once seated, our server was friendly and attentive despite the busy night. We ordered three burgers and a chicken sandwich. As time passed, we noticed tables seated after us, with more complex orders, receiving their food before us. After about an hour of waiting, our server apologized. We weren’t upset , these things happen, but after 1 hour and 15 minutes, we kindly asked her if something went wrong and whether there could be any form of comp.

We arrived at 7:50 p.m., were seated at 8:45, ordered by 8:50, and didn’t receive our food until 10:15. By then, the restaurant had cleared out, and tables seated long after us had finished and left. While we were just glad to finally get our food, my burger was very overcooked. Still, I didn’t complain — I was just starving.

We assumed this was just a kitchen issue, perhaps a lost ticket, and expected management to handle it professionally. Instead, the manager, Jason, approached and soured the entire experience. He began with, “How are we doing folks?” to which we calmly explained the situation. He then made an odd remark, saying something like, “Tell me what happened…I’m obedient to women,” which felt unprofessional and set the wrong tone.

Though he offered to comp one burger (which we appreciated), he didn’t seem concerned with resolving the issue meaningfully. He interrupted, raised his voice, and dominated the conversation. He repeatedly said things like, “You’re not married to these servers,” seemingly trying to get us to criticize our server, which we refused to do, because she was kind and did her best in a tough situation. He also insisted it was our responsibility as customers to escalate the issue to management sooner, which felt unfair — how were we supposed to know there was a kitchen problem?

At no point did Jason offer a genuine apology. Instead, he blamed us for not frequently flagging staff, accused us of being “salty,” and created unnecessary tension when we just wanted to eat and enjoy time as a family. As a fellow server, I’ve never experienced such unprofessionalism from a manager. We weren’t loud, aggressive, or rude, we simply asked a question about our food delay.

His behavior was confrontational, dismissive, and inappropriate. He made us feel like we were the problem instead of just addressing the issue. No customer should be spoken to that way, especially when calmly trying to express a concern. Customers shouldn’t be expected to chase down staff for updates, nor should they be blamed for a kitchen delay.

In short, while we loved the idea of visiting McGuire’s in PCB, our experience was overshadowed by poor management. Jason’s handling of the situation was disappointing and unprofessional, and for a newly opened location, it’s crucial to create a welcoming and respectful environment for guests — especially those trying to support the business during...

⭐ 1 STAR – Absolutely unacceptable experience.

We walked into McGuire’s in Panama City Beach and asked if we could sit at the bar. No one stopped us. We had our 14-year-old daughter with us — and every other restaurant in PCB that serves alcohol has been clear and respectful about whether a minor can sit at the bar. If it’s an issue, they say so before seating. But here? Silence. So we sat down.

Then the disaster started.

I politely asked for a kids menu, and instead of a simple “she can’t sit here,” the male bartender got an attitude, told us “technically she’s not supposed to be here,” and NEVER gave us the kids menu. It was a passive-aggressive “go screw yourself” without even hiding it.

We asked for a Shirley Temple. More attitude. Asked if they had mac and cheese — which is on the kids menu — and he says, “I’m trying not to draw attention over here.” So instead of helping us relocate or make it work, he starts acting like we’re a problem just for being there.

The kicker? When we asked about dessert or dessert drinks, we were basically told to wrap it up and leave. He says, “My GM has already come by once… now that the bar is getting busier she really can’t be here.” We offered to move to a high-top table along the wall and were told that’s still “bar area” and not allowed. At that point, we were clearly being pushed out.

To top it all off, he made my wife an alcoholic Irish coffee TO GO — in an open cup, with no lid. That’s illegal, reckless, and just proves how careless and hypocritical their policies are when they feel like being done with you.

We came in excited to eat. My wife LOVES Irish food and was looking forward to this experience. And to be fair, the food was excellent — no complaints there. But the bartender’s behavior was rude, discriminatory, and downright bullying. This was hands-down the worst hospitality experience we’ve had on this trip — and one of the worst ever.

If you go here, go for the food. But don’t sit at the bar. Don’t expect courtesy. And definitely don’t expect the bartender to be worth a damn.

If the GM had an issue as he clearly saw our daughter then he could have said something or tell us from the beginning to go sit somewhere else ... clear communication...

I read the reviews on their steaks and was really looking forward to a really good steak. I ordered the clay medium well. Instead, I got a chunk of burnt black, dry steak sitting in some kind of burnt black, dry as sawdust sour goo. I tried a few bites and cut it in half, hoping to find a little pink The waitress was very polite and briefly stopped by out table to ask if everything was okay. Unfortunately, my mouth was full of salad (which was very good) and I was unable to tell her how bad my steak was. My wife ordered the hamburger steak cooked MEDIUM. It was also way overcooked and so dry that it would fall apart when you tried to cut it. Anyway, we asked for some to go boxes for my wife and daughter And I said the steak on the side of the table and finally I got a chance to tell her it was absolutely terrible and I couldn’t eat it. The waitress said that we should’ve said something, took the steak and came back with some to go boxes. I’m guessing she showed the manager and evidently he thought tough shit, deal with it. Lastly, When we finished, we were sitting there talking and right behind my head. I heard a big loud bang. I’m talking about loud! Evidently, the people sitting in the booth behind me wanted to put a dollar on their booth and had employee come With A strong, staple gunand stapled it to the wood - not once, not twice, but four times!!!! Keep in mind this was an only few inches from, and level with my ear. I didn’t know anyone was there and had no warning that there was gonna be a loud pop like a gunshot. I am a disabled veteran, and am very sensitive to sudden loud noises, and when he popped that staple in there, I like to have jumped out on my seat and said “Good Lord, man, that sounded like a gunshot!! You scared the shit out of me!!! He laughed and said no this ain’t pier park, alluding to the gunshots during spring break. Regardless, I still left a 20% tip. The Only the plus side of our visit was that it nice and clean inside and the bathrooms were super nice - But make sure you read and understand the signs on the male and female bathroom doors😉 Update: here it is a few hours later in a very nauseated. What little I did eat, it is not sitting well...