Whelan's Irish Pub — Restaurant in Portland

This place is small/ sort of long and narrow, with a few tables outside, but there's no outdoor heat for cold days, except one tiny gravel fire pit table that only about 3 people can sit around, but not eat at, given the 7" ledge around the fire. But it is covered, and if you are a smoker, I think you can light up out there instead of letting out on the big empty front porch area.

I've only been here twice and it was years apart. However both times that I came in there was a few very very loud boisterous people at the end of the bar which makes it hard to hear the person sitting directly across a table from you when you are trying to eat at a table. There is nothing to absorb sound so any music playing or people talking just bounces around the room against the wood floors, wood chairs, and the beautiful natural wood tables.

There's is only parking for about four vehicles along the west end of building and it's weird to get to because of all the divided sections of road on Division Street, so be prepared to possibly need to do a legal U-turn when you drive there or else on your way back. There is no street parking available.

When walking in the front door, you will see the door to the outside eating area on your left, a long bar in front of you and seating on both sides of you, and there is a small room off to the right that has a single pool table and a few tiny tables which surround it, and a little 'video poker' area for adults hidden around the corner. I'm sure there was a bathroom there, but I did not use it on this recent visit.

I had the best burger I've eaten in years, there. Funny since they are known for their reubens and Shepard's pies, but it was freaking amazing, with bacon, mushrooms, grilled jalapenos, cheese that they let ooze off the meat patty and hit the grill and fry, and it was so loaded with flavor, I'm still talking about it to friends and coworkers a week later!! I was a little disappointed that I had to pay extra for a side of potato. The burger just comes by itself on a plate, otherwise.

I don't know if they were short-staffed on the night that I went, or if it is always the case, but you have to order at the bar, then go find a place to sit, and they'll bring it out to you, so it's not "full table service".

You probably will see some pictures that someone has taken of the menu, posted online, so you'll see that it is not a large menu, but it is pretty good food. I have been told that their macaroni and cheese is nothing less than amazing but I did not see it, smell it, or tasted in order to make a comment outside of repeating what I heard.

The bartender-slash-waitress that helped me this time was very welcoming and helpful with the menu and drink options. There's a full bar, and from what I can remember, about 10 tap options including a cider, several IPAs, a red beer, a citrusy beer, a lager or two and, of course, Guinness. After all, this is an attempt at an Irish pub!

So overall, a great place for good food or a liquor drink while you shoot a game of billiards or yell to your dining partner (if the bar area is crowded), but call yourself lucky if you get a coveted parking spot next to the building. Your more likely to find parking close by if you are on an e-bike or in foot. I think I read somewhere that they don't allow motorcycle parking in their tiny lot

I might or might not go back soon, since I'm a little cheap and the food prices were a couple bucks higher than I wanted to pay, but I guess you could say it's worth it. It's a good place to go with a buddy to get a drink and cut loose, but it would be better to get your food to-go on a date night, or else eat in the outside area with your coat on (if the weather is cold and wet). This is definitely not a...

My issue is with the manager on duty, as I recieved a refund + credit from door dash. I never recieved food so this review doesn't reflect that. Long story short, the manager didn't actually listen and seemed dishonest. It's probably best to avoid ordering door dash from here. The long story is below.

I ordered door dash and the order was taking awhile to be confirmed so I tried calling the restaurant after 40 minutes and couldn't get an answer. Around that time, I had a door dash driver arrive at the restaurant and he told me the restaurant informed him they didn't have the order. He left and my next dasher arrived 10 minutes later and said it would be another 10 minutes until my order was ready. At that point, I tried a few more times to get ahold of them and finally did. I was politely informed they were hosting an event and were busier then expected and I informed them I wasn't trying to complain, I was just considering canceling because it had been too long. Trying to help, the person who answered the call put me on with the manager.(Jeremy or Jason, can't remember the name)

The manager assured me my food was ready and told me the driver had communicated with him and left to wait in her car for the food. I tried to say according to the app the 2nd dasher had abandoned the order, but he cut me off and told me she was just having trouble parking, that she had "just tried calling", told me all was good, and rushed me off the phone. After 5 minutes and still not having a new driver for the order and no second driver according to the app, I called back and asked for the same manager i had just spoken with. The bartender kindly connected me with the same manager who I assume lied, and told me they were " literally handing the lady my order" (2nd driver). Since the manager had said it went out so I waited a little longer. I tried calling 20 minutes later after no change on door dash app and nobody answered.

I canceled the order on door dash and got a full refund plus credit for my next order. However I wasted 30-40 minutes past my quoted time late at night on the word of this manager. At that point most similar options were closed and I...

I came here to order food to go because my partner wanted mac n cheese. The menus on google and the website are misleading and out of date. They raised their prices at some point but failed to update it on their website. Ultimately I chose to order more food and I will order from here again (the food was very good), but much less frequently than I initially figured. It's not good for a business to advertise $10-11 meals and then sell them for $14-20 dollars when you show up, and then tell you there's an extra .50 cent charge for to go orders. It doesn't feel very nice for that to happen to you, especially on your first visit.

It takes about 5 minutes or less to update an image on Wordpress. I recommend the business' wordpress admin download the updated picture of the menu I took and put up on your google page, and then upload it in place of the old menu you have to avoid false advertising in the future.

Atmosphere is 2 because from the second I walked in the door there was a conflict happening between other guests that nearly became a legitimate barfight. It didn't get there because someone left, but one of the involved guests said "this is an irish pub, we love to fight here!". I know they meant it as a joke to diffuse the situation, but in my experience, regulars of any establishment with that attitude have a way of manifesting things around them. I want to brush it off and think of this place as a nice spot to invite a friend for a drink and to play pool, but there's a reason people take first impressions into account so I'm sad to say I probably...