The Irish Pub on 4th — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

Great Place! Been going here about twice a month since they first opened about a year or so ago. Owner ("Art" McArthur?), who we've met several times on our visits, did a great job converting this place from the now defunct Babaloo's (Cajun food joint) into an authentic looking and operating Irish Pub. It's a very cozy and warm feeling atmosphere inside! They usually have live Irish Folk Musicians (singletons) or Duets that play here on weekend nights, and all of the ones we've watched have been VERY GOOD. The menu also has some tasty and seemingly authentic Irish food entrees on it. We really like their Irish Stew, Irish Toastie (grilled ham and cheese sandwich), and the Irish Poutine (Curry Fries). We've never had a bad meal here, and the prices are as inexpensive as Applebee's, Hooter's, Glory Days etc., and the food quality and taste, as well as the atmosphere is MUCH better. The bar and wait staff are also very friendly. They have several Irish beers on tap (Guinness, Harp, Smithwick's), and about 10-15 Irish Whiskies compliment their fully stocked bar. The only issue we have with this place is that the parking lot is VERY small (it only has spaces for about 15 cars), and if you park in the next door strip mall shopping center on its south side, there are many 24-hour tow-away zone warning signs that we are unwilling to risk chancing if we get there and the lot is already full. If you get there after 5 PM on a weekend night, and don't want to risk getting your car towed, you usually have to park along the residential street (93rd Ave N) that runs along the north side of this establishment, and sometimes the line of parallel parked cars is over a quarter mile long stretching westward from the Pub. If you do decide to go here on a weekend night (Fri, Sat, or Sun), you should get their EARLY if you want to get a parking spot in the lot that directly abuts...

Small Irish pub. Extremely limited parking. The plaza next-door tends to take up half of the parking spots. Opened at 10 AM. I was there at 10 AM first customer. Ordered the traditional Irish fry up. Food was adequate. Service was poor at best. my server(most likely the manager) took my order, brought me my food and didn’t say a word to me until she saw I was ready to pay and leave. She also walked past me several times without saying a word, or even looking at me. Never asked me how my food was. Never asked me if I wanted a drink refill. Never even asked me if I wanted anything else. When the bill came, I noticed the price of the traditional Irish fry up that I had was higher than the menu price I saw on their website. The price on their website was $16. The price on my check was $17. When I pointed this out to her, she acted surprised and said it must be some kind of new thing and I find that hard to believe but at no time did she offer to adjust the price for me. I mean it’s only a $1 but it was the principal. And then I see another charge on my bill for $.68 cents for a consumer fee? I asked her what is a consumer fee and she replied well that’s the fee we charge customers that pay by Credit card. And I think to myself nowadays, everybody pays by credit card but OK. I didn’t like the fact that it was added to the bill and I wasn’t made aware of it before hand even though it may have been posted on the menu, but I didn’t look at it because I’d already looked at the menu online. Bottom line is the food was average. The parking is limited. The service was extremely poor so I can’t honestly, recommend this place. A tip was left as pictured, but it was less than 15%. Total gross bill was $19.50 and I guess I left her between 11 percent and 12%.

Do...

We were visiting St. Pete and stopped by last Friday night to enjoy dinner. It was hard to find a parking spot, and we almost gave up and left. But we circled around and found one open up. I’m so glad we didn’t give up! We walked into live music, and were greeted by staff. We were lucky to find a couple tables open for two. The ambiance is cozy and pub-like, not fancy. Folks of all ages were there—families with small children to us middle-agers and older adults. I was intrigued by the appetizer fried Guinness meatballs, as it seemed odd to deep fry meatballs. Our server Lilly, who was friendly and attentive, assured us they were tasty, so we ordered those to go with our Guinness and “Auld” Fashioned cocktail. Wow! They were delicious (meatballs and drinks!). For dinner my husband ordered the chicken pot pie (highly recommended by Lilly), and I went with the Guinness Stew. Another Wow! The chicken gravy was rich and creamy, and the stew had large chunks of tender beef in a savory Guinness gravy. Their famous soda bread was used to sop up the extra gravy, and it was perfect! Pat, the musician, regaled us with Irish ballads and country songs, and he engaged with those of us remaining after the dinner hour, making us all feel welcome and appreciated. We so enjoyed our evening there—our only regret is we live four hours away and can’t visit more often. Friendly servers and staff, delicious food, reasonable prices, and lively entertainment give McArthur’s...