The Irish Penny Pub & Grill — Restaurant in Salisbury

I am giving them 5 stars but I need to explain why.

We spent a night in Salisbury, MD because we love the Salisbury Zoo. We were going to Ocean City but thought it made sense to spend the first night in Salisbury - wake up, grab coffee, drive less than 10 minutes to the zoo, spend several hours at the zoo, and then head over to Ocean City. (The Hampton Inn is very nice and it was $110 versus $280 for the Hilton Oceanfront in OC. So you drive approx 8 minutes - instead of 48 minutes - to the zoo and you save $170. It's a win-win.)

OK, back to the restaurant...

The woman at the front desk recommended the restaurant. The reviews on Yelp looked good. We decided to try it.

The place is nice. The vibe was good. There was a 'dj' running a Bar Bingo game. All 80s music. People definitely seemed to be enjoying it.

I ordered a hot turkey (mashed potatoes and gravy). My girlfriend ordered the beef stew.

My dinner was good - the mashed potatoes were excellent!!!

Her dinner was not "bad" (not bland, not burnt, not overcooked, not spoiled or sour) ... she just didn't care for it. It had a spice that she didn't like.

She told the waitress and the waitress took it away. No questions asked. No attitude. No problems.

She asked if she could bring something else. My girlfriend asked for a side of mashed potatoes - because they were so good - and nothing else.

After that, the waitress asked if my girlfriend would like a free drink or a free dessert. (She declined, but that's not important.)

JUST TO BE TOTALLY CLEAR -

1.) They took the beef stew away and removed it from the bill.

2.) They brought the mashed potatoes (probably a double order) and did not charge us for them.

3.) They offered a free drink or dessert.

In other words - they bent over backwards to accommodate us. Truly amazing service. This was a level of service you rarely see anymore.

If the owner happens to read this I'd like you to know that our waitress was "Asena J" and she was absolutely amazing!! Friendly. Sweet. Courteous. Professional. Do everything you can to keep her!!!

If you find yourself in the Salisbury area, visit this pub!!! You will be...

Visited on 4/6/25 I was excited to check out the Irish Penny The menu seemed exciting with lots of different choices. We were in Maryland so we got there great decor inside I love the girls outfits. Great atmosphere they make a great dark & stormy. The Irish Egg rolls awesome I shouldn't have gotten them for my meal. The little boy who delivers the food has no clue how to do deal with an issue. My mom got the crab dip and my husband got the Corn beef boxty the kid brought me so turkey dinner when I order the famous pretzel burger he looked at me deer in high lights and left came back and it will be out in a few minutes Carmen are server was stressed that I didn't get my food we order another around of drinks she brought I still had gotten my food. So my burger finally came I didn't eat it right away but mid rare it wasn't it was over cooked. My guess when child picked up the wrong food they over cooked my burger. It left a bad taste in my mouth. I know could complain but then wait another 40 minutes for another burger. My mom loved her Crab dip my husband loved his boxty. I think mistake here is the girl taking your order knows your order but the child delivering it doesn't know the order. I saw him just standing doing nothing. And the bathroom needs an a door stop or something when not in use. People were blaming on the doors yelling is anyone in there. I have been to other restaurants where there is a door stopper when it's not in use . There chips are good they are a potato slice up.

Also the Booths if there is someone sitting behind you and there move around a lot you can feel there every move. Not...

Walked in....place was very busy. Stroud at hostess stand with no greeter for 2 or 3 mins along with other people.. There was not a single employee visible. No one behind the bar, not a server on the floor.. Over.50% of the tables had people with menus in their hands.. Finally a server and bartender come greet us. I ask straight away if they are overwhelmed and understaffed as I'll go somewhere else.. The bartender tells me that the hostess didn't show up.. So it's just her and a server on a Saturday afternoon but assured me everything was OK... So we decide to stay🤦‍♂️. We place our order, wait 10 mins for the server to come back and tell me that she forgot what we ordered, meaning that in 10 mins she still didn't put our order in.. 20 mins goes by and she shows up with our appetizer, but no silverware.. 40 mins later we are waiting on our food.. We've been here over an hour for lunch and have no food.. There's no manager present anywhere.. Absolutely ridiculous.. My "chop" salad just showed up.. Nothing is chopped lol. Might want to see what a chop salad is supposed to be.. Kids chicken fingers were over cooked, cold, and dried up.. Chicken on my salad was overcooked. Last time I was here the server and bartender were doing shots behind the bar and I didn't think I would go back. But decided to give them another chance. It's clear there is absolutely no management or ownership present . No discount offered for how long we had to wait. Certainly not the servers fault or the bartender that was trying to do 3 people's jobs.. Ownership...