St. Stephen's Green Publick House — Restaurant in Spring Lake Heights

Great food! If you are looking to go to a bar with loud live music then this is your place.

If you are looking for a quiet evening dinner....not so much.

The reason for 3 stars is.... I live seriously close to this place. I could walk here in less than 5 minutes. When I moved here 5 years ago we went here every 2-3 months. We brought friends and family not from the area to this restaurant. Everyone who ate the food raved about it. I want to impress upon you, that this is not a biased review. I hate giving reviews less than a 4 star unless they truly deserve it.

Somewhere about 3 years ago there was a shift at this place. It now feels like a local place where outsiders are not welcome. One day we came in on the later side for dinner. We stood at the hostess desk for close to 10 mins (the time it took to play 3 songs) with not one person acknowledging us. Not even a "give me one minute and I will be right with you"... Or a "sorry the kitchen is closed but you can go to the bar". Absolutely nothing. So we left. Came back a few weeks later and the same thing. Stood there for at least 5 mins....and nothing. So we walked out. So we stopped going here for about 6 months. Tried it again. Nothing changed... Stood there for 3 songs. No one came up to us. So we left. So a few months goes by...we walk in with the plan if they don't acknowledge us in 5 mins, we will just go to the bar and get a drink. So five mins goes by... We go to the bar. And guess what? We stood there for 3 songs. All the bartenders we're busy getting drinks for everyone else. When we saw them start serving the same people a second time, we looked around and realized a few patrons staring at us. So we left.

So now we let about 2 years go by. And Just recently decided to give it one more chance. I was surprised to see that nothing has changed. No one cared that we came to eat... Then no one cared that we came to drink... Then we got the feeling that no one sitting at the bar wanted us there. So we left for the last time. Unless we see a sign saying under new management. We won't go back.

So, if you want to come here earlier in the day, I am sure someone will seat you so you can enjoy the unique menu of good food they offer. I am also sure if you come here day in and day out and hang at the bar, that sooner or later they will accept you as a local. I am also sure you don't need to live less than a 1000' away to be considered a local. You just need to go there several times a week and crack the...

Disappointed, underwhelmed, and grossed out.

Have been coming here every summer since 2018 and so shocked to see such a major decline since our last visit a year ago. After several tries this summer, we sadly won't be going back.

Biggest issue for us, there's a very icky sewage smell that slaps you in the face when you walk in the door. The first night we were in, we asked what the smell was. The young blonde woman that introduced herself as the manager rolled her eyes all the way to the ceiling and then told us she didn't smell anything. We drank our "specialty" cocktails and then the smell drove us out.

Second try, we stopped in for lunch on the way to the beach. There was no host so we asked the bartender for menus. Sadly he was too busy discussing the ICE raids that were broadcasting on every TV (at max volume) to remember to bring them to our table... we ended up leaving after being ignored for 15-20 minutes.

We then tried to go in for dinner, sat at the nearly empty bar, and met the bartender... who was apparently also the new manager. He then informed us that the kitchen was closed - at 8:15pm?!? A few minutes later, when the cook sat next to us at the bar, he told us the kitchen was closed because the new manager had cut the kitchen staff and that it wasn't possible for them to stay open late anymore. In years past we've stopped in for dinner after 8pm, or even 9pm, and always had the full menu available.

On our last attempt this past weekend, we easily found two seats at the bar. While waiting for the bartenders to finish chatting at the other end of the bar so we could order... and simultaneously trying to ignore the sewage smell... we spotted so much mold and filth on the air vents, that we decided to call it quits. On our way out, we noticed the mold and filth was consistent on all the vents we could see throughout the dining room.

Hate to post a bad review about one of our old favorite spots, but everything about this place has gotten so much worse since last summer that it needs to be said. Hope when we're back at the shore next year we can update with...

Let me just say this to you. If you sit at their bar and you get served by Patrick O'Brien, you cannot help but to have a good time! He's just a phenomenal bartender food server conversationalist. He's just the one big famous package All rolled up into one. Because of him, my wife and I actually went there for dinner and sat in the restaurant area. We will never do that again! Let's just say to be kind, our service was not up the par, (to say the least) the food, well, we won't ever do it again! And the hostess at the time that greeted us at the door, she's got a lot to learn about being a hostess... But to continue to go there to go to the bar area to grab a quick bite and to have an adult beverage or two (Not so much the food)... Catch the days when Patrick O'Brien is there and if you are not having a good time or he did not make you smile and or laugh, there's something wrong with you!! LOL! There has been days where I have been sitting there talking to people to my left and to my right and my comment to them is, sometimes I just don't come in to have an adult (and or a soft drink pending on the day) beverage or a quick bite to eat.... I come in for the entertainment value from Mr. O'Brien! If that man left that establishment I would never have to walk in there again! You folks "CALL THE BALL"! And Mr. O'Brien leaves at 5:00, well sometimes if he's in the middle of a conversation with some of his patrons he may stay past 5:00 to finish out his conversation. But I will give you a heads up when that man walks out of there and the two women come behind the bar to take over. Get out of there! What he can do by himself with a full bar they can't do by themselves together!! Once again folks. I take everybody out here to be pretty smart, once again you "CALL THE BALL" OH, AND DID I FORGET TO MENTION, PATRICK O'BRIEN IS ALSO VERY INTELLIGENT. HE'S GREAT AT WHAT HE DOES! BUT I THINK HE MISSED HIS CALLING SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE... LOL " HE'S THE BEST IN...