Cronin's Publick House

This is pretty much a locals hangout I feel like...everyone knows each other... I ordered the steak tips sandwich, i didn't really care for the bread, it's meh, the steak tips were okay, my bfs chicken club with cajun was okay. Everything was just okay, nothing special, i've had better. They are nice though, but it's just one person working so it's kinda slow...

My husband and I live very close to Cronin's and have heard only wonderful things about this place. The smell of the steak tips in the spring and summertime would fill my condo with smells of good times at an outdoor BBQ. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday's, they always seemed to be packed and on game nights, forget about street parking. After living so close for 9 months, we decided to try them out on a snowy and lazy evening.  BOY... were we in for a VERY BIG DISAPPOINMENT. Here is our experience... as we had this to go... living only next door.

We ordered the fisherman's platter and the Full Pound of Sirloin Tips w/ rice. I must say, the rice was the only thing that I could not complain about, but nothing that you couldn't make yourself from a box of Near East Chicken Flavored Rice Pilaf. Starting with the Fisherman's Platter, I was extremely surprised how little you got for $18.00, one of my young nieces or nephew could have finished this kids size meal with no problem. I kindly asked that the coleslaw be put into a separate container and since it wasn't, there was no way I would be able to enjoy the fries. Seeing that they were thrown right on top of the slaw and the container was not one of those sectioned ones, (just one big square)... it was was a bunch of soggy thick steak fries, that just might have been good otherwise. The whole three scallops got were good, but three...c'mon.

Moving on to the steak tips... what Cronin's is known for... was another sad story. Asked for medium rare, got well done. The cajun spice that was supposed to be on them reminded me of when I dropped a whole bunch of spices out of the acbinet by accident. I think that is what they did... what made these cajun, I don't know. These little dry turds that they are known for sucked up the little bit of saliva that I had in my mouth, almost causing me to choke. Who in Gods name is allowing them to have this <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fsteaktips.com&s=87610c1d7f092e17d1cb228de766bf41672d4e2edee93876393c922484d4b6e8" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://steaktips.com</a> domain name. A crying shame.

I think the biggest mistake that I made was not drinking at their bar before eating here. Clearly... all of the people that gave this place, any more than 3 stars were well on their way to being wasted if not already there.

Cronin's get two thumbs up for having Keno and scratchies... otherwise, I would rather take my chances at any local sub shop for much better fare.

I had only heard good things about this place before going in.  A little hole-in-the-wall bar that gets the domain name <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fsteaktips.com&s=87610c1d7f092e17d1cb228de766bf41672d4e2edee93876393c922484d4b6e8" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://steaktips.com</a> has to be good at something right?  Well, I went here with a buddy after work since we both got out early and were in the mood for some drinks and stuff.  We got some beers and food, which was fine.  Servers were nice too!  However, good chili should have the cheese on it before it is microwaved.  Also, the jalapenos should be mixed into the chili, not sitting on top of cold cheese.  Pizza though, was fine.  Don't change the recipe.  Anyways, we were here for while and we decided that we'll stay around for trivia - big mistake.  

Now I've done trivia before at tons of bars, but this experience sticks out as a reminder to not change from what other places do.  One question, one song, and start on time.  Not only was the music selection from the trivia guy awful, but it was over-the-top loud to the point I had to yell at the person next to me the answers we wanted to turn in.  When one says "we'll play a couple of songs while I correct your answers", that doesn't mean play four 5-minute songs in a row.  My friend that I was with ran trivia at a bar in college and knows that correcting sheets can take time, but it doesn't mean take 20 minutes to correct 6 questions from a team.   Now we had some other friends meet up with us, and they left earlier than we did because trivia took 3 HOURS!  3 hours is inacceptable time for trivia.  If you start at 8-8:30, be done by 10-10:30, not quarter of midnight.  The worst part about this trivia was that the final question for which was a tie-breaker, which was poorly worded and ended in a loss, which was the final straw.  

I don't care how good your steak tips are or how many lobsters I can get for $20, it will take a lot more than good food to make up for the really loud speakers, terrible music, and horrible trivia.  Miniscule TV's too by the way.  I have glasses and I shouldn't have to squint at either of the TV's around me.  Just an all around disappointment.