Dubh Linn Pub

Their house porter is good. For a bar with 4 bartenders sitting behind the bar, you'd expect a little more service and personality. All they did was talk amongst themselves and didn't feel the need to address the patrons unless we waved them down for a beer.

Well we came to the Dubh Linn Pub hoping to sample some of their beers, but on the day we visited, their tap was broken -- we could've ordered other more commercial beers, but their own house brews were inaccessible. Talk about a disappointment. So unfortunately, I can't tell you anything about the beer here.

We were starving, so we decided to stay and eat. It was average. I ordered a cheeseburger. Safe option, right? It kind of irked me that I was not asked at all how I wanted my burger cooked. Sorry, but unless you're doing fast food, a restaurant should ask how you want your burger cooked. Came out medium well, no pink in the center. I do like the crusty exterior that was developed -- kind of reminded me of a Culver's Butterburger, just thicker. It was OK. The fries that came with it were not great -- they were the kind of fries that are coated in some kind of think powder or batter before they are fried. Not necessary and actually detracting from the fries because you can't really taste the potato as much.

My husband ordered a salad, which he said was fine. As we didn't order corned beef or anything specifically Irish, I can't really speak to their authenticity as an Irish pub. We were underwhelmed. And even though it was completely dead when we visited, I would say that our waitress only did an OK job of keeping tabs on us... she clearly did not want to be there and it showed.

One more note, the stalls in the bathrooms are really narrow, which means that if you're a girl and you're sitting down on the toilet, your leg actually bumps into the toilet paper holder and you have to kind of sit at an angle. Weird. But on the plus side (depending on your preference), the bathroom does smell a lot like corned beef.

Big and spacious inside, feels a little cavernous even when full. Ordered shepherd's pie and some Irish stew and it was pretty passable. Hard to muck up hearty Irish food, but this was certainly better than expected for a place that's essentially a bar. Good tap selection, and like many places in Duluth has jumped on the microbrewery bandwagon. A sampler flight was reasonably priced. Some of their beers are okay, others I wouldn't drink again. Spare the few extra bucks and try all of them before deciding.