A strange place with an old western decor that still smells of cigarettes from a time when smoking was legal in these sort of establishments. Â The entire restaurant is dingy, dark, and unwelcoming. Â I will say that we had decent service with a good waiter. Â We ordered burgers that were cooked to order (a nice medium). Â The food was average and the price was outstanding. Â There was also a group of locals at the bar that were very nice to talk with.
At the end of the meal when we were about to leave, we glanced TWO MICE from beneath a table across the way. Â They boldly ran about the floor eating searching for food. Â The waiter and bartender didn't seem to notice. Â My wife and I paid our billed and walked out. Â
Don't eat here. Â Unless you like the company of mice while you eat.
This here is a working man's bar. It was described to me as a bar that "still smells like smoke 10 years after the smoking ban." Don't bother checking it out if you're into handcrafted cocktails and swank seating.
The bar is kind of small, maybe 10 or 12 seats at the actual bar, and a handful of high top tables and small booths. There's a barrel of peanuts by the entrance where you can get yourself a basket and don't be shy about sweeping the shells onto the floor!
The bartender was a portly older man who poured a mean vodka soda, so mean I had to cut myself off so the boy wouldn't have to carry me to the car (if you ever confront me about his however, I'll deny it). The jukebox has a nice selection and some thoughtful person didn't use up all their credits so I got to play 8 songs for like $1. I'd definitely prefer to come here over the chains on the Pike.
This is not some hip hangout. Most of the people who go there are middle age and are very working class. They seem to like to drink their beers, socialize, and have a good time. In other words, I've met quite a few characters here (and I mean that in the most positive way)! Most happy hour places especially in the DC area tend to not really have this vibe! Its not an eye catching place (hidden behind a checkers), but its worth the visit.
However, its really worth it for Friday happy hours. Free carving station! I'm not joking, you get free delicious roast beef with a decent selections of toppings. Plus you can't complain about the huge barrel of peanuts as well! The beers and drinks are relatively cheap.
Only downside was the service. The service is somewhat slow even when the place was less than half filled. Our waitress brought an extra drink over that my friend didn't order and did not ever come back to return it after numerous attempts. We ended up getting charged for this additional drink that we didn't order.
Good all day. Â Crew from other locations appear when they close. Great parking, good food and really good bartenders. Â This comfortable saloon fits as a neighborhood hang out for anyone seeking a pause from routine. Â The bartenders accommodate you if the music is too quiet, the TV's on the wrong channel or the food is not perfect. Â NTN and Friday night live trivia. Â Best Wings (several types) Guinness Stew and Maryland crab Soup anywhere. Large portions ... Â Excellent lunchtime specials (try the beef ribs, clam chowder, pork chop, fresh fish or one of Chef Jimmy's whimsical inventions. Great free roast beef on Fridays. Â Fun Karaoke with Chuck Money and lots of interesting amateurs. Â Wine was never very good here but they seem to have fixed that. Â There was an Indian restaurant that went bust so it is more Irish, American, Italian and traditional bar food.
Review Source:DO NOT GO HERE! Went during a redskins game, the place was empty. We had a yound girl waiting on us. worst service ever. we had to flag her down everytime we needed something. she never removed dirty appetizer dishes. we had to ask her for refills. it took her 30 mins to get us the check after our meal was finished. She completely ignored another customer when they came in and sat in her section. The guy had to ask the bartender if there was even a server! she spent most of her time back near the kitchen area talking with the young man who obviously worked in the kitchen. She had an attitude when we asked for things. Very disappointed in the restaurant all around.
Review Source:WORST SERVICE EVER. My friend and I came here today for a quick bite. It was anything but. The biggest problem was our waitress- every time we needed something we had to flag her down. First was the appetizer, mozzarella sticks served with marinara sauce- only the marinara sauce was actually cocktail sauce. We finally got our waitress' attention and asked for marinara sauce, she left for about 5 minutes and came back with what tasted and looked exactly like vegetable soup. Our burgers were actually good, but the waitress never stopped by to ask if they were or if we needed anything. She resurfaced after about 20 minutes and we had to flag her down for our check, and asked her to split it- she couldn't even handle that, and charged me for the entire appetizer. Needless to say I will never ever EVER give this place my business again.
Review Source:Stop by twice on a visit from California. The place isn't the trendiest bar ever, but it's cozy. Seems like most people are regulars, but the staff and customers are friendly. We went on a Wednesday and Thursday might. The drinks are reasonably priced. $5.99 for cranberry and vodka. They have karaoke on Thursday. They are inviting to all. Don't expect anything fancy but do expect to have a good time.
Review Source:Okay I was hoping this would be a good neighborhood spot. My husband and I came here with our baby and in my head as soon as I walked in I wanted to leave... but my husband is all about trying new places and he regretted it afterwards... It is saloonish, not much to look at it. We got onion rings with our meal and I could have sworn they got them from Burger King.... awful... frozen Ore Aida is 1000x better than what they served us... My husband got a steak... I do not even know what posessed him to do that in here... it was awful as well. I got mini burgers and they were tolerable. I am surprised they got such good ratings but I do notice a trend, its about drinking... it is not about the food. Anyways.. I will not be back and feel like it is my duty to warn people that if you want to eat good food.. it is NOT here.
Review Source:They ran my card twice because I left it at the bar. Custom is to charge an automatic gratuity on the original charge. Refused to refund my money and claimed I didn't tip (well, obviously, I wasn't present when it was charged). Also claimed other people were ordering on my tab. The second charge was unauthorized and unwelcome. The manager seemed reasonable but was not trying to help me. The bartender was downright rude.
Review Source:Atmosphere and drinks are great (Lindas a great bartender!)...My food however, was shall I say, dismal.... I ordered the Lobster Bisque which had so much salt I could barely eat it-when I said something the response was "yeah, sorry, we hear that all the time about all of our soups" (so, mine apparently wasn't a one time mistake-Question: why is anyone adding salt to soups in the first place?-and why isn't this issue  resolved already?) .... Next was my caesar salad which had absolutely no flavor-unless you count the flavor of the greens I was told they make their own dressing and that it was incredible-I guess they were half right....next up was my order of chicken alfredo-the sauce was so so so bad, I had to return it...the waiter was apologetic and took it off the bill but it ruined my appetite.  I was told the chef in the day is awesome but when he leaves, basically so does the quality of food.... (told this by more than one person that evening).... it was karaoke night and they had a decent crowd-it's a nice bar with regulars (like Cheers) it's just too bad subpar food and offering excuses  for the kitchen is apparently the norm at night (it wasn't even an "OMG I'm so sorry IDK what happened" response it was "yeah, we hear that a lot"-THAT is what made it such a bad experience).
 On bright side-the club sandwich looked good! Â
I will return for a beer now and then to meet up with friends but I won't take a chance on the  menu items in the evening unless they fix what I believe is broken....(Shout out to the owner-substandard in the evening is the norm apparently according to some of the "regulars" and wait staff.....If it were me, I'd address this-just sayin')
Back in the day, when I was younger, single and way more heartless, JJ Muldoon's was my breakup spot. Â It was the site of 3.5 breakups*. Â At the time, it was the best breakup spot ever:
1) drinks are cheap, so if you really feel badly about the breakup, you can buy the soon-to-be-ex a cheap drink before telling him that it's not him, it's you.
2) the crowd was a little redneckish, so on occasion, you may get "crowd participation" for the breakup (I once scored so many free drinks because I was able to make the ex cry. Â I did say I was *way* more heartless back in the day).
3) the bartenders pour drinks fast and furious...and can get your check settled before the ex can start with the "but I can change...I love you" speech.
4) the parking lot is condusive to a quick get away if need be.
Then, I met my husband and I no longer need JJ Muldoon's as a breakup spot. Â It's been nearly 14 years since I've been back here, but we came by a few nights ago to meet up with a friend who wanted to check out some of the bands that were playing that night. Â
The great thing about JJ Muldoons? Â It hadn't changed a bit. Â Drinks were still cheap, the crowd was still a little rowdy...and the bartender could still pour a drink faster then I could drink it. Â Awesome.
P.S. Â I know this review kinda makes me sound like a royal B...but I wasn't really. Â I just had a horrible fear of monogamy and relationships and feeling emotion...so I prefected a system of breaking up with a guy before I had to start assessing my feelings *shudder*. Â OK...I may have been a little bit of a B. Â But we all have our baggage when we're young and stupid, right?
****note: the 3.5 breakups****
You are probably asking how does one have a "half" breakup. Â Well, I had told my friends about this place as my go-to breakup spot shortly before I was about to dump the guy I was seeing. Â I had arranged for him to meet me there, and I was about halfway through my "it's not you, it's me" speech when one of my friends came in with the guy that she was about to dump. Â Awkwardly, I had to stop the breakup, and we ended up making that evening into a very uncomfortable "double date". Â The next night, I dumped the guy at a Starbucks, while my friend dumped her guy at the dog park...and proceeded to meet her future husband at the dog park as the guy was sobbing over his beagle. Â So really, the story has a happy ending. Â Right?
We used to come to Muldoons often for trivia. The food was never great but our server was attentive, the beers were cold, and the trivia host, Bruce, is awesome.
We came today for St. Patrick's Day lunch but were taken aback when my (vegetarian) wife was told they couldn't make the vegetable panini for lunch - it's just some vegetables on bread. Other paninis are on the lunch menu, but we had to convince our server (reluctantly) to make a house salad without bacon. Imagine our surprise when my wife discovered the bacon tossed to the bottom of her salad.
My Irish lamb stew was a teaspoon of water away from being biscuit batter - it was all flour and potatoes. Â If there was one item which fulfilled our expectations admirably, it was the ice cubes which made up the overwhelming majority of our iced tea glasses, but were at least cold.
If our server ever comes back to give us the check, we may live to Yelp another day, but for now, we wait.
My husband and I are regulars at JJ's. If this was Cheers, they wouldn't know our names, but they might recognize our faces...and I appreciate that.
The food here is better than average bar food, especially now that they have updated their menu. They did this sometime in 2010, and it is much improved. They added a whole new Italian section to the menu, which I am interested in trying.
A few tips right off the bat:
--Do not sit in the dining room unless you are there for Trivia night. I'm pretty sure Trivia is the only reason they have not burned down or sold that space. The atmosphere in there is not good for just eating dinner. Sit at the booths or table in the bar. Just don't do it while I'm there, because there aren't too many tables.
--Try to make it for one of the Karaoke nights, because it really is cool.
--Tip well! There are not many servers on any given night, and they are working their butts off for you.
We've had a ton of stuff from the menu, and almost everything is good. They aren't breaking any barriers here, or doing anything new and exciting--it is just good and inexpensive. Try the Pots o Gold (potato skins with cheese and bacon), grilled chicken finger appetizer, or their nachos to start. Shoot, try anything!
Husband loves the JJ Club Sandwich, and the burgers too (I swear they have something called the Cajun Burger, and it was AWESOME!). We love their french fries (they'll make 'em cheese fries if you ask). They make the honey mustard in-house, and it is so good they should sell it. Their ranch dressing is also fantastic and thick and creamy, so I just try to find things to dip in it. It kind of sounds like I am recommending a heart attack, so I'll also say that they have a big selection of entree salads.
Ok so... I'll preface by saying that I didn't eat here, but I came for drinks and karaoke.
Ambiance: A little crowded. Feels like there could be more seating room. However, the crowd was nice. A bit older: 30s/40s, but not at all rowdy or redneckish. As some reviews have mentioned it's kind of a mellow place, which I dig compared to loud, drunken teens and 20 somethings who want to be teens.
Service: No complaints. Waitress was attentive all night.
Drinks: Pretty decent, though nothing blew my mind. But enough liquor so you didn't feel you were getting ripped off.
Karaoke: I had fun! It was a pretty decent selection compared to the skimpier ones I have seen. The DJ was nice and tried to be fair to everyone. Acoustics were pretty good (sometimes the music was a little loud) and a nice crowd that's singing to sing and not win any Emmys. :P Plus it's Tues., Thurs. Sat. which is convenient.
Probably THE place to karaoke in MoCo.
This place is just your good'ole neighborhood pub. Â The type place you just can't find around much anymore.
The wait staff and bartenders are all very nice and attentive and the food is good bar food. Â They make a great club sandwich and/or you cannot go wrong with any of the burgers on the menu.
You get exactly what you came into the place for here....good bar food and cold beer at  a fair price.  This place will always be one of my favorite neighborhood bars.
I went to JJ Muldoons this Friday after one of the Washingtonian reviews on bars with trivia. I'd never heard of trivia nights in bars but think it's a pretty good idea... I mean what is better than drunk people arguing and competing over who knows more.
The crowd here is INTERESTING. Don't go here looking to find your next date. Just go to have a good time with friends. Our waitress let us know there were drink specials nearly every night of the week. They choose a different beer and martini each night and serve them for $2.95 all night. Who can beet that on a Friday?!
The food was even a bit better than normal bar food too. It was real chicken in the chicken sandwich and they even have turkey burgers and boca burgers. I sat in one of the booths in the bar so I can't comment on the dining room. Honestly who cares what the dining room looks like... you are going to a bar called JJ Muldoon's the food is good, the bar is stocked and you aren't paying an arm and a leg. That's enough to get me to come back.
My friend and I were looking for a place in Montgomery County that has Buzztime trivia. We phoned a friend who told us that our closest location was JJ Muldoon's. JJ's is tucked back off Shady Grove Road, near Checkers and the Red Roof Inn.
There was an interesting and very diverse crowd at the bar. No one in the bar was playing trivia when we arrived. We seated ourselves and sat for a bit to get a feel for the place. Finally, one of the wait staff stopped to offer service. He hooked us up with the trivia game pads, and brought us menus. As we were setting up for trivia, we soon realized that it was also karaoke night. We were treated to several performances, most of which weren't that bad.
JJ's seems to be the type of place that has its regulars, but also some that likely wander over from the neighboring hotel. I didn't get the impression that anyone drives from great distances to hang out here.
We did order food, and it was surprisingly decent for bar fare. I'm not sure that I'd go out of my way to come back here, but if I had friends visiting and we were desperate for something to do, I'd consider it.
Zzzzzz...[yawn]...oh, its you. Â How's it going? Â Yeah, I was thinking about what I would write for my JJ Muldoon's review and I must have drifted off due to the unmitigated boredom of the concept.
A co-worker and I drifted across the Potomac on business and found ourselves at JJ Muldoon's for lunch time. Â Its tossed in the middle of a completely worthless plaza near 270 and Shady Grove, and shares a parking lot with a Checkers fast food joint.
The interior is split up between a large bar and dining room. Â We sat in the dining room and perused the menu.
The Food - My turkey burger was okay, but the curly fries were stale and bland. Â My co-worker ordered the pulled pork sandwich, and drowned it in sauce to try to finish it - apparently it was heavily salted and difficult to eat.
The atmosphere - The bar seems alright, but the dining room has a disintegrating 1980s motif. Â Now, I love a good greasy diner with well-worn tables and floors - I appreciate the fine qualities of a cozy, run-down hole-in-the-wall...but that's not what is going on at JJ Muldoons. Â It just looks a little lame.
The service - the folks here are nice enough, I didn't have any complaints in this regard. Â Service was fine.
2.5 stars - ok turkey burger, ok service, stale and bland fries, and an apparently poorly prepared pulled pork sandwich.
Everytime we come in to Gaithersburg to visit family and friends we stay at the Comfort Inn Shady Grove. Â Why? Â Because we can't wait to go to JJ Muldoon's. Â The drinks constantly flow, the price is right, and the pub food is great. Try the turkey swiss sandwich with asperagus. Delicious! Yum... Â We usually sit in the bar but they're some great booths that are more private if you have to gossip or trash your boss. When I got together my family, the hostess sat us on a Sunday in the dining room area of the restaurant even though it was closed. Â Excellent deal! Â Plus, we play keeno here and we constantly have a winning streak. Â They have karoke, bands, and a non-stop jukebox. Â Joe, the bartender, is one the best bartenders I have ever met. Â Very speedy with food and drinks. Â This place has been around for at least 25 years or more. Â If you're in the Shady Grove area, do hit the happy hour and meet some very friendly locals and non-locals as well.
Review Source:
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