I've eaten here five times in the last three years or so, and my experiences with the food have been pretty mediocre. We've come back so often because my fiance has a huge weakness for the Guinness Stew-- well, or HAD. Â The last two times he's ordered it, the stew has been extremely oversalted to the brink of being inedible. Â I'm no expert, but I've been to Ireland a couple of times and I wouldn't call this super authentic.
I threw in an extra star, though, because O'Connor's does carry-out, and sometimes you don't want to cook. You just want to swing by on the way home from work and pick up something for dinner that isn't fast food. O'Connor's carry-out has always been fast and reasonably fresh; we call to order, ten minutes later we pick it up. Â Can't argue with that.
The beer selection is also really nice.
A revisit today on a cold rainy late May afternoon.
It's easy to forget that this place is a superb kitchen along with a cool bar.
This Texas boy gave this Irish pub's Chili two huge enthusiastic thumbs up.
The fish and chips were also great. That fish was flaky and cooked absolutely perfectly.
The food here could definately hold it's own with any restaurant, especially with any restaurant in the Roch.
it was my fist time experiencing this place without a pint in my hand, but alas, there were work responsibilities to follow lunch so it was a diet coke.
having sampled most of the bars in downtown  Rochester Hills, there really isn't a reason I can see to eat and booze it up anywhere else than here.
my only negatives for Gus's is that it's a tad expensive but again, the quality of the food and drink are worth it IMO. sure, there are cheaper booze and food options but not better options
Nice place. Good beer selection.
This place is SUPER packed, and the "bodyguard staff" (Why do they need bodyguards?) are pushy. They push standing patrons out of the way when waitresses come by.
I'm sorry, guys, but this is Rochester. It's a safe neighborhood, a safe street, and your waitresses can do what every other waitress in every other bar in the world does and push their way past the crowds.
I didn't try the food. There was no way we could have gotten a table. It looked good, though.
Stopped in here for a few drinks on a Sunday afternoon. Â Wife had a Bloody Mary and wow was that good! Â Lots of beer on tap to choose from. Â Staff was curtious but the table we were sat at was quite tacky/sticky. Â We weren't hungry so just a few drinks for us. Â Have to try out the food next time.
Review Source:I've got to admit I'm in love with this place. The beer list is simply outstanding. We've been here several times and never had a bad meal. As far as price, it's on par with everything else in downtown Rochester and we've never once had bad service. The one downside to O'Conner's would be the noise level, when its busy, it gets loud, sometimes too loud in the main bar area to hold a conversation.
Review Source:We met up with some friends here when we were in town for a wedding. I like that there is public parking behind the building as well as street parking. Our hostess was pleasant and let us know the bar was seat yourself. We checked in and got free house made chips and dip-very tasty and went over well at our table. I ended up ordering the angus sliders and a cup of the potato leek soup. The sliders were great, but the soup lacked pretty much everything. I have been to Ireland and this soup did not live up to what I expected it to. They had a good selection of beer on tap and my Guinness was served with a little shamrock in the foam.. nice touch!
Review Source:It's a stereotypical pseudo Irish bar.
Lots of wood, Celtic knots, rails on the bar, solid place overall.
The secret is to get the private booth surrounded by walls that's attached to the bar. Â If you score that, you're solid all night long. Â If you can't...well, it's still a decent place, but the private booth really makes this place a lot more enjoyable, especially if you're there with a crowd of people with whom you want to actually hold a conversation.
Over several visits there, I've had the reuben (awesome), the shepherd's pie (also awesome) and several of the appetizers (solid).
The beer...it's an Irish pub for crying out loud, how can you not like the beer? Â In fact, if you DON'T like the beer, you're in the wrong friggin' place and should be ashamed of yourself.
I didn't expect to love this place as much as I did: reasonable prices, a relaxed atmosphere, great service and excellent food.
We had a Rubin, fish and chips and homemade potato chips. Â I would recommend all three. Â These are things that are on a lot of menus and all have the potential to be heavy and greasy, instead they were delicious, crispy and the perfect temperature. Â The Rubin was one of the best that I've ever had. Â The corned beef was perfect and all of the components were perfectly balanced. Â We inhaled the homemade potato chips with onion dip and I don't even usually like potato chips that much.
We don't get out to Rochester that much, but I plan to go back to O'Connors.
I'm not going to review the food because I'm not a fan of this type of food, so I wouldn't know good from bad. Â
I've been going here on and off for a few years, and always found the service (especially the bartenders) to be top notch.
But the problem with Gus' is the layout. Â The main bar area is long and narrow, and on a busy weekend night, it's an absolute pain to exist in this place. Â Then they have other small seating areas here and there, and the area that the band plays is much too small.
They really need to rework the interior, which I'm sure will never happen. Â I think it's far too difficult to socialize in this joint, which is what a meat market is for, right?
We went for a drink while waiting on our ride on a Saturday afternoon. Â
Best. Waitress. Eva.
They had a nice selection of beer including some local ones and a seasonal mixed drink. Â I always try the local and the seasonal stuff and I was not disappointed.
We all shared the cheese plate which was the best I've had in a long time including a super-fancy (pricey) nearby hotel restaurant!
The atmosphere was *****SPOILER ALERT***** like an Irish pub: Â lots of wood, celtic knots, fireplace, long bar and lots of stools.
I'll go back when I visit the area again.
O'Connors is my favorite place to go in Rochester. Â Excellent food, not bar food, food like smoked salmon appetizer, fish tacos and of course the Guiness Stew! Â
The beer selection is vast, the Irish music on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays livens up the already amazing irish pub ambience. Â
Very nice wait staff, that is knowledgeable, clientele that is eclectic (in a good way)!
Go to O'Connors and enjoy!
Update to my Dec 22, 2011 review:
I went back for the same menu item and all was perfect... Had a chat with Dimitry (their senior manager) after we finished our meal... I like the way they handled the root cause of the problem.. That I like...So my re-review in fairness to their corrective action..
Pleasant surprise, especially for a parent. Â
I saw on Yelp that this place is not good for kids, that's BS. Â They have a nice menu for kids and be smart and order a 1/2 order of the adult mac and cheese and you'll be set. Â The staff was abundant and nice, we never felt like we were being ignored by the wait or bar staff at all.
Ordered a half and half and it was poured to perfection, no questions, no weird looks, they knew what it was just like any pub should. Â
It was a busy night but we got in pretty quickly and were able to sit as promised within 30 minutes. Â Food was prompt with people at my table getting Irish fair like bangers and mash, fish and chips and shepherds pie. Â The vote was that the fish and chips were good, so were the bangers and mash but the shepherds pie was a bit average. Â Nothing that needed to go back and they nailed it with my wife's mac and cheese with lobster. Â The fish and chips came out in a great beer batter that was more of a brown than a golden color - this is what I expect from an English/Irish experience, score O'Connors.
Is it a GREAT Irish pub? Â Not exactly, but it has charm and feel. Â I'd say it's better than most because the decor and woodwork feels more like a pub than some place painted all green and called 'pub'. Â It's very loud in the bar area, but dining is not nearly as bad. Â
I would easily go back again and take friends for a pint and something to eat any day.
The food was good, people were very attentive which always is a big plus to me. Â We were there when there wasn't any music playing so I don't know how it changes the vibe.
I hated this bar. The people were douchy and I felt super uncomfortable the entire time I was there. The band was horrible, the place was crowed, and there was nowhere to sit without being in someone's way. The only good thing that came out of it was the nachos. Now those, were delicious! I would definitely get those again...but, to go. Peace out!
Review Source:uggh. Â this place is like douche on steroids. Â i'm sure its much different during the day, but if you're going out on saturday watch out. Â the clientele is horrible (minus my friend meredith). Â
the beers are expensive. Â the atmosphere doesn't exist unless you think standing around and looking at fake tits is atmosphere.
i thought this was supposed to be an irish pub? Â why is there no place to congregate? why is the seating so awkward?
the nacho was really f'ing good though. Â and somehow we got the one waitress that gave a shit in the whole place. Â also the only one that seemed nice. Â so the 2 stars are all on her.
love, juston
Stopped in for Rochester restaurant week (everyone is having one now it seems) and had a very good experience. Is it an authentic Irish Pub? Actually I have no idea but it's what I imagine one to be from my many years of watching movies. It's cozy and kinda dark with a Tigers game on. Just like in Ireland!
They had the largest menu selection of any restaurant week participant I've been to yet. The appetizer was really hard to nail down. I ended up getting a scotch egg (first time I had one anywhere beside the renaissance festival) and my wife ordered the chips with spinach and artichoke dip. Both were really good. There were several other apps that's sounded really good too, so I'm sure we will be going back to give those a try.
The entrees were pretty big. Again they offered so many that it was hard to choose. I thought about chicken pot pie or the shepherds pie but ended up with the brisket. It was cooked well and the portions were generous. The mashed potatos were good as well and it came with a strange looking muffin. Maybe that's an Irish thing or a pub thing but it was weird looking and big. But it was also very good. Can't wait to try some other things from the menu. The wife had fish & chips and she told me they were quite good.
Knowing that we still had dessert coming we had to get a couple boxes to take some home (yay I gotta good lunch tomorrow!). Again both desserts were fantastic. She got the apple crumble and I went with the black and tan brownie with guiness ice cream.
The beer selection was decent enough. I had a couple Oberon drafts. They also have Final Absolution on tap and some other local beers.
Overall a great dinner and they did an awesome job with their restaurant week menu. And if the point of a RW is to get people to come and then come back again I would say they succeeded. At least with me.
**update: strange looking muffin = Yorkshire pudding. Who knew?
O'Connor's is my (and my entire group of friends) go-to place for drinks and fun in Rochester.
I'll keep this short and sweet: huge beer selection (many local, many imported from Europe and hard-to-find), good prices, quick and friendly staff, great parties, good live music (and frequent), and fantastic food. My favorite is the grilled chicken salad. I know many people don't expect much from bar food, but O'Connor's food is top notch. This salad, for example, actually had hot, freshly grilled chicken on top, green lettuces (no iceberg here), and yummy toppings.
They also have a Sunday brunch every week that is a little pricey, but totally worth the money.
Oh and by the way, it's about as authentic as an Irish pub in America can get.
So, again, blame it on my bias, but here we go.
My family is Irish (my name is Dempsey for pete's sake) and I have spent time in Ireland. Â I am so sick of places calling themselves "Irish" because they have an Irish name on the front door and Guinness on tap. Â FYI...Irish Pub does not equal Irish!
I love O'Connor's for sticking to its Irish roots. Â Irish is not cuisine, never has been and never will be. Â Real Irish food is stew, mashes potatoes, colcannon, soda bread, or Boxty (Irish potato pancakes)...not fancy.
O'Connor's has Guinness stew with mashed potatoes, shepherds pie, bacon and cabbage,  and different  kinds of boxty!  If you are looking for traditional Irish food this is one of very few places in the metro area that serves it up.  It is not cuisine and it is not supposed to be, this is the kind of food you get in real Irish Pubs, in Ireland.  Enjoy yourself and enjoy an ethnic food you cannot get in many places!
For my heritage and for O'Connor's sticking to their Irish roots I have to give it 5 stars!
A Monday night visit was just 2.5 stars A-OK
We both worked 12 hour days and were not in the mood to cook. A friend at work had mentioned a few days earlier that he had been here for a quick bite and I though why not, give it a try. We have lived in the area for several years and off we went.
The place was 1/3 full which is what I would expect for a very cold Monday night. The service was good and she brought our NA drinks quickly. The beer and wine listed look very good, but this was a food visit only.
Started off with the potato skins , good but could have used a little more bacon, and the Irish Sliders. Also good, the corned beef was sliced thin with swiss cheese and pickles.
For the entrees she had the chicken pot pie. The waitress was very good in letting us know that it was "not like you get in the store" It was served as more of a stew with a puff pastry in the center of a large flat bowl. It was very good.
I ordered the fish and chips and was very disappointed . The fries were served warm at best, too much time under the warming light. The battered cod was served very hot, a good thing, on a bed of lettuce, not a good thing, it was a wilted mess that I had to pick off of each piece I ate. The fish was large flaky pieces under the coating. Unfortunately it was way way over salted. I say IT, because I think it was the batter, not the fish. The last piece and a half I picked the batter off and the fish its self was not to bad.
All in all a A-OK meal for $45 plus tip. Maybe on a warm summer evening we will try again.
Painfully average. It's just another bar that claims to be Irish. It's not so hard to find a place if you have a hankerin' for a Guinness these days...so the "draw" of the Irish pub in that sense has dwindled for me. What's worse, is that all of these so called Irish pubs have some poorly done Guinness flavored soup or some Shepard's pie, thinking that validates them as Irish.
Ok, I dig the Irish pub style, it's cool with all it's celtic knot work, dark wood and pictures of places in Ireland...but let's be frank here, its a SPORTS BAR. The ambiance is nice, but that's about as far as I'll go for compliments here.
The food is nothing but typical bar food. Burgers, fries...in my case I made the mistake of asking for "seasoned" fries...which to Gus's cooks apparently means that you dump a load of seasoned salt on top plain fries sitting under a heating lamp. Just sad and super SALT heavy fries. Stick with the plain ones, trust me!
If I want a cheap pint of crappy domestic tap beer & some big flatscreens with the sports game of the moment, I'll be back...but I don't see that desire coming over me any time soon. I learned my lesson about the "food."
Good place to have a pint with friends and family. Â I have been going here since they opened, and after a visit on December 29th of 2010, I am convinced the restaurant side of the business has gone down-hill. Â Food service was slow and lacking, food presentation, flavor and taste was off and my fish was soggy in oil, not crisp.
I would still go back here for drinks, Â but no longer would I visit for food items, other than the pub chips.
I had heard so much about this place that I decided to give Gus O' Conner's a try with my boyfriend for lunch about 4 months ago.
I was not impressed at all. Service was below par. It took them about 15 minutes to see if we had been helped at all. Another 15 minutes to take our drink order. Then there was some sort of confusion over who was to serve us so we had to wait another 10 minutes or so. It was one of the few times I received such poor, slow service (I don't understand why it was slow because only 2 other tables were filled when we were there).
The food was mediocre as well. It was nothing extraordinary.
Maybe it was just one of those days, but from the experience I had I will not be venturing there anytime soon.
Finally decided to venture out to Rochester and I pre-determined that some Irish fare was in order. Party of two got seated within 30 seconds even on a busy Friday night at about 730 pm. I guess we showed up at just the right time.
We sat and enjoyed a Sam Adams cherry wheat and a Boddingtons pub ale while perusing the menu. I figure that if a restaurant wants to be Irish then I should go ahead and order some Irish food, but then the Guinness stew sounds good, and the Shepherd's pie must be good, so what to do? Â Some brilliant menu planner came up with the solution. Put them both on one plate, then throw in a serving of chicken pot pie, a bowl of mashed potatoes, and a mini loaf of brown bread with honey butter, yummo!
All three dishes have some strong rich flavors, so I don't know if I could plow through a full serving of one of them, but having three small servings made for great variety. Spoon full of potatoes plus Guinness stew, piece of bread and shepherds pie, beer and chicken pot pie, endless mix and match possibilities! Unless you are a math major, then you could tell me exactly how many combinations are possible with a six item set.
A complaint I often have with restaurants is over salting and these dishes were tolerable on the salt level but I think they could be desalinated a bit. Â They were, however, much better then the "so salty it was inedible" shepherd's pie I had at O'Maras in Berkley. Â Thanks Gus for an overall successful dinner!
I first came here on the week that Gus' opened, and I was not impressed. Plus, the waiter hit on my friend. 5 years later, this place has gotten better, and my friends are not as attractive as I am.
I came here on a Saturday to celebrate a birthday of a friend who likes to think he's Irish. The pub was actually open enough to walk around in, which is nice for a Rochester bar on a Saturday night. The staff set us up at a big table and had no problem when we ordered the birthday boy a Cement Mixer.
The beer is cheap, and they have a good selection. The food is ample and authentic. I think I read that they actually import Irish people to work here. Kind of like how Chuck E. Cheese employs actual vermin (just kidding).
They had a a band playing in the dining room, I could not hear them, but they sounded like George Clinton mixed with Enya. I suppose that's a good thing.
All in all, when you're looking for a brew in downtown Rochester, certainly give this place a try. It seems to take a little more pride in itself than other bars in Rochester.
After seeing all the great reviews of this place, I think I might just have ordered wrong the two times I was here.
I ordered the sliders which were not at all what I had hoped. I am a girl who loves a good slider. And good sliders these were not. They need more onion and more grease! I had one bite and gave them to my dining partner. The second time I opted for a veggie sandwich. Â It was a grilled cheese with veggies thrown on it. Nothing melded, nothing really stuck out. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't ground breaking either.
I might go one more time to try one of their more authentic meals... but no promises.
Authentic Irish, from the floors to the pours.
The menu is hearty, and has lots of Irish traditional food, the main difference is that it's better flavour ( they don't season their food across the Pond )!
I'v eeaten here dozens of times and never ever had a bad meal.
I go for the  piedmontese beef cheesburger, the chili, the irish stew and the shepherds pie.
Also , they are one of the only places in Michigan who can pull a good pint of Guinness. Trust me, somebody brings you your Guinness after 10 seconds, they are doing it wrong.
Their Guinness is perfect, just as Arthur Intended it.
Actually I thought it was better than the Guinness I had in the little bar at the Guinness factory.
atmosphere is nice. Good mix of folks.
Best time to get there is early afternoon. they have newspapers on the bar and you can have a quiet pint and read the paper, and watch the footie on tele
The beers are a bit pricey, is my only complaint but you pay for quality
I'm taking it back to my home state again!
Gus your place is great! My favorite thing that you offer is your Sunday Jazz Brunch. Why must it be expensive though??? Well I mean for broke little chickies like me.
You see your smart though because you got it set up buffet style which means instant pleasure! I hate waiting so you get points for this. Let me be honest though the real reason I craze over your brunch is because you brillant bastards have a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN! Do I want chocolate with my breakfast...YES! You even got all the to-be-dipped fixins...how could a girl like me ever resist?? Plus being soothed by mellow tunes while eating...COME ON you got me already!
I am also endeared that your located on mainstreet in downtown Rochester so I can visit often. Plus I have shared some great late night dinners at your place with family and friends. So you were the place I chose to eat at to celebrate the day I graduated from college. So kudos to you and your white chocolate covered popcorn you sell during the Christmas parade...much love!
Gus O'Connor's is the type of place my mother would really dig on... because it goes so over the top to prove its Irish heritage that it's almost slightly annoying. Then again, it really isn't all THAT bad - it's not like it's trying to be Bennigan's.
What really makes this place is the atmosphere, which wasn't really there when I was visiting, but I can tell it has its nights where that must be a really fun spot to chill out at. The wood floors, walls, and stained glass really add a nice touch that brings you out of a normal bar experience and make it into something different. Although there are a lot more elaborately decorated places around, Gus O'Connor's does a nice job of balancing the duty of creating a feeling without pushing it to the limit.
The menu here is nothing special. At all. To its own credit, this is only a pub... but for the prices they're charging, I don't think I'm out of line expecting a little bit more. I ordered a chicken wrap which came with a fruit bowl - a nice touch I might add. $10 for a wrap with a fruit bowl seemed a little pricey to me, however. The wrap was well prepared but nothing much different that what you might pick up from Subway, in my opinion. Near the end of my wrap the chicken started to have a somewhat weird taste to it as well... I don't know what that was, but it could just be a fluke. The fruit was fresh but a lot of melon stuff and they kind of ripped me off on everything else. Oh well.
Drink prices are fair (my Bacardi and Coke was $3.75 and EXTREMELY strong while my dining partner's 20 oz. beer was somewhere around the same mark, I believe). We happened to strike it lucky and also arrive for half priced appetizers. I'm a big fan of Scotch Eggs, which they have here, so I ordered some and was slightly disappointed that only one came out. To make matters worse, I ordered my appetizer after my meal and this was apparently after the half off thing was over... so I had to pay a full price of $5-something for a single Scotch Egg. Totally not worth it. The paying full price thing is admittedly my own fault, however.
I think Gus O'Connor's would be an exceptional place to stop in with a large group and order a few drinks, act like idiots, and then go wreak havoc on the unsuspecting community of Rochester. For dining options, however, I'd take my money elsewhere and get something that seemed to be a little more worthwhile - or at least fitting to the prices being asked. The drinks are WELL worth it and make this place a worthwhile stop on that merit alone.
Look at the pictures and tell me the outside of this place doesn't make you want to run at it like a child to candy!
In fact, that's exactly what I did. It hasn't been open very long, and by the merits of the decor alone it has my full respect as an Irish pub experience.
As I was just reminded: "This would be an awesome place to puke!"
And the oddity of the name is one thing that most certainly helps in that: "public house"... which would've later in history be shortened to a more simple "pub." Yay for etymology!
They have a wide selection of beers, which is the centerpiece to any authentic Irish experience (and as any Irishman has told me, along with loud songs and the occasional headlock. But that's a story for another time.). Gus's has fair prices all around. If you can't find something on the drink menu you like, then try a Murphy's; it's never let me down yet!
*I just did a little digging. Apparently Gus's yanked some of the floorboards from the Guinness warehouse in Dublin and are a couple hundred years old? That...is...AWESOME.
Honestly I've never been in a place that paid so much attention to making it an authentic Irish pub experience. This place is bound to make me think "Where's the Old Shillelagh again?" by the end of summer!
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