Second time here. Â First time came in the evening on a weekend and had a very nice lively crowd and atmosphere. Â This time I came late afternoon on a Sunday. Â Only a handful of patrons. Â Very quiet and very dark. Â I sat near the window and opened the blinds a bit - no crazy looks from the biker guy sitting at the bar~
Mainly here to drink but wanted a small bit to eat. Â Waitress recommended the pommes frite which turned out to be quite delicious. Â Thick cut fries fried in peanut oil (my fav for french fries) and served with three sauces: Spicy Mayo, Loaded Baked Potato and a bold ketchup. Â Spicy mayo and baked potato were da bomb diggity. Â The bold ketchup had way too much worcestershire which was all I could taste. Â No worries, they had some Heinz nearby - although I much prefer Hunts any day of the week. Â
Decent beer selection. Â That day I was craving a Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale but they did not offer this :( Â Oh well, can't go wrong with good Belgian Ale. Â
Overall, very good.
Came here for a drink tonight, and were SO impressed!! The atmosphere/crowd/general ambiance was great. Lively, but not too loud. It smelled amazing! Like perfectly cooked burgers...and really good beer. Amazing beer selection. I ordered a glass of Bulleit Bourbon, neat. which...you can't possible screw up. My friend had a Jack and Ginger Ale, which was awesome. Our tab was $10!! SO good. and the service was decent. The menu looked really good, but we already had a dinner commitment across the street at Ruggerio's. I would love to come back and try one of their burgers....or at least just hang on their awesome patio out back...
Review Source:My wife and I have been to The Pub a few times since moving to McKinney nearly a year ago, and while the beer selection is consistently fantastic, with a great selection of both staple draughts and rotating beers, unfortunately the service is equally as consistent - consistently BAD.
I don't know anyone at The Pub and don't hold a grudge against the establishment, but I'm extremely disappointed that a place with so much potential and such a cool concept consistently falls short on service - which is the whole reason they exist.
Tonight's visit was a perfect example. It was a beautiful evening, so my wife and I sat on the patio. And sat. AND . . . SAT . . .
What I didn't realize was that the young lady who had been carrying on a conversation with the gentleman two tables away from us the entire time we waited was in fact our server.
I finally got up to go to the bar and order a couple of drinks, at which time I asked the bartender if anyone was working on the patio. Of course he said that someone was. I told him that we'd been sitting a while and hadn't been approached - and not only did he tell me that I wasn't the first with that complaint, he also said that it was a fairly regular issue that he typically gets complaints about, especially on weekends.
To the management at The Pub; you have some work to do. Again, you have a great concept, but I guarantee that you're losing customers by providing horrible, lazy service.
At the very least you've lost myself and my family, but I would venture to guess that I'm neither the first nor the last. I'm sad to say that I will not be back . . .
Draft selection is solid (there's room for improvement, but it beats the hell out of most other places)- with the likes of DogfishHead & Anchor (and the 'evil 3' only available in bottle). TV & music volume kept at the right level, nice crowd, attentive staff. Their menu is very large for a pub- with something for everyone. We nearly fell off our stools to find fresh pork rinds amongst the appetizers (they came to the bar warm & in a paper sack- perfect) & both of us enjoyed our dinners (a very solid, real grilled burger & a ham & cheese- both with soft, but very flavorful hand-cut fries). Malt vinegar came to the table unbidden (one hallmark of a real pub), and the beer was served at a reasonable temperature with clean draft lines. We'll be back!
Review Source:I was excited to visit the McKinney Pub mainly due to the reviews. With a beer selection of over 100, I was truly impressed. We started with the garlic parmesan fries and a few drinks. I selected the Dogfish Head IPA 60 min which is one of my favorties from back East. The matching pilsner glass also made me smile. For dinner, I chose the guinuess marbled cheddar burger and my fiancé chose the smoked Gouda burger. We were completely satisfified with our meal. I wish I could have given the pub five stars but the service fizzled as soon as we recieved dessert. We order the flourless chocolate cake and bread pudding, coffee and a local Texas brew. The cake and the coffee arrived but the breading pudding and milk/creamer did not. We had to flag down the waitress 20 minutes later to have her bring the rest of the order out to us.
I would like to give it a half star more cause they did not charge us for one dessert and other than that hiccup, the food and atmosphere was excellent! Definately a must if you are in or near McKinney.
We've visited the Pub a few times now and so far I am a fan! Â Located just off the main square in McKinney, the Pub is exactly what you would expect - dark woods, dim lighting, casual seating, and a large bar. Â It's actually quite large inside and has been pretty busy each time we've visited. Â Since the tables are "seat yourself" there are often people milling around waiting for seats to open up during peak times so just be prepared.
I've been pretty pleased with the menu. Â There are A LOT of options outside of the regular "pub" fare and there are even some healthier options available. Â Everything we've tried has been pretty good so far, particularly the Vegetarian sandwich and the Guinness-Cheddar Burger. Â I think the only disappointing thing we've had to date was the dessert donuts. Â The beer menu is extensive and they offer several local options as well. Â I also was pleased to see a decent wine list which is sometimes lacking at places like this.
Service has been fine - the waitstaff has been very friendly but food/drinks can take a while to arrive. Â Not real issues though. Â
Overall a great place in McKinney for some good food and a great beer selection.
Went this past Saturday with a couple of friends after finding Hank's way to busy. First time in but will definitely be back. Did not get any food but the service and drinks were top notch. My friends and I decided to just tell our bartender what kind of liquor  we liked and let her surprise us. Best choice we made that night.
Review Source:I'm so bummed to have to write this, but every time we go here, the food and the service is worse than the last time. Â We want to see The Pub succeed; however, it'll be hard to go back when they are out of beer and the food is cold. Â Come on management/ownership - save this place before it's too late!
Review Source:I gave this place a second try (Sun. night - no crowd) and boy was I sorry. The place was so dark, I had to use the candle to see the menu. I ordered a cheeseburger. I asked if it came with fries and the waitress answered "it can", whatever, I'll take one with fries. The waitress brought over a dry burger (meat, cheese only) with lettuce, tomato and onion on the side and a skimpy order of fries. She disappeared and I ate the burger as it was. I never saw her again until I was finished. The tip reflected the fact that she was nowhere to be found. You guys need to either ask if condiments are desired or just put them on the side - and TRAIN your wait staff! No more chances for me, I'll stick with Square Burger. Much better all around food, drink and charm.
Review Source:I hate to say it, Jen (manager) but the service just gets worse. Â We want success for you and The Pub, but we're only going to give it one more shot. Â The only time the service is consistently good is when we sit at the bar. Â This time, the food wasn't up to par, and usually the food is excellent.
Here are our issues for today:
1) Table we wanted wasn't clean and it took them about 3-4 minutes to get to it to clean it. Â Why wasn't it cleaned when it was bussed? Â Not only that, she was just going to wipe the table down without cleaning all the muck on the floor underneath and around it.
2) Took a while to get our drinks
3) Just before food was delivered, waitress says "oh, I forgot--we're out of the calamari, do you want something else?".
4) Sliders were lukewarm, barely a dab of mayo on them, lettuce wilted; garlic fries were cold. Â Had to go grab the waitress and she put in an order for fresh fries. Â
5) Slow getting the check to us after we asked for it.
6) Empty plates stayed in front of us until the check came.
7) No offer of comping anything because of the cold fries or the calamari snafu
I don't know what it is with the waitstaff here. Â They're pleasant, but not very outgoing or conversational and most are just plain inattentive. Â Contrast this staff to that of sister-store The Fillmore in downtown Plano and it's night and day difference. Â The Fillmore have their stuff together. Â I highly recommend that if you try The Pub, do not sit on the covered patio. Â You have to go inside the main building to flag down your waitress if needed.
We've spent too much money at this place and put up with the lackluster service for too long, simply because we enjoy the food and great beers and cocktails and we like Jennifer. Â Hope she gets things moving in a different direction soon.
I'm sorry to have to do this, but the place has been going downhill. Â I have been going there since it opened. Â It used to have great food and even better service. Â The servers would laugh, joke, and have fun with you.
Now.....It's depressing. Â The servers don't even say Hi. Â Just a simple "What can I get you?' Â No interaction, no upselling, no talking about the menu. Â Nothing. Â It seems as if all the fun servers have left and were replaced by emotionless wait staff.
As for the food. Â All frozen and premade. Â If it's not, then the "cooks" make it taste that way. Â They don't have a chef, but what it appears to be, poorly trained former Burger King fry cooks. Â The menu is uninspired.
They may want to call Robert Irvine or Gordon Ramsay to try and save this place. Â After years of going, tonight was my last.
Went to the Pub with my wife after she did tech support at the local high school football game Friday night (9/7/2012) just to get dessert. Specifically looked to see what they had as we had been looking for some great bread pudding. Even read where it was only $4 and a huge serving of bread pudding. What an incredible letdown. The waitress brought out a small kid sized (seriously) 3 bite sized serving in a huge bowl drowned in sauce. Â
I asked her what happened to the bread pudding because this is not what was represented online and not what we had read about their bread pudding. She asked us to wait a moment, took the bowl and returned with a second just as small serving added to the first and asked if this was better. Quite perplexed, we said fine and tried the Jameson Whiskey sauce that was runny like water and no whiskey - it actually tasted bad. The bread pudding was only ok at best.
Then came the bill. We were overcharged for the pudding - online all three desserts are $4, yet we were charged $5 and given a crappy serving and crappy service.
We would not waste the time to even think of trying anything else or going back even though the menu looked enticing or at least did before we had the dessert.
The beer selections is great! Â The autmosphere is comfortable and what I think a tavern should be. Not over the top trying to be Irish, like some I've seen. Â The services on all 4 occasions we have been was very good. Â Our favorite starter is the baked brie with honey apple and almonds. Yummy. The hamburger is fantastic! Grilled on the BBQ flavor, juicey even well done. Â The fish and chips are good too.
Have been back 4 times. This may become one of our regulars.
I really want to like this place more than the 2 stars I'm giving it but it's difficult because a majority of their servers don't pay attention and don't check up on you. Â
The food is good. Â The beer selection is fantastic and it's a great place to hang out. Â But to me, it's all about service.
We visited here last Saturday afternoon during a particularly warm winter weekend. Â Everything was crowded downtown, but the Pub was not that busy. Â The interior was cozy wood, dark and typically pub-like. Â There was a huge projection screen showing the football game which was convenient if you have a football fanatic around. Â The music was odd but not that off-putting.
The beer selection was varied with lots of excellent choices. Â The cheese fries we ordered were delicious. Â I had the Guinness burger and it was heavenly. Â It beats any chain restaurant burger for sure. Â My husband got the fish and chips and declared they were okay. Â
Service was a little slow but super friendly. Â I think it was the kitchen more than any fault of the waitress.
We didn't get dessert, so I can't comment there.
There were several different rooms besides the main bar area in the Pub. Â I think it could accommodate large groups of people really well. Â There are some board games which are available to borrow. Â This seems to be the perfect spot to relax with friends, grab a burger, have a few beers, watch a game or maybe play some games if you're into that sort of thing.
The one time I went there, it was incredibly dead. Which was fine. But I'm saying this to point out this review might not be the same had it been busy (like it typically is) Food was alright. Not great. Not bad. Drinks were decently priced. Service was good too. Had two bartenders at the bar, even though there were only 3 customers in the entire place. Will be visiting again.
Review Source:Things I like about The Pub:
-the beer
-nice decor - definitely your typical pub regalia but still feels cozy
-the food - it's not haute cuisine but it's better than your average chain restaurant and better than average pub fare...the hamburger is actually pretty darn good and the Pub Pork Rinds (house made) are KICK-BUTT. Â I realize not everyone may be into pork rinds but they should.
My husband and I have been on several occasions now (busy nights, slow nights, week days, weekends, etc). Â We've tried nearly everything on the menu. Â The beer selection at The Pub hands down beats most other similar type places. Â (It's not Flying Saucer exhaustive but it's quite nice).
Things I don't like about The Pub:
-food quality and/or service can be hit/miss...hence 3 not 4 stars
This establishment shares an owner with the Fillmore Pub in Plano, which has been described by other yelpers as "an Irish pub without the Irish." I would agree, though not in an unfriendly way; I'm a fan of both places and I think the style works. They have their own flair. Interior is deep and dark and extremely spacious with lots of seating options, which makes for a romantic and/or intimate experience when you want it to be, with the candles flickering across the old wooden tables. Conversely it's great for large crowds too. I just adore the atmosphere. Also great for live music: saw the King Bucks there on St. Patrick's Day and it drew a massive crowd. Hopefully places like this can draw more great local music to the McKinney area.
Great beer on tap, though I'm more of a wine fan, which is sadly still too expensive at most bars in the metroplex, the Pub included. Still, they've got many options. As for the food, I'm a vegetarian, so I haven't been able to partake in their delectable-looking hamburgers, but they make a decent veggie burger and their cheese boards are to die for. OMG they are good. Please try the Guinness Cheddar sometime. Also, their sauces for pommes frites include curry ketchup and an aoli-type concoction that will keep you stealing finger licks long after the frites are gone. I think Vickery Park has a slightly better food selection, but The Pub (and the Fillmore) are very decent.
For smokers you can head out in the back garage area, which is kind of odd--it feels like a movie set or something, but it's not bad out there. My one gripe is that, though the waitstaff is friendly, service is pretty slow. Hopefully this is something that will improve over time.
All in all it's highly recommended you check this place out if you like unpretentious, chill places where you can come and relax over a great beer. Just remember, try the cheese board!
My favorite pub in the northern Metroplex. You walk in and immediately relax. One of those great places to come unwind and enjoy some good beer, good food, or both.
They've got a standing beer menu that is great, and their rotations are really good, as well. Franconia Brewery being a few blocks from here really helps, as well, since they've always got at least three of their brews on tap. Whether you're an IPA fan, a stout-drinker, or anything (and I do mean anything) in between, you'll find at least a few beers you can enjoy. On top of their beer selection, they've got plenty of other drinks to choose from and their food is really good. I don't typically go for pub food, but this is a place you can enjoy, even without having a beer. Burgers are some of the best I've had in a restaurant of any sort.
If you've got meetings, you're just wanting to get with a buddy and have a pint, or you want to bring a date, I'd say this place can handle anything like that. There's plenty of seating available and even a semi-outdoor porch area that is really nice.
A little disappointed with the Pub. The beer selection was very good, the service was very good initially. Â We ordered the cheese tray with guiness cheddar and smoked gouda along with salami. All good!
Then we ordered fish and chips and the steak frites as entrees. Steak was good. Fish was served with a hair.
Waitress disappeared for awhile, never really came back to check on us. Husband finished the steak, I had a half eaten entree.
The waitress was clearly disgusted by the hair, but never offered to replace the meal. She brought the check immediately but since I only got half a meal, I wanted dessert. The flourless cake was excellent, but they charged me for it (did take fish with hair off the bill). I felt they should have comped dessert under the circumstances. Â Management never came by to acknowledge the issue or apologize.
Overall a disappointing experience, but the pub has potential.
Surprisingly enjoyable.
Ambience: A good natured stab at pub interior, rather than a Disneyfied, corporatized focus-grouped "pub". Â As others have noted, the music was a bit out of place. Â
Clientele: Â Normal McKinney folks, mainly in their 30s. Â Prolly many walkovers from the Dog Day parade thing happening that day so I can't be sure these were the regulars.
Food: Â Decent fish and chips. Â Fries had a nice crunchy exterior and soft interior. Â See, Holy Grail? Â You /can/ serve decent fish and chips for $10 rather than bizarre ones for $12.
Do try the homemade pork rinds if you are That Kind Of Person (I am). Â You get a whole brown bag of them. Â Yum!
Drink: Â My German hefeweizen was undamaged, not something that can be automatically taken for granted. The $5 price would have been WINNING{tm} if it were anywhere near the 16oz listed on the menu. Â Serving weizens in weizenglasses marked with the .5L line will fix /that/ problem. Â Â I see I am not the only one to take issue with The Pub's creative volumetric approach.
Another oddity: I would have expected to carry the full line of (McKinney local) Franconia, but I only saw the Dunkel listed.
Staff:  Fine.  We had one newish server who  didn't seem entirely comfortable yet.  Nice enough, but with some awkwardness showing.
wifi: Â the Pub SSID was encrypted, and I saw no signage saying it was for our use. Â But a neighboring biz has open wifi which met my needs.
bathroom: Â Around the corning in the back, past the patio (?) area. Â Unremarkable other than the highest-mounted urinal on the planet. Â I am 6' tall and wasn't sure I could reach it without a stepladder. Â Shorter fellows may have to use the stalls.
Value: Â Good. Â I felt good about the funds we left there. Â I'd definitely return.
Neighborhood sketch factor: no sketch at all. Â Family friendly area.
30.06 status: Â Because it's called The Pub I assumed it was 51% and therefore off limits. Â Later I checked the license and it was green; this signifies less than 51% (ie, a restaurant not a bar). Interesting, and good to know for those beerless days.
~~~~~Brooklyn Beer is a MUST~~~~~
The steak cut fries are great but we mostly come here for THE BEER! There are soooooooooooooooooo many to choose from! If you dont know what to order just tell them Brooklyns...its great! The service is friendly but  slow. Whenever we are out drinking in McKinney this IS where you will find us.
Good food.  Definitely has a great pub feel.  Try the bread puddin.  It's awesome.  The reuben  was good but not the classic standard.  No sauerkraut :(.  Draft selection is good.  Overall great place for Friday night fun or a lazy Sunday afternoon to watch a football game on their projection screen.
Review Source:Decided to try the pub after reading a few reviews on Yelp. Â Nice mellow atmosphere. Â We got there pretty early (7pm) to have a couple great brews and then headed out for a walk around the shops in search of live music. Â They had darts and a wall of beers and liquors to choose from. Â Servers stayed pretty busy but eventually got you what you wanted. Â We were curious if the place had food and then decided it'd be easier to go somewhere else for good grub. Â Good Times!
Review Source:Breakfast was a bit of a let-down. I got the Bananas Foster Crepes and couldn't bare to eat it. There were huge clumps of uncooked brown sugar on the plate and overall it was just way too sweet to be served at all. I will probably give it another go but won't be ordering off the breakfast menu ever again as everyone else at the table was pretty unimpressed with their meals as well.
Review Source:Husband and I love a good pub and went to The Pub in McKinney wanting to love it. We went on a Monday night for "pint" night and were extremely disappointed. A pint, according to the staff, is "not a unit of measure" but the size of the glass. If the maker of the beer provides a 10 oz. glass that is considered a pint. Of course we weren't told this up front, only after we complained about the small glass size. Draft selection was minimal!
Fish in fish n' chips was chewy and not well seasoned. Brother-in-Law had Shepard's Pie which he said was really good. We might try it again only because we really want to support our local businesses.
Went to check out The Pub for a get together I'm planning.  The parmesian garlic fries appetizer was real good especially with ranch.  The burger was very moist and tasty.  My  Captain and Coke was perfect and my friend said her margerita was good, too.  She had the bread pudding which was a generous size and she liked a lot.  Unfortunatly, they were out of the chocolate cake but I'll try it next time.  :-)
Review Source:Decor: 5 of 5
Brew Selection: 5 of 5
Food: 5 of 5
Desserts: Is there an infinity key on here somewhere???
We went for a late lunch (around 3:30) today (Saturday) and to check out the new pub on the square. Â Husband had a burger with swiss cheese and fries and I had the Vegetarian with a salad (I was doing so well on my diet!). Â He just loved his burger. Fresh beef, hand made patty, perfectly seasoned. Â I think he may have found his new favorite place for a burger. Â My "Vegetarian" was awesome. Â Portabella mushrooms, yummmm...
The beer selection is enormous and there are several I made note of and want to try later. Â Most I've never heard of but I'm not a beer expert. Â I just am so tickled to have this kind of selection in McKinney. Â I would have expected to have to go down to the pubs by SMU in Dallas to get this kind of selection.
So everything was really good and then my husband (evil man) twists my arm to order dessert. Â OMG. Â The flourless chocolate cake (his order) is one of the best chocolate desserts I've ever had in my life! Â It is like the taste of a chocolate mousse but with a dense cheesecake kind of consistency. Â You can taste the real cocoa like you can in the expensive chocolate bars. Â If the flourless chocolate cake was to-die-for, I haven't even gotten to the bread pudding! Â I can't even begin to describe it! Â The portion was huge and every bite of it was fantastic. I've never really known exactly what is in bread pudding but this makes all other bread puddings I've had seem like an instant jello mix. Â And what I really can't believe is that each of these desserts were only $4 a piece! Â Wow, that is some goooood stuff!
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