OK, as a preface, we had a coupon as a "thank you" from buying a new car. Â We picked a couple of places pretty close to us in Brighton but just far enough away to feel that we weren't eating in the neighborhood. Â Thus, The Skellig on Saturday night at 5pm. Â For the duration of our meal, we were the only ones dining, though there were folks at the bar. Â The Skellig has a great draft (draught) beer selection (and lots of bottled beer too), and my wife's mixed drink was described as "excellent." Â The food was very, very good to excellent, and so was the apple pie we split for dessert. Â The server, Helen, a very sweet English gal was very conversant, made nice recommendations, and was, in a word, pleasant. Â I know this is an Irish pub and the action seems to start with the music later and likely with a much younger crowd, but what mystified my wife and myself was that there was no other dinner business. In the spirit of McArthur, we shall return.
Review Source:This is a review of the Moody St. 5K which is sponsored by and starts and ends at The Skellig. It's a great 5K for me because I live nearby and a lot of people from my gym, Syn Club, participate.
While all of the roads weren't closed off during the race for top safety, there were a lot of great volunteers and police officers over the whole course. There was one water station.
It was fun to run through a Waltham neighborhood with people sitting in their front yards watching and cheering. There is a big step down along the route that was well marked. The end of the race is along the river, which is pretty.
Afterwards we poured into The Skellig and the guy that owns my gym bought me a couple of Guinness. Now that I've been inside, it's HUGE. There's a big back room. Looks like a decent dive bar and I'm much more apt to try it again some night. I saw bar snacks but didn't try any.
This was a fun run with a lot of people walking, kids, and great time keeping online with email updates.
I came here before going to a movie at the Embassy Theater. We were in a rush, and fortunately, our server was gracious about taking care of us quickly and bringing the check when the food arrived. Better yet, there was a free open session for Irish and folk musicians that I guess occurs every Sunday. The atmosphere was a lot of fun, and the food was delicious.
Review Source:Every Thursday u can see many ppl waiting outside to get in to the bar. I am not a bar or drink person so I never have a try walking inside.Went there for a friend's birthday party for the first time, to my surprise, they have a live band inside and some space for dancing as a club thing.
It is more spacious then I expected. I only tried the wine there nothing special and worth trying again I think.
But for the band , maybe I will come back
A lot of people love the Skellig. I don't see what the big deal is. The food is decent comfort food, not stellar, the service is so-so and the ambiance is a little rustic. The bar can get a little loud and boisterous for my tastes. It's not a bad lunch or dinner option but there are better on Moody Street. I prefer Bison County for food and the Gaff for a drink.
If there's a live band playing then it's more fun.
High marks for people watching and dancing to oldies. Many of us are college of the early 80s so the repertoire is well within what we rocked and danced to. Â The bands singing isnt lousy and missing tunes is rampant - but they are great musicians and enjoy what they are doing. Â All ages mix and match here, it's super loud and the college crowd that hangs along with some of the older dogs looking for the young skin and reliving their glory days are pretty funny to watch. Fun with a group of friends, and bring ear plugs! :) cheap bad booze once you cross into the dance area. The soda is horrid, so expect a rum and coke to taste like garbage. But come for the fun and have the beer!
Review Source:Place is okay. Â $5 was fine. Â The not having Bud light was a bit of a "wait, what?" moment. Â I have never been to a bar where they run out of Bud Light and then give everyone Coors. Â I had a great time with friends, and of course I got a good drunk going. Â The band in the back was okay. Â I couldn't tell if they were good, but there was this one guy who was at least 60 years old who was setting the dance floor on fire (but not really, but who doesn't enjoy a local drunk grooving on his own). Â Great time, can't wait to go back.!
Review Source:I can't comment on the food, the cover charge (I arrived at about 7pm, well before the music started so I didn't have to pay cover), what happens on a weeknight or anything about the neighborhood.
What I can say is that I had an absolutely fantastic time at The Skellig on a recent Friday night. Â After being trapped in a hotel conference room all week long, I was ready to let my hair down, get a little tipsy and rock out.
First, I haven't heard of a better name for a bar than The Skellig. Â What's a skellig? Â Who cares? Â It sounds tough and ridiculous and more than anything like a place I want to visit.
Second, the 80s cover band playing was ridiculously fun. Â Hell, I thought the lead singer was a combination of Hall & Oates and Toto revived and put on a tiny stage in a divey bar in the Boston suburbs through my Jameson haze. Â Isn't that all that really matters? Â Great sing-a-long faves for everyone. Â Lots of dancing, too!
If you can't have a good time at The Skellig when an 80's cover band is playing, there's something wrong with you. Â Just sayin'.
I'd go back. Â Immediately.
Came here with a bunch of friends and had a really good time. We spent hours here without even noticing.
They have a really good variety of beers. I had Guinness which is always good but I also tried their house beer which was Skellig Irish Ale. It was more on the sour side but still pretty good. Beer isn't too pricey so that's a plus. They also serve brunch, lunch, and dinner. My friends ordered buffalo wings and nachos and they looked pretty good.
Service is also excellent. The waitress kept asking us if we were doing okay very often.
Definitely coming back!
It really pains me to write this review, because the Skellig used to be our very favorite place to go for dinner, brunch, whenever. Â But we have had some pretty bad experiences here lately, so I feel obliged to update my review. Â When we first moved to Waltham six months ago we came here 2 or 3 times a week. Â We LOVED the food and the atmosphere. Â
We first noticed that the food had gone downhill at brunch on the weekends. Â Consistently the food was greasy, overcooked eggs, undercooked pancakes, poorly prepared. Â Every restaurant has a bad day, so we didn't let it keep us away. Â But it happened again and again. Â
The last straw, however, was when I found a worm in my fish and chips. Â I pointed this out to the waiter, who took the plate back to the kitchen. Â He came back and told us "the chef says that worms in fish is perfectly normal." Â Now, that may be true, but I don't want them in MY fish and I don't want to be told that I am being unreasonable that I find this disgusting and unacceptable. Â We have not been able to bring ourselves to go back...until tonight.
We ordered a steak, medium and a salad to start. Â The salad was limp and brown, like it had been sitting on the counter all day. Â We pointed this out to our waitress, who said OK, but nothing else.
When our steak arrived we were starving and hoping that it would be great. Â We cut it open and did a double take. Â It looked like pork...white. Â There was no pink, nor did it look like steak. Â Again, the waitress seemed irritated with us for pointing out what was clearly inferior food, not cooked as we had ordered it.
We have brought the decline in food to the attention of the manager, who seemed to care. Â But he never followed up with us, leading us to believe that he didn't care in the least.
I am sorry to say that the Skellig has probably lost two of its best customers. Â And we really are heart broken about it.
Well, I'll be. Some varmint done shoved The Burren in a Clone-o-Matic, then gave it a quick dustin' with Dr. Whispapotamer's Expanding Powder.
A trip to see Red Square marked my first venture in to the wild and woolly nightlife of Waltham, Massachusetts, and I must say, it was worth the drive. The front room, much like The Burren, isn't always indicative of the rage-cage actionfest going on in the back. Good thing, as there were three - THREE! - patrons seated at tables, conversing in hushed tones, making me feel like I stumbled in to a mob front.
But the back room, wow! Spacious dance floor, high ceilings and pleasantly packed on a Saturday night. Not shoulder squishing, stranger groping while digging for your wallet, hot mess packed, but shout to your friends, room to Charleston, booty bump a stranger and they bump you back hot mess packed. Two bartenders easily met the needs of the crowd, who, unlike Tufts undergrads at The Burren, weren't screaming for shots and sexually-named mixed drinks.
That said, people watching scored bonus points for the woman who took a Family Circus dotted-line lap around the bar before returning to a stool and faux-chugging an empty bottle of Bud Light, and the guy who sat on the dance floor and "rowed" himself over to the sound board gent.
Firstly, it's always great to be hanging out with my buds back in the Boston Area. The Skellig has a breakfast that the kids like and so we went. I took in the Irish Breakfast. Maybe I was longing for English Food, not that I'm sure, in hindsight ,why....I guess English Breakfast is bad in England, but freezing it, flying it 2000 miles and microwaving it doesn't help. Decent black pudding and white pudding and english sausage will remain a faint memory from vacations past as they were not realized well at the Skellig. All three were...uh...like dessicated. Gross.
Other breakfast options included heavy pancakes. Those eating traditional American Fare were pleased. But I have no qualms in reviewing an Irish Style Pub based on the quality of their Irish style food alone. Â Meh.
Overall, I think much better experiences can be found on the venerable Moody Street and I suggest you seek them out. Then take a lovely stroll along the Charles. I love that dirty water.
Good atmosphere (even if the music is a bit loud) and reasonably priced. They also tend to have beer specials - which is always a direct line to my heart.
Staff was friendly and helpful. Knocked two stars off though because it was my first time there and me and my friends were unaware that at a certain point on the weekends they start having a cover charge for live music. There were no signs outside or inside that alerted us to this. so we were inside drinking, stepped outside for a cigarette - and they tried to charge us to go back in!!! We had to argue with them to allow us back in to pay our tabs and leave... and even then they stared us down until we did so.
If your going to have a cover charge, either do it all night or grandfather in those who are already there. No one likes a surprise charge.
After having enjoyed many different wines at a wine tasting event around the corner, we decided to grab some lunch at the Skellig. I've been here once before a few years back but can't remember how my experience was - must not have been that memorable.
Anyway, it was an odd time to grab food (too late for lunch and too early for dinner) and the reason why it was nowhere near capacity. It seemed only one person was working as bartender/waiter. Two of us ordered the beer battered fish and chips. The generous heaping of cod was covered in crispy batter fresh from the fryer. It was very good even without the tartar sauce that it came with. The Guiness Beef Stew and the Shepherd's Pie were also very good. Nice comfort food on a cold day...or after drinking a few glasses of wine.
This is the place to go for drinks after work. Or if you're like my friends and I, we have our pickled food eating contest there. I just watch, not a fan of most pickled foods. Fortunately, they haven't kicked us out the two times we've done it. At least we ordered food and drinks so I guess there was no reason for them to do it.
It's very casual and various nights they have bands perform. I can't say too much for the food because I've mostly ordered appetizers which are very standard pub fare. However, I do have to say that their veggie burger is quite delicious. I don't know what's in it, but it reminds me of a deep fried mashed potato patty with other veggies mixed in. Works for me! Â
If you're looking for a place to chill and have a drink or two (or more) with friends, this is a nice place to go. If you're looking for a good meal, go elsewhere.
The Skellig is the "sister bar" to The Burren in Davis Square. The owners certainly like to name their places after rock formations in Ireland huh?
I think The Skellig is a nice place to go and get a good meal, a good pint of beer, and watch a decent cover band play.
I like the menu they offer, and have not been disappointed. They have a mixed menu with Irish fare more standard pub menu. It hey have a good amount of vegetarian options, which is not always easy to find in a pub. I think they have a nice brunch menu with a nice variety of food options.
Much like The Burren, there are 20+ beer choices on tap, including Magners Cider (one of my favorites and hard to come by these days). The Guinness is well-poured and they make a good mixed drink too.
The Skellig has no shortage of entertainment, mostly cover bands. I have seen a few and been impressed. The crowd tends to be college age people on the weekends, but I have gone during the week and found it to be a more mixed age range.
The Skellig has become one of Waltham's better bars, and a cornerstone of the traditional Moody Street bar crawl.
The crowd is typically college students, recent grads and young professionals; you get a lot of Bentley and Brandeis students here, especially on Thursday nights.
The bar is wholly unimpressive; I don't think the bartenders have much experience pouring anything but drafts, so don't ask for cocktail suggestions, and I was rather disappointed with their scotch selection (or lack thereof).
My experience has been that the food isn't necessarily impressive either; if you have to eat there, I'd stick with typical pub food and go for the fried or grilled section of the menu.
I really like the layout, which separates the "restaurant" and its booths and tables from the "bar" (aka the back room) with its stage and open floor. Â It's nice if you want to have a conversation or just get off your feet, but it's still back there when you're ready to rock out again.
Entertainment at the Skellig is pretty cool. Â They have a lot of traditional Irish music, which is refreshing. Â Usually cover bands take the stage in back, which are always a lot of fun (at least for white boys in their mid 20s like myself). Â Once I actually saw a play, of all things, performed at the Skellig. Â The play was set in an Irish bar, so I suppose it makes sense to perform it in an actual Irish bar. Â And it was sponsored by Guinness, no less!
Overall, the Skellig isn't a destination bar for me, but if I'm in the area and ready to hang out, it makes for a good time.
I rolled into this place on a very chilly night (so reviewing this place as a drinking venue), and once through the doors, I knew i found a new home. Â I could totally see myself going to this bar regularly. Â It just had that feel. Â You know the kind, where there's a lot of people there, but everyone is kind of either a regular or there with friends. Â So everyone keeps to themselves but everyone is having fun. Â
The decor is pretty dark, it had that dive bar feel, but wasn't really a dive. Â It was just an old irish bar, that you could feel the history of the drunken antics that took place. Â
The staff, bouncers, bartenders were all really chill and friendly. Â Some even had the nice irish accent.
Also! there were so many beers I didn't know where to start (That's a lie, i'm a total whore for hard cider... so it was really between Magners (only $5) (on tap) or Strongbow in big cans). Â The big chalkboard that listed everything out sure made it easy to tell what they had. Â But yeah, they definitely had a very hearty selection.
What was also cool was the live band / back bar that opened up around 10ish (i think) Â i didn't make it back there, but my friends reported that it was like a giant 'dance party'. Â
If i lived in Waltham I'd definitely be going back.
ps.  They totally offered to put ice  in my Magners, which i didn't understand...but who doesn't like options?
Out for dinner and a few drinks on a Tuesday evening. Â Quiet and cozy, which seems a rare thing here, but possibly my focus was on my mate.
Dinner was great. Â Guinness stew was perfectly done with taters firm and the beef was a perfect medium. Â (hard to find in a restaurant stew, usually overdone.) Â Burgers are large and cooked perfectly to order, with an abundant side of fries. Â Drinks were spot on and properly priced.
Shortly before 9pm, what seemed to have been a casual pickup band started to play wonderful fiddle and fife(?) Â music that is perfect for an Irish pub. Â (I later found it to have been a scheduled event.) Â So the atmosphere was perfect.
Service was polite, attentive, truly helpful as the glass was never empty but I never felt rushed, prodded or ignored.
Only wish I had room for dessert.
Will certainly return!
I am huge fan of Irish Pubs. Â The Skellig like its sister bar the Burren, does not disappoint. Â The bartenders are always very attentive refilling your glass of Guiness. Â On Friday and Saturday nights they have a live band that is usually pretty good. Â I have seen quite a few really good cover bands here. Â
The food is also pretty good. Â The fish and chips, and shepherds pie are my favorites.
Any time I've gone here I have a good time. Â Best nights are the ones when you've got a ton of musicians all coming together to jam out on their fiddles, flutes, violins, etc. Â It's beautiful.
Nachos are amazing! Â They pile them with cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and a thick meaty chile. Â OMG. Â
The bartenders are very friendly and take personal pride in getting their customers drunk. Â I've racked up quite a few large tabs in this place. Â They have a stellar selection of draught and bottled beers and the guys don't balk when I switch from Smithwick's to a vodka mixers.
I live in San Diego now and I miss this place. Â I hope I can find another out here that can rival the atmosphere and yum factors.
I'm not much of a partier, and maybe you need to be to enjoy this place. Â I went on a Saturday night when it was too crowded to walk through, no place to comfortably sit, and far too loud to even ask your friend to follow you to the bathroom.. which was pretty rank.
I didn't eat there, so I cannot assess the food, but the bartender was a little clueless. Â He may have been new; I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Long story short, it will not be an easy task to get me back in there anytime soon.
I heart the Skellig for a guaranteed good time on Friday/Saturday nights. Bonus points for being in walking distance to the boyfriend's! I've never had food there (what, they serve food?), and frequent the establishment for the live bands and heavy pours of Jack.
Go when the Swinging Johnsons are playing - the lead singer looks a bit like Scott Baio, and after you've had a few - he REALLY starts to look like Scott Baio, and I always leave singing the "Charles in Charge" theme song to myself. And plus, they're a fun coverband, and the crowd is usually screaming along to the Journey songs.
But it IS a townie bar, and I always feel like I'm crashing someone's high school reunion. And people have a tendency to not respect your personal space, and I find myself getting ghetto NY on them when my feet get stepped on too many times. And I've seen some HORRIBLE bands there as well... so bad that I've walked out and almost demanded the cover back.
I actually usually really like the Skellig, but last night's experience lowers my four stars to three.
My shepherd's pie was good, as always, and it came with a nice little salad. Â They had a live Irish band playing in the front and it was just FAR too loud. Â I'm not against loud music OR Irish music, but in the front room of the Skellig around 7:30 PM, people want to chit chat while they dine...the loudness made it impossible for comfortable conversation to occur.
We were also part of a party of eleven that made reservations, and the table was nowhere near large enough to fit more than eight people. Â It was really cramped, and from where I was in the corner, the waitress never offered me a refill of my water. Â A pet peeve of mine is when I don't get refills.
I still like the Skellig, and I hope my next experience is better so I can come up here and bump it up a star.
Ahhh, the Skellig - one of my old college haunts. They've got live music on  the weekends, and the cover bands are usually fairly decent. They get better and better as the night goes on and you drink more and more. The front bar is a fairly big place, with bar stools, tables and booths surrounding the place. In the back is a another bar, accompanied by huge dance floor area and a small stage where the band usually plays. If you sneak around the stage, there's a secret staircase that brings you up to a room overlooking the dance floor.
The bathrooms are fairly clean and the bartenders, bouncers and other Skellig staff is super friendly. I hear that they have food and sometimes live celtic music, although I've never been to check it out. It's good on the weekends if you want the bar scene, and it's great on the weekdays for having a quiet drink...or two...or six.
Yes. This place is always packed, cheap and has all walks of life. A dive bar gone good. Located on Moody street which has some great restaurants and stores.............a far hike if you live in Boston........
Do NOT make the trek to Waltham for the Skellig. This is strictly an "If you live near or pass by kinda bar"
Sadly, I can't come here because I see half of my class I went to high school with. I won't take away any stars for that..........
I stopped in here with some friends after running a 5k...Our original plan was to grab a beer at Watch City (yes I know the beer probably negates any good done by running...) but they don't open till 4pm on Sundays, apparently!
We just got a few beers and two appetizers (chili nachos, chicken fingers) which were both pretty good! The best thing was the price, though -- from what I Â noticed on the menu, their food is quite cheap. Bonus!!
I hear it can get pretty "college-y" on weekends, but on this afternoon my 3 friends and I were the only ones in the place. It was the perfect place to chill after the race...
The Skellig is a perfectly respectable Irish pub, and probably the best you're going to do in the area.
The menu, but it's all pretty good and most of it is legitimately Irish. I can't stand going to an "Irish" place where they've just stuck "Celtic" in front of the names of all of their dishes. The Guinness beef stew and the chicken pot pie are both dependable bets.
The beer selection is ok but could be better. Maybe it's unrealistic of me to expect Beamish at Irish pubs, but damn it, there are stouts besides Guinness!
The place also gets pretty loud most nights. If that bothers you, ask to be seated in the hall between the front and back rooms.
A thirsty, hungry, sweaty soccer team, or most of it, at any rate, once walked tired into the Skellig, there to find kind people ready to pour them a superb pint of Guinness or other liquid refreshments that may or may not be so good for strength. Â Seated at a well-worn wooden table in the back, they discussed the day's hard-won victory, and eagerly wondered where the menus were so they could grab some food. Â Bad news, said the kindly barkeep, for the kitchen had just now closed. Â Never to fear, he went to the kitchen and negotiated us one more pile of delicious fried goodness from the cooks. Â And so there were mozzarella sticks and french fries, and other greasy delights. Â And it fed eight people for fifty bucks, too. Â So the Skellig is awesome in my book. Â
The end.
Never eaten here, but always a good time.
Another bar I used to be a regular at. Beware, there's usually a cover charge on Friday and Saturday nights when there's a band playing in the back room. These nights sometimes gets crowded too if you're not really into the whole I'm in a sardine can type of feeling. I usually end up at the corner of the bar talking to my fave bartenders instead.
The Skellig is a fun place to meet friends after work. Â Very low key.
Wednsday nights in the back room the music is outstanding.  Tom Bianchi  hosts a singer/songwriter night with good original bands.
Thursdays also sometimes host good live original bands, like Primary Others and 2 adam 12. Â
Fridays and Saturdays are usual old-dude cover band nights, with lots of college kids.
The staff is great and friendly. Â The food is typical.
I just planned/had a private party here and I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. They give you the back room (which has it's own bar and seating for at least 70 people) for free if you order a buffet. And that's a pretty good deal too - you get to choose two cold and six hot food items and it ends up being $15/person. And you get your own bathrooms!
Private party aside (and I really think they did a great job with it), I'm a fan of the rest of this place too. Great selection of what they keep on tap, friendly staff (I've been there a handful of times and one of the bartenders already knows me), and the food is pretty tasty. Â Defintiely more of a neighborhood-type feel than it's sister bar (the Burren, which is right around the corner from my apt), but I think that's to be expected given the locations.
And there is cheap parking right behind the building! A winner all the way around.
Nice place to hang out if you are in Waltham. Unpretentious, comfortable with many tables. But it does get crowded and full, leading to a lack of seats. There are two different rooms. The bigger room in the front is for grabbing drinks, listening to music on record and enjoying the crowd. The one in the back is more intimate, is sometmes closed for private parties and is where the bands play. There is a 5/6-table corridor right in between. The downside of this section is that it is in front of the restrooms but if you have a party of 15-20 people and can't find a place in either rooms, take over the tables here and just enjoy good conversation, beer and privacy.
The crowd changes between middle age men, their friends and wives to college kids.
What a fun place. Â Only drawback is the 12:30 last call, but hey this is puritanical Mass, so it's not the bar's fault.
I lived right down the street a few years ago, so I would frequent this place a lot. Â They had an awesome 40-year-old-dude cover band, the Swingin' Johnsons that would play at least once a week. Â They were f'ing awesome.
A very mixed crowd, a lot of college students and a ton of "cougars" running around as well (35-50 year old divorcee's). Â Mmmmmm...
Now since this place closes at 1AM, it was quite appropriate to get rip-roarin in my apartment down the street. Â This one time I went over there with a friend after doing about ??? 151 shots. Â Flung myself around like "the dancin king" all night. Â Wore a shirt that said "I'd rather be masterbating". Â Hazy-non-remembering time followed.
Woke up butt naked in my bed wondering what happened.
Had such a good time that we decided to go back the next night. Â There were some hazy memories of being escorted out and such, but hell, what else were we gonna do?
Walk up to the line (yes, there was a frickin nite-club-like line walking up to this hole in the wall). Â They pull us out of the line and escort us in without paying the lame as $2 cover charge. Â "Hey guys, we feel bad about kickin' you out last night, this one's on us".
Then a bunch of cougars approached us and said... "HEY, IT'S THE RATHER BE MASTERBATING GUYS".
?????!!!!!