Dublin Bay Irish Pub & Grill

I actually really enjoyed both of my visits to Dublin Bay. For what seems to be a rinky-​dink Irish pub, they actually have a great selection of craft brews, and their food is pretty tasty as well. We’ve had great service both times, and really enjoy sitting out back on the patio. A great spot to grab a beer and grub around here!

I was here on a work trip and I got the Classic Reuben. It was flavorful and authentic. The service was aubpar but the food made up for it.

Love this place! It’s a great place to go for a nice evening. You must be an Irish food fan though, otherwise it won’t be very satisfying. I really enjoy going here especially on the weekends because it’s never too busy, and it’s a very mellow place to go to. The wait staff is always friendly and the service is exceptional.

Go here when Hickory Park is too busy. Or just go here instead. Great beer selection, authentic Irish fare, great location, and excellent service. If you’ve never heard of a Banger Boxty and you like sausage, try it and love it.

Awesome place! Food, staff, vibe and décor is all perfect! Will definitely stop by every time we are come to Ames!

Excellent! ! I had the vegetarian black bean and sweet potato burger, and both that and the side salad were delicious !! Nice cozy pub atmosphere and if we didn’t live in Pennsylvania, we’d be regulars I m sure !!

The best place in ames!!! Great service great management! ! They have the best patio in town!

It’s OK. Food tastes good, but I never quite feel like it was worth what I paid for it. I have also never had a good bartender.

Great Irish fair and a good selection to choose from. The plates sizes aren’t very consistent, but I’ve been decently pleased with my choices.

I was in town for work and this place was close to my hotel. I was definitely impressed with the variety of beers being served. My favorite was the Confluence dubbel.
This place is very low key, has a bar area and some bigger dining areas. I enjoyed sitting in the bar area mostly. The servers are very friendly, too, and have good recommendations on other things to do in Ames.
The food — great mashed potatoes. I would not recommend the steak. However, definitely go with the crab cakes and the open face steak sandwich.

We went there on Friday night and got cheese balls, Shepherd’s pie, and Nutty walleye dinner. The walleye dinner has a very nice crust on the fish, and very savory Brussels sprouts but I am not sure the hazelnut sauce really works with it. It tastes sweet like a caramel toffee sauce. If you have a wild taste, it is not a bad dish, it is just different.
Meanwhile, the Shepherds pie has a very rich homey feeling to it. It is one of those dishes you want to it in cold Friday night. And the cheese balls are out of world. The addition of leeks and green onion coupled with the chipotle sauce are a very nice touch.

This place is great. I’m not going to lie my wife and I didn’t want to give this place a chance but to our surprise it has become a go to spot.
If your driving by it looks like your average restaurant/​bar. More bar then anything. When you get inside it’s pretty dark but I’d imagine that a pub is suppose to be that way.
The drinks are priced right and they have the Blonde Guiness which is one my favorite new beers. If not they Harp on tap which is also great. Happy hr is from 3 to 6(just an FYI).
The food might not look pretty but the flavor is there. I’m not a lamb fan but the Lamb Stew is a must. I’d also recommend the Rueben. I got fish and chips recently and it didn’t disappoint (I was a little sad that I only got 2 pieces but you can order more for a1.50 each).
Save room for dessert and get the bread pudding.
Overall awesome spot and it won’t break the bank.

Food = 4 stars
Service = 2 stars
First, I’ll address the food.
Dublin Bay makes excellent bread pudding, so save room for dessert. Main courses I’ve had there have been good as well, but the bread pudding really shines. As other reviews have noted, the black & tan onion rings and boxties are good. I liked the Guinness beef boxty, although the portion size is pretty small.
I ordered the brussel sprouts as my side and was unimpressed. The sprouts are advertised as brussel sprouts with bacon, but there was no bacon in my side dish. Instead, there were big pieces of onion. On top of that, the sprouts were very bitter and under seasoned. For me, they’re a pass.
Now, service.
Dublin Bay offers drink specials during the week. On Tuesdays, the special is $ 1 off bottles. Everyone in my group was keen to order a bottled beverage, however, the two servers we had were unable to recommend any bottled beers. A dining companion asked the server to recommend an IPA and the server responded «I hate IPAs.» The friend then asked her what was popular and the server didn’t know. I asked how a particular beer was and the server responded that she didn’t know, but it’s an IPA. However, the beer menu clearly listed it as a pilsner. So either the server really doesn’t know anything about beer or the menu is wrong.
Frustrated by the servers inability to recommend any bottled beverages, I simply read off a name that sounded interesting. It was the only IPA on the menu below 10% ABV and not listed as a double/​imperial.
A few minutes later, a friend asked me what I ordered (since she was also flustered by the servers’ lack of help) and when I replied the friend said «You realize that’s $ 23, right?» I had no idea I had ordered a 750ml, $ 23 bottle of beer. I quickly grabbed the server and asked her to cancel my order, but it was too late. Shame on me for not reading the menu clearly, but I feel the server should have warned me.
The dining partner and I ended up sharing that expensive bottle of beer, but I did notice that the beer’s description in the menu did not match the bottle. The ABV was higher than the menu noted and the bottle indicated the beverage was a double, while the menu did not.
In closing, eat the food, don’t order a drink you aren’t familiar with. Also, the menus should be updated for accuracy.

Great food and extraordinary service. What a great Irish ambiance. Even many of their hosts and servers looked Irish! We had a blast with some authentic Irish food and beer. Try the shepherd’s pie!

I lived in Ames for over four years about a decade ago and never tried Dublin Bay. We happened to be in town and I was looking for somewhere to eat that isn’t a tourist trap (cough cough Hickory Park), so Dublin Bay it was.
This is a really cool Irish restaurant/​pub located just off of Duff Ave on the south side of town. The inside area really captures the Irish pub feeling. My wife and I sat at a high top in the bar area for drinks and dinner. Like I said, the bar just has a great pub feeling, and there are a few TVs in the area to look at if you are looking for some sports to watch.
They had a very good selection of beers both on tap and in bottle. And not just Irish/​English varieties either. They had a boatload of American craft beer to choose from including some rarer beers you wouldn’t typically find at a normal bar.
We started off with an order of the onion rings which were thick cut and hand battered. A great selection to start out with. I ordered the lamb stew and it was very good. On this particular day in late May it was unseasonably cold and the thick hot stew really hit the spot and it was at a good price. My wife ordered the fish and chips and was satisfied with her selection.
Looking back now I really regret not trying this place all those years ago. This is a very good spot for the town of Ames and I would hit it up again if I was back in town.

It’s amazing that this place could be considered a «hidden gem» of Ames, but it really is easy to miss. Nestled off South 16^th in an unassuming building lies what might be the best overall restaurant in all of Ames.
That’s bold speak in any college town filled with great eateries, but Dublin Bay has the chops to back it up.
I’ve never been to the Republic of Ireland, but I can’t help but feel like I’m there as I walk into Dublin Bay. The bright red doors are opened with heavy iron rings. As you walk in, the lighting is soft, warm, and cozy. The décor feels authentic, never cheesy, and really helps you forget you’re in the middle of central Iowa. I love everything about the ambiance.
All of this would be moot if the beverage options were poor. Yes, a true Irish pub is all about the food, but drinks are important, too. Not to worry. Dublin Bay has a fully stocked bar, and a fantastic beer and cider selection. I was impressed to see all of the major Ames /​Des Moines microbrews represented, as well as the usual suspects like Guiness, Harp, Strongbow and so on.
And the food? Wow. Almost everything on the menu is great. There’s plenty of American standards with a little Irish riff on them — the Guiness battered onion rings are the stuff dreams are made of. There are also completely Irish dishes like the Shepard’s Pie, Boxties, soda bread, and more.
If you want one piece of advice. get a salad and get the house dressing. It’s a garlic parmesan and it’ll blow your mind.
Truly, one of the hidden gems of Ames, if there ever was such a thing.

Look no further for some good Irish pub food. They even have Bulmers (Magners) on tap. I went to Ireland for four weeks one summer, and this is the most authentic Irish food I’ve found in Iowa. If you aren’t feeling up to Irish food, they do have regular food as well. Their kitchens are also open pretty late if you are grabbing a bite to eat after normal supper hours.

Don’t order the nutty walleye unless you like getting treated like an a$$hole for complaining about undercooked rice!
Worst $ 20 I’ve ever spent!

Once again thank you Unilocal.I use it to find tonight’s dinner and it did not disappoint. Neither did this restaurant. Good beer selection. I started with a Stone’s Double Bastard and then went with a Bell’s Two Hearted.
For starters I had their cheese balls. Cheddar cheese with green onions made into a ball and fried. Then I went with the pork tenderloin sandwich changed up per the bartenders request. With cheddar jalapeños spicy mayo and bacon.
Great service and good food. Worth a stop.

I love finding places like this when I’m traveling. I like it even better when they are extremely close to my hotel so I can have some drinks. Outside, the joint looks like a dark green cottage and has lovely plants and other landscaping that just set the mood of an Irish home in the country. Then when I walked in I experienced my favorite Irish pub atmosphere: low-​ceilinged and dark, and weathered wood everywhere.
My server was really friendly and the receipt said her name is Lauren. She took really good care of her tables and apologized because the bar got kind of backed up. They were pretty busy for a Tuesday night. I started with the Black and Tan onion rings, which were extremely good beer battered rings. The breading was crisp and delicious, but very greasy. All night, even after washing my hands a few times, I just felt greasy. The dipping sauce was chipotle ranch I believe and was tasty as well.
They had some Fox Barrel pear cider, which I love & don’t see all that often so that was a nice surprise.
Then I had the shepherd’s pie and I tell ya… it was the perfect way to end a long, tiring, gloomy, rainy day. The meat and vegetables were cooked in a rich, Guinness gravy that was seasoned perfectly, and the mashed potatoes on top were nice and thin and browned just right. I liked the thinner topping. Some places really mound that stuff up and you can’t taste anything ‘cept tater.
When that happens, drink more Guinness.
There were just a couple of things, if I had to nit pick. When I walked in, the owner/​manager-​type said, «Just you?» Then he went to check on a table. Then the hostess came up front and said, «Just you?» After she seated me, the server said, «Just you?» I travel by myself and dine alone a lot, so I’m used to it, but stop saying it already! I wanted to say, «Me and my corporate card, so hook a road warrior up please!!!»
Also, the owner/​manager-​type was all over the place helping out, but I never really saw him interact with people. That’s always a nice touch when they ask how things are. Maybe if he knows ya.
Now, if I’m back in the Ames area I’m going to have a hard time choosing between Dublin Bay and Hickory Park. Both have great food. I might lean towards the pub because there were less screaming crumbsnatchers, and Hickory Park is riddled with those sticky-​fingered beggars.