Kennedy’s Pub

I had some time to kill and I was in the area, so I stopped in Kennedy’s last night. I sat at the bar, had a Guinness, a shot of good whiskey, and some shepherds pie. The food and drinks were quite satisfying, it was fairly cheap, and the service was quick and friendly. I will stop by again if I am in the area.
I read some of the earlier posts. I would not judge a restaurant based on a single incident that has clearly been dealt with.

Ugh

My last review was not good and dealt with cleanliness issues and pore food quality. At that time I was messaged by an employee of kenndys who was concerned by the review and wanted to let me know they were working on the problems. I was happy to hear that and promised I would return in a few months.
Now all the bad press and things coming out that I saw from the first time that I stepped foot in the place. The thing that tells you all you need to know about kenndy’s is this. With all of the bad reviews and a major crises on there hands NOT ONE WORD FROM THE OWNERS. How the hell do you not get out in front of something like this and apologize to the public and make a statement of how you intend to fix your restaurant. I guess I’m not surprised behavior like this comes from a culture of not caring and not being a good business owner. To the employee that contacted me the first time. Get a NEW JOB you seem to care and do a good job i’m sure there would be lots of restaurants out there that would love to have you. To the owners. time to sell your restaurant or call John tafer.

Unfortunately the new manager, who was and still is, the waitress, cannot properly operate this business. For now let’s ignore the condition of the place and the spitting incident (different people have different standards)…let’s look at the sales, it is obvious that the sales are WAY down. I am surprised the owners are not smart enough to realize this, and take action to run it properly. They need to take action before more people get sick. Perhaps the pub is a tax writeoff… which isn’t going to matter if enough people get sick, and they sue, then the place will close.
The waitress/​manager (same person) did not fire anyone. The police arrested the perpetrator the following day (he cooked all that evening, the evening he spit in the customers food) and the dishwasher punched out (verifiable). The waitress/​manager did not report the spitting incident, network news shows a Mount Olive police officer being interviewed, describing the witness as a male, the waitress/​manager is a female (verifiable).
She basically threw the cook under the bus because she was aware that he did what he did and threw fuel on the fire by complaining herself that the customer always complains (verifiable).
I got a half bad dish, one piece of chicken was good, the other one was off. From then on I decided only fried food because its probably pre-​frozen. The tap beer is consistently flat (the Guiness is horrible), and if they don’t even clean enough for the place to smell good, the taps are probably not being clean.
With the spitting incident aside, there are NUMEROUS HEALTH CODE VIOLATIONS (verifiable), the place is consistently dirty, it was recently fumigated for insects (the kind we all know about, but that can happen anywhere I suppose).
The place just needs a complete makeover, an experienced chef/​kitchen manager, a cleaning staff in the AM/​PM and a qualified general manage with a proven track record of growing a business.
Only the actions in the previous paragraph will instill trust in the consumer. The regular beer drinkers do not care, as most drink from the bottle, and probably cannot tell how the food is because they are too drunk… pop fizz.

To the people who rated one star because of the spitting chef. Dummies, he’s been fired. Obviously the waitress who reported him cares about the place enough to take action and get him out. Do you honestly think he is a representation of the whole establishment? A vermin like that could be employed unknowingly at the last you dined at.
I live up the street and I will vouch that Kennedy’s has very good food, good drink specials and live music… in a town where it’s limited to find this combo. It’s not a classy joint, but excellent for what it is. Get a grip and go check the place out for yourself. No need to destroy their Unilocal rating from stories in the media when you’ve never even been there. Ask for the owner, he’s a nice guy and really cares about the place, and will ensure your food is handled with TLC. Their Clams, Reubens, wings, Irish food… all good! Ice cold beer, etc.

I just read an article about the chef here being arrested for spitting in a patron’s food in October. Nice.

Just read on
that the chef was caught spitting into a patrons food order. Wont be going there… ever

This place has gone down hill. It use to be good. It is in need of a total «make over»! It is dirty, the drinks & food are bad and the service is terrible. Wish that they would see this and start all over, it is a great location.

The bartender made an awesome Chocolate Martini. However, the food was just passable. Ok for a quick bite.

Stopped in for a late lunch. Clams were excellent. Crab Cakes were the worst I ever had took a bite and left them (appetizer). Fried Shrimp basket was decent for the price. Drinks were not bad. Service was a bit slow considering the place was not packed at all.

This is a neighborhood joint that has a good steak at a VERY fair price. A place to watch the game and enjoy some fellowship. The bartenders were informative and took great care of me. I had some great conversation with some of the locals. Yes, I will be back.

Eh… not worth the review

We go here almost every Friday. The bartenders are awesome and the food is great! It’s best to go early, the crowd turns ugly towards the end of the night.
They have live music every Friday and Saturday, many tvs, and a jut box.
Overall good place.

Service was sub par at best. It was a Friday night, so I realize they were busy, but I had to track down our waitress numerous times to remind her to grab drinks for our table of 8. The food was pretty good. The crabcakes were very good! The beer selection was poor. We were there for karaōke which was a fun twist to the evening, however the area they hold it is a bit tight.

Flat beer from lines that did not seem to be clean (judging by taste). It smelled like puke so bad I almost wished the smoking ban did not apply to this place. Judging by the clientele, I don’t think it matters…

The location is an icon in the area. While the décor is old and the place is in need of a renovation badly, the food is good and consistent. Portions are quite large and you will leave with leftovers.

I’ve been going to this place since I was a little girl and there was a smoking section! I’m never disappointed when I go. The food is great as well as the service and atmosphere. I recommend the Irish Whiskey Steak, it’s superb! The teryaki sauce on the wings is amazing as well.

This place is an über cute restaurant and pub that has HUUUUGE portions!
The four of us sat down to dinner at a corner table in the back of their dining room. Thankfully, the fireplace wasn’t on, so we didn’t have to worry about excessive sweating over dinner … but it wasn’t all that warm either, which meant some of us kept our jackets on over dinner.
Regardless, service was fast and fabulous! We all ordered our meals and got them pretty quickly — the dishes were piping hot (!!) and ginormous!!! I ordered Penne Bolognese and got a huge dish full of pasta and meat. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but the portions absolutely blew me away. We also got some little appetizers along with our main dishes; I got the Chicken Vegetable soup and the chunks of potato in the soup were big and yummy.
One of my dining partners ordered Chicken Florentine — lots of spinach, yummy sauce. The others ordered Shepherd’s Pie and a fried shrimp basket. Not only were the portions huge, but our table was pretty satisfied at the end of our meal.
At the end of our dinner, the guys at the bar (on the other side of the wall from the dining room) started getting rowdy while they were watching the football game — but the ambiance was overall very cozy and homey.
I would say this is is a great place to go and sit and chat with friends, and grab a meal… Wouldn’t go there just for the food, but definitely loved the service and the ambiance!

The interior is what you’d expect from a neighborhood pub with cavelike lighting, scattered neon beer signs, and dusty silk flowers on a few of the tables. But the food is surprisingly good pub grub, and it’s never let me down whether I’m crushed at the bar next to the mullet lady or dining on the also unexpected lovely outdoor patio surrounded by pine trees. Try the steak sandwich or the steak salad and you’ll see what I mean– it defies logic that the food here would be so good.