The Old Bag of Nails Pub

After all these years and all the reviews pointing it out, they still struggle with service. Rarely does anyone look to be hustling. Good luck going on a weekend or a Delaware first Friday. Your best bet is late afternoon following the business lunch crowd. It’s a shame, the food is decent and they have the best patio in Delco. Honestly that’s the only thing that keeps me going back there. I haven’t ever been disappointed in any of the menu items but I haven’t been wowed either. Like I said if you time it right or just get lucky with the service you can expect a decent meal or snack.

Not good. I moved to Delaware 9 years ago and I wanted so much to like this place. The patio and location are great. The problem is the food is never good and the service is terrible. I decided to try it again after 7 years of saying I would never go back. I ordered a beer on the fantastic patio with a friend and almost twenty minutes go by and the waitress tells me the keg was tapped and would I like something else. So finally I get my beer and my food comes out cold and not very tasty at all. I will never go back. It is like there is no manager and no one really cares about the place. Hope it goes under or at least someone with standards steps up and changes the place around. I cant wait for the «New Management «sign.

The food is decent if you’re looking for something fried with a glass of beer. The last time I went I ordered the bean dip, a side salad and a grilled cheese. Per usual, the salad wasn’t great — just a heap of favor less iceberg lettuce. The dip was ok and the grilled cheese left much to be desired.
The reason for the poor rating, however, is due to the server/​bartenders lack of attention, complaining about working at the restaurant, and taking personal calls rather than tending to the few customers there. We stayed understanding during the evening, but I don’t think I’ll be going back nor will I bring a big group in, which was my original plan before testing out dinner that evening.

Food okay. Service slow as always. But the best part of the evening is the waitress sitting with her friends and complaining about the size of her tips. If you set your expectations low this place won’t disappoint.

Our server was perfectly nice — perhaps they’ve got better since the other reviews, or just got lucky.
My partner had the tuna melt with steak fries (hand cut chips for the Brits… thanks very much…) and a side salad. I tried the hob nob (not a biscuit… but a cheese topped fried fish sandwich) with the same.
Fish was cooked well. Salad on the roll was a little thrown on (lettuce leaf, two rings of red onion and a slice of tomato) — fries were great. Came with ketchup. Salad had ranch dressing.
Tuna melt was a little greasy but flavourful. I mean, it’s not as good as the Melt place (review coming soon) but it did its job!
I asked for mustard — it never showed. I think that may have been that service thing after all. Doesn’t matter.
Drinks were varied beer wise (which the have to be in this area) — but as it was a sunny day and the patio (*ahem…beer garden*) was open — then it was all about the cider for me. Six types bottled, I went for the draft. Which rotates. My partner had two mimosas — varying in quality — first was perfect. The second was less in volume and in orange juice.
For the Brits out there — this is like a weatherspoon sort of vibe. But with table service. It’s a small chain, not impressed or dissuaded. It’s exactly what you’d think. It’s just fine.

Only gave it one star because there was not a lower rating
Waited an hour for a table only to be told, ‘the kitchen is on hold.’ That meant we could order food, but it would be another hour before we would get it. Not the first time we have had unbelievably slow and/​or poor service. Steer clear my friends!

First time I ate here and I was so excited about ordering the blackened tuna steak sandwhich. Hoping it would be spicy with flavor. However the waitress took over 25 min it seemed to get us our meal. Waited over 15 min for our drinks. When It came I noticed that my potato cakes I had gotten as a side were burnt and way overcooked and greasy. Then my tuna was not seasoned with anything? where was the blackened spice? not even salt? Had to pile raw onions and the tatar sauce on my sandwhich just so I could eat it. Not sure I will eat here again could have grilled me some seasoned tuna at home.

I have known some of the kitchen staff over the years enough to know not to eat here. The last time I definitely got sick, I believe I had the tuna steak. I met a friend visiting from out of town, this was her favorite place when she lived around here. The place looks like it could be awesome if run properly. The outside bar is great. If you are only planning on eating fried foods and drinking, then this place is fine. For me, I’ll be elsewhere.

Went here for dinner with the girlfriend and some friends.
Atmosphere: I really love the dark wood interior and the huge bar that takes up the middle of the main room. There are several booths along the south wall, some smaller tables on the south and north side of the main room. There’s a larger room to the rear, a bar area in front of the building with outdoor seating. This is quite a large restaurant, though it doesn’t appear to be so from the outside.
Parking: this is a problem for this location. One would assume that the small driveway next to it leads to parking in the rear, but signs warn you not to park there. Depending on day and time, parking in front is not possible (unless lucky). Of course, Delaware is small, so public parking is within a block or two of here.
Staff: overall they were polite, friendly and personable. It didn’t feel as if the waitress checked on us frequently.
Food: I used to love this place when I first moved to the area, but the quality of my order was pretty poor. I ordered the clam strip basket and found the clams super small and way overcooked. I couldn’t even get them all down because I gave up on them. The fries were really good.
Overall, there are plenty of other dining options in town, so I would recommend those before coming here as it is definitely not as good as it used to be.

The plus = fish n chips pretty good. The bad= service or lack of staffing on a Saturday afternoon during busy shopping season was pathetic. I sat at the bar but tender had to wait tables and seat and ect. There were many open empty tables yet groups of 4 coming in the door were made to wait upwards of 20 min to be seated. Understaffed is poor management.

I go here for the all you can eat fried fish and really nothing else. The other food is ok and the beer selection is decent. The service is the Achilles heel here, it is absolutely awful and has been every time I go. I think our waitress disappeared to take a nap one time we were there… bunk.

To begin, I was pleasantly surprised to find this Old Bag of Nails occupies a fantastic location with clean, warm decore that suites the menu.
Guilty of loving fried fish, I ordered the hob nob sandwich and substituted the vegetable kabob for fries. The fish was, in my opinion, large and overall pretty good. However, the bun did not appear to be like any kaiser roll I’ve previously eaten.
So a few fries into my meal I realized I was indeed eating fries. Woops! Since our server was competent and kind, I felt curtain she would have remedied things, but I did not feel like waiting. Unfortunately, the fries were nothing special.
I believe there is serious potential. Shall have to see if, when they more fully tap in. In the mean time, our visit provided no reason to completely avoid this location.

I’ve only been twice, once for a show during the summer, and more recently for a date. They have a very limited menu and nothing really stands out too much. I only had soft pretzels the first time, which weren’t bad for the price, but they were pretty forgettable. The second time however, I had a buffalo burrito, and french onion soup. The burrito was pretty good, but the flavor felt a little overwhelming, but not in a very good way. The soup was over salted and not very impressive. For the amount I spent I wouldn’t really say it was a very nice meal. It’s worth giving a try but I wouldn’t really want to visit again.

A chain pub I see around the area a lot. I go here a few times just because the location is so close to where I live. It has its seasons where it is a good place to go and than there are ties where it is just dead and no business is there at all. I get the salad occasionally and I would have to say the best dish would be the fish and chips or the mini potato pancakes. Also, when I say best i would just mean that it s decent. Not the best thing I’ve ever had, but out of all the other things it is worth getting

Came here on a Tuesday evening, waiting for my sister’s baby.
The positive? No waiting. Arrived around 5:30, and our party was seated right away.
The layout of this place is sort of awkward; the bar sits in the middle, and there is seating around it, like an oval shape. TVs aren’t very close to those seated on the outside of the booth. A lot of rubber necking to watch a game.
The food is forgettable. I ordered chicken strips and fries (something fast), which took a good 40 minutes to receive. I took my insulin after I placed my order (big mistake). I ended up going low before dinner, and had to guzzle down a regular Coke.
Our server forgot everything we asked for. The chicken strips basket states that it comes with honey mustard — mine didn’t have that. I had to ask twice for it.
I had to ask for another drink refill — apparently, an empty glass isn’t a big enough sign.
The chicken strips were DRY. They weren’t juicy, as the description boasted in their menu.
Pricing is affordable, but I would have been happier at a drive through.

Liked the Parmesan chicken bites with ranch dressing. Server was really good and accommodated us when we asked to change tables. I had the Philly cheesesteak with onion rings and definitely recommend it. The only «problem» was the tables were a little sticky.

Terrible service, atrocious management and disgusting food. I went there with my wife and two young children on a Sunday evening. The first thing we noticed was the manager duck away and hide to avoid dealing with the patrons waiting to be seated.
After ordering, we waited 45 minutes for our food. The server didn’t return once during this time. No apologies or explanations were made when the food arrived. I received a plate of soggy quesadillas. My wife’s parmesan chicken was so tough she couldn’t even cut it. They served my son a room temperature glass of milk that tasted spoiled.
The problem with this restaurant clearly starts with the manager and trickles on down. Don’t waste your money on this dump.

I am kicking myself for eating dinner here. The service is slow and dismissive and the food is halfheartedly mediocre. I mean, my turkey reuben wasn’t even served with a pickle or any type of basic garnish — just a small, sad pile of partially crumbled chips.
This particular location has a lovely patio, but that’s about all I can say for it.

I wish Unilocal offered negative stars. Poor food and service. Server brought my wifes meal and asked if we needed anything else. I said ‘where’s my meal?’ She looked surprised and came back after a long wait with a cold and soggy with grease fish & chips. It was disgusting and I sent it back. Never again…

Old Bag of Nails is going to have to do a lot to get themselves back on my list of regular restaurants to frequent. Almost every time I’ve gone it’s been a negative experience in one way or another. First time I think the waiter was trying to play a joke or complete a dare, but everything I received first came to me in mini-​size… Diet Coke in a shot glass, «salad» in a dressing cup… it was cute/​funny at first, and then I was frustrated because I was actually terribly hungry and not in the mood for it. If your’e going to play a prank, be able to read the customer first and see if she’s up for it. I swore I was being punk’d… but Ashton Kutcher did not come out and surprise me at the end. Second time I got to hear our waitress bad-​mouth the rest of her wait staff. The unprofessionalism continued every time. Like my mantra says, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, but after multiple bad experiences I stay away.
The one thing the place does have going for it is an awesome outside patio that looks out onto the Delaware downtown and good beer on tap.