The Auld Shebeen

My date and I were driving looking for a place to eat; when I saw the sign I remembered their excellent Shepherd’s Pie and recommended it to him. We came in and GREATLY enjoyed our food. He had the Braised Beef Brisket and I had the Stuffed Chicken Breast. They were both so delicious we shared with each other. The food has always been fantastic whenever I’ve come here.
But the service is another story. Our server was slow to take our orders and refill our drinks. We had to speak fast and loud when she passed our table so she would stop and help us. I’ve had the same kind of experience with other servers when I’ve been there in the past.
The food is what keeps me coming back and my date wants us to go there again, despite the spotty service.

Best Irish food out of Ireland and I have been there a lot. Owner is from Ireland and is so we bit friendly. Good Irish music and atmosphere.

Wow. Kirsten who has the same birthday as me was super friendly. Stephanie and Eric are amazing. This place has a great vibe and delicious food. I was super happy about the existence gluten free menu. We got the mussels and the flavor was on point. We will be returning again soon.

Sat here for 15 minutes in the booth — no server came over. Over the years this place has had inconsistent food at best. The hostess was rude and clueless. Not a very good Irish establishment.

Absolutely and wonderful establishment! The customer service is always on point, welcoming, friendly, and polite. They make you feel like you’re at home. They say hello, welcome, have a nice evening, great service.
I’ve been coming The Auld for years. Whether its a happy hour with a group of friends, or for hot tea and chat with a friend or someone visiting the area, a burger, apps, trivia night, live Irish music and singing, karaōke, DJ with dancing or after church for brunch, — this place is awesome! The bartenders are attentive even when it get’s busy. I love their accents too, adds authenticity to the experience.
They have a nice warm fire place too… cozy and warm. There is an upstairs and a downstairs.
I have absolutely no complaints.
Love, love, love The Auld Shebeen.

Good food and frequent live entertainment. This isn’t a very large restaurant and tables are usually pretty close together. Food is very good, traditional Irish dishes. I’ll admit, I haven’t been there in a few years, but live close by and the restaurant is always bustling and packed with frequent people waiting to get in.
If you’re looking for a place with food authentic Irish food and drink, give this place a try. Weekend nights normally has live entertainment and they are usually excellent. This isn’t a place for a quiet dinner, as its a small establishment and the noise levels get very loud. Give it a try, highly recommend.

We love this place, in fact it’s one of our happy places in the Fairfax area. The food is always great, there are the Irish standards plus lots of comfort items. We almost always get Shepard’s pie. I like sitting in the front room with the photos of the Irish poets. Makes me want to beef up on my Irish lit knowledge. There is no shortage of Irish bars in Northern VA and this is one of our faves.

Excellent waitress and excellent food. My wife and I went for an early dinner around 5:30 on a Saturday. We were promptly seated. Our waitress quickly appeared and took our drink orders. My wife ordered a pint of cider and loved it. My IPA was also quite good. For dinner, she got the potato leak soup and liked it. I got the fish and chips. Some of the best I’ve had in this area. This place will definitely be on our list.

It’s…a pub. Went there on a Saturday night and were able to get seated easily. Their bourbon and Irish whiskey selection is solid. The beer selection is run of the mill pub beer. Stay the hell away from the mixed drinks; the mulled wine was one of the most unpalatable alcoholic drinks I’ve ever had. I didn’t have any food but my friend liked their meat and potatoes (literally). Our server was friendly but did kind of ignore us for a while.
Prices are fine; it’s not quite DC. Parking was very easy on the street. Not a destination pub but if you’re around the area, it’s fine.

Good service, decent food and nice atmosphere. It’s probably the best bar in the area!

We went on friday night when theres live traditional music. The service was amazing. We had the sausage rolls, mussels, shepherds pie, and auld shebeen burger. Everything was delicious and vetter than typical bar food. The guiness was cold and perfectly poured. My only suggestion is keep smokers away from the front door. It smelled like smoke anytime some on came in.

Great beer selection and traditional Irish menu. Had some leek soup (seemingly borring but holy cow! Was it good!) And fried brie (crispy and amazing served over home made jelly.) A+ would return again.

This place was great food and beer. The fish and chips were recommended and were outstanding. The setting was quite as we came for early dinner and was told things heat up after five pm on Saturdays. If you like it subdued then go before the band starts. Plus the waitress was very informative in providing us recommend appetizers, entrees, and desert. Can’t wait to come back and listen to the band at later date.

Another great night, potato leek soup with Irish cheddar, corned beef and cabbage and for dessert bread pudding.

Karaōke nights are amazing fun and the bands that come through are great! Dingy dive bar atmosphere, but that’s part of its charm!
The low rating is for the fact that I’ve gotten food poisoning every time I’ve eaten here. The drinks are always ill made, so poorly in fact that they’re just not worth the fairly cheap prices.
Come for the music, eat and do your pre-​gaming elsewhere.

Used to come here years ago when a GMU student. Glad to see not much has changed. Bartenders and servers are very friendly. Drink prices are reasonable. They do karaōke and trivia nights for those looking to do something different.

Auld Shebeen, I just can’t quit you.
Management and service is still top notch.
I’ll always come back, always!

Just dropped in after Mass for something to eat. Food is always good here. I usually get the Stout Burger or Fish N’ Chips but happened that Brunch was being served so I tried the Steak & Eggs. NY Strip Steak, Eggs prepared to your preference (I went with scrambled) and hash browns with onion and red peppers.
The hash browns were chunks of potato rather than usual shredded stuff and were great. The NY Strip was a probably a 10 .oz so good portion of meat. They brought out butter and a few different types of Jelly. I am a big guy 6′ 1″ 278 lbs. and I was full after this meal.
I sat at the Bar as usual and had good converation with the Bartender. Always friendly people who go out of their way to treat you as a regular.

Met a friend here for drinks, dinner and four hours of talking. Our waitress seemed rushed to get our drink and dinner orders but after the plates were cleared, she was not as rushed for us to leave. We sat and talked and were not rushed.
I had a Guinness and while it wasn’t a *perfect* Guinness pour, it was four stars good. I miss watching a proper hand pull as I saw in Dublin, but an electric pump is still okay. It had the right creamy foam on top and it tasted like a good Guinness. Really, that’s what matters.
Monday night they have $ 9.99 specials on their traditional Irish fare. My friend went with the beef stew, which he said tasted excellent. I had the corned beef and cabbage. A decent though not huge portion of corned beef, more cabbage and mashed potatoes. We were brought a condiment dish with three different mustards in it — I like the stone ground sometimes and I like the Coleman’s sometimes. Nice to have both! The beef was excellent, the cabbage was nicely al dente and the potatoes were quite creamy. Very good and I would have it again!
Comfortable restaurant with a corner booth out of the way, but around 10:30 the loud party people started getting louder and it was time for us to leave.
Parking is… interesting in Old Fairfax Town. I managed to find a street space fortunately. Dark, raining, traffic. Not easy!

Always good service and good food! Been here many times, some nights with live music, some quieter nights, always consistent quality. I usually get something traditional like the fish and chips or shepherds pie, this recent trip I tried the potato leek soup and the bread pudding a la mode. The soup was lighter than I expected, had a soft fluffy texture with cheese on top, pretty good and satisfying in the cold weather. The bread pudding was super — warm and hot and fresh made — see pictures. Family friendly, good for outing of friends or coworkers, very good atmosphere and has some areas further from stage and tvs if you want a quieter meal.