McCormack’s Irish Pub

Like walking into an old world pub. Owned by the friendliest bar owner in Richmond who truly cares for his patrons and their pocketbooks. You’ll find beer and booze here you won’t find elsewhere, with an unmatched charm only old buildings like this can offer.
A very cool spot where you’ll find classic cult movies playing one night, and live bands on another. The food is ALWAYS on point, and the bartenders are professional, attentive and friendly.

Just a good bar with a suprising amount of top shelf bourbon. The best thing of this bar is joseph. He is by far one of the most smartest host and has a memory of Richmond’s lore– plays great music also shows videos of snap up kung fu and cheezy and good horror films except on wednesdays and thursdays.

Where to start… Ah, yes. I walked over here to check the area out since I live closeby. I immediately noticed that the music is great. It’s all classic rock and metal. Plus, It’s a divey pub that only sells hotdogs or sausages on buns after 9pm. What’s more metal than that? Wait, it gets better. People of all colors and creeds venture in here late at night. Why? Because the bartender is just flat out cool. Drinks on the house because I was new to the area. He can hold a convo with anyone and keeps a very clean bar. Best bartender I’ve seen. He also plays cool movies for you to watch while you converse with locals, drink, and listen to cool music. Why else is the place cool? Because the locals will hang with you and buy you drinks. I got two drinks from a group of people I just met, just from hospitality. Go there if you (a) facilitate divey bars and or (b) if you like good people and rock. Actually, of you’re (a) and (b) you’ll love it.

If you’re looking for a laid back place, with people who are super cool, come here. Austin by far is the best bartender in existence! Just have him make you something, his surprises are epic!

Great mix of people and awesome comedy nights on the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesdays! Austin is the best bartender, give him all the tips!

When you spot McCormack’s Pub, at least in my opinion, it is really cool looking! Inside its nice, too! Just so ya know there’s no PBR served there. All special beer’s plus a slug of liquor, can you say scotch! Decent sandwiches, but this is a pub! Not expensive, fairly priced. Nice place, took my Irish son-​in-​law there! I think you can guess his… drink! Mr. Jameson was there! All in all this place is A-​OK

Don’t expect any main stream beer here. All of their beers are strong! Some people may not like their selection of beer.
But this is NOT a beer place. There is wall full of liquor! So pull a seat up, and start drinking!

The fact that I might go here again makes me hesitate giving such a low rating. But I don’t see why some people love this place. There’s a familiar vibe, and a lot of regulars shooting the shit together, but the bartender was not very attentive and they didn’t have ingredients you’d think a bar would when they say «full bar» and offer mixed drinks (no spiced rum? no red bull? limited selection of vodkas?).
It’s dark in here and the smoking area in the back is dingy. You get an interesting crowd: girls who think they’re hot shit, sloppy drunks, older folks, and newly minted 21 year olds.
One thing I really didn’t like is at closing time, they came to get our pitchers and hassled one of the members in our group. And actually yelled at him and told him to finish the pitcher that was still half full. He ended up giving in and trying to finish some of it off, and they still insulted him and hassled him.
Meh. This place.

I moved to Richmond at the end of May getting ready for grad school. At the completion of my move-​in weekend… it was after 11pm on a Sunday, and I was starving. I got used the Unilocal App on my iPhone, and chanced upon this place. As it had largely good reviews I gave them a call, and the bartender informed me that despite the late hour… they’d be serving fried foods until close. Needless to say, I was soon out the door to walk the couple of blocks in order to get there.
McCormack’s is a place where everyone is welcome and gets along great. There is no predominant crowd in this bar, just a healthy mix of all different types of people, with no bad attitudes or silly cliquish behavior. They have a full bar, and I really like that their beer selection is a bit more varied than your average bar. While they do not serve such bar staples as PBR, or any major lite-beer…they have a higher class beer selection that covers the spectrum of beer types. $ 6 for a glass that is a full 1 ½ pints of awesome beer (like a Dale’s Pale Ale!) is a steal in my book! Their food is also quite awesome, especially their burgers and the Shepherds Pie.
The bartenders are all awesome, friendly, and can make you any drink you can think of and more. Darrell (who works on Tuesday and Saturday nights) is quite possibly the coolest bartender I have ever met. My girlfriend often waffles on what mixed-​drink she’d like… so he just chooses and makes a drink for her, and she’s liked every one. While they have live music upstairs sometimes, the music on the main floor comes from an iPod plugged into their sound system. There is always a good mix of music genres. but if you are looking to go out and fist-​pump to the newest song by Ke$ha or Lady Gaga… this place isn’t for you. The bartenders are so cool here that (I kid you not) you can actually get them to play a song or two (or more) off of your own iPod.
I was a bartender while I did my undergrad, so while I understand the job. I have always expected good service from bartenders. From the first time I went here, I have always had great service and a great time. and it is definitely my preferred bar in Shockoe Bottom by a long-​shot. McCormack’s is definitely one of the best bars that Richmond has to offer, so check it out for your self!

The bartender was really cool, but it was really empty on a Saturday night, and the few patrons that did show up were not very chatty. Normally I prefer to keep to myself, but what’s the point when you’re drinking, right? I felt like I had to force something fun. No bueno. Their bleu cheese burger is cooked really well, though, so… there’s that.

Shockoe Bottom’s one and only punk rock pub.
Went here on a Saturday night and expected a pretty lively atmosphere full of alcohol and debauchery but instead we got a few regulars who would trickle in and out every so often and a venue that was at best ¹⁄₃ full at 11pm on a Weekend night during Graduation season. Maybe, it was just an off night? Maybe, but at least the bar tender was friendly and engaging enough but i definitely wanted more from the patrons and the ambiance of the place.

There aren’t many places in Shockoe Bottom left where a nice mix of people are all equally welcome and all get along. From gay boys and girls to hipsters and punk/​rocker/​goth folks, there is always a place at the table in this establishment. The owner, Mac McCormack (who also recently opened The Whisky on Robinson) is known to be one of the most skilled, generous, fastest bartenders in the city. Drinks are big, pours are generous, and music ranges all over the place but you won’t be hearing rap/​house/​hip hop here.
This place should be known for its food but with a bar staff and incredibly well stocked bar like the one here, it is no surprise that the food isn’t getting the credit it deserves. Of special note is «The Monster Burger» which is «3 Pounds of Angus Beef, 6 Slices of Cheddar, 12 Strips of Bacon with a Pound of Fries and a Side of Dunking Gravy (If one person finishes this in an Hour or Less it is the Same Price as the Regular Burger)
McCormack’s advertises itself as a «punk rock Irish pub» but I am not sure that this is doing this place any good. It is just a plain fun and welcoming place to go that isn’t full of college drunks or hoochie mommas in mini skirts. ALL are welcome and the majority feel that way.
Upstairs is a lounge with a motorcycle for photo ops and a full service bar. It also serves as a space for the bands that Mr. McCormack’s has always promoted, mostly local bands and those with a punk cred to them.
Most interestingly, many choose to spend a birthday here in order to get whipped by Mac’s whip as a way to kick off the new year. It is always a big crowd pleaser, let me tell you.

I was really torn on whether to give this place 3 or 4 stars.
Reasons to give it only 3:
1. Wasn’t quite as cool as I was expecting «Richmond’s only Punk Rock Irish Bar» to be.
2. Drinks were pricey. 4 bucks for a 12oz can of Miller Lite? The owner said there’s only one distributor in town and his prices were pretty standard for that area. So I’m gonna take the guy at his word and err on the side of 4 stars. Also, although I paid $ 10.50 for a shot of Jameson and a can of Miller Lite, they were quite generous with the shot.
Reasons to give it at least 4:
1. The owner was cool, as well as the other bartender. Friendly, efficient, and (most importantly for my purposes) fast and heavy pours.
2. Pretty girls
3. Some drunk guy angrily smashing glasses at his table. No one, including the owner, seemed to mind that much. It was entertaining and he wasn’t hurting anyone, so yeah, I actually count that as a plus.
4. You can smoke there
5. They sell cool souvenir jackets and hoodies (yep, bought a jacket)
6. In less than two hours there (had to leave before I got too ripped to drive back to my hotel in Petersburg), I met: (a) A soldier who just completed two combat infantry tours in Iraq (b) An anarchist/​anti-​war homebrewer on a pub crawl (with some other homebrewers, two of whom I also met) who happened to pick up the soldier along the way © a hot cage dancer all dressed up (or down as it were) from the club down the street who says she hates going into work sober and (d) her hot friend. Not bad for one bar in a town I’ve never been to in the space of a little over an hour.
7. The girl I met yesterday, who told me about this place, saved me from another boring Saturday night in Petersburg or the frustrating experience of wandering around Richmond, moving from yuppie bar to frat-​boy bar until I found a decent place. So I have to give both her and McCormack’s credit for giving me a little bit of enjoyable downtime here.
So four stars it is. Like I said, a little on the pricey side for a «punk rock» bar, but definitely worth the trip. If you’re in Richmond I definitely recommend checking it out– if you don’t like it there are plenty other bars, clubs and restaurants very close by.

Not a big fan of this place as a bar but I can’t speak for the food. Every time I have been the owner has found a way to be rude to me or someone I’m with. He went as far one time as kicking my friend out for not leaving a cash tip on a credit card tab. I’m in the business, so I know the importance of cash vs credit tips, but not everyone does.
Also I hear all sorts of bad stories about this place, I never felt comfortable there.

I go here to see one of the city’s best bartenders… melissa! She’s awesome, attentive and FAST. At serving drinks, not in other ways. Perv.
Anyhoo, the Guiness here is great, the atmosphere varies from soccer hooliganish to really relaxed. The bathrooms can get a bit yucky, especially around St. Paddy’s Day. Don’t go in them around that time. They have a small upstairs where bands sometimes play and they recently opened another bar up there on the weekends. It’s gets a tad bit smoky for my taste, but what ya gonna do? I’ve always had a good time when there.
I’ve never eaten a full meal there but the mozzarella sticks are pretty awesome.

Cool spot. Good drinks and great bartenders. Mac (the owner) is our neighbor and he’s super nice. Definitely recommend this place for drinks (many many drinks) if you are in the Bottom. It’s always a good time.

A good mix of people, really cool bartender, strong drinks, really cool liquor cabinet, a very friendly environment.
Good place to get your ass whipped and beaten on your birthday.
.