The Pat Connolly Tavern

Classic neighborhood pub/​restaurant and they make a great fried chicken. This is my golf group’s go-​to restaurant after a round at Probstein or Highlands nearby. I’ve been here probably a dozen times and I’ve had the fried chicken (or their jumbo wings) each time. The chicken is perfectly cooked and when they put the plate in front of you, you know that it was made to order. Get the seasoned batter for just a little bit of a subtle kick and more flavor. The seasoned batter is seriously good and is a big difference maker for me!
Service is always great and friendly. The restaurant is not large and it does fill up very quickly for dinner during all days of the week, so be sure to plan ahead or be prepared to grab some brews for a wait at the bar.
I do have to note that more than once I’ve ordered the fried chicken with seasoned batter and I ended up with the regular batter. The first time it happened, the server put in another order for me right away, but I waited 20 more minutes for the correct batch, which unfortunately came out burnt and my fellow diners had already finished their meals. The second and third times (not in a row), I didn’t bother getting it corrected. Perhaps the seasoned batter is not a frequent choice by diners? Be sure to emphasize your batter choice upon ordering.

We order often from Pat’s because we live in Dogtown about a block away from the Tavern. Today I tried the Chicken Tenders for lunch and they were pretty awful. They were rubbery, tough, dry and the breading was barely cooked. I tried to pull apart the tenders to get the good spots of the chicken but I could not even pull them apart! After that I was pretty disgusted and threw them away and went without lunch. We usually have a great experience here and will try again because the service is always friendly and most the food is great. I recommend to steer clear of the chicken strips and go for the fried chicken. Crazy there is that much difference in the chicken but there is.

I went there with my daughter and two young grandkids. The server was friendly. I ordered the toasted ravioli as what I thought would be a quick distraction for the kids. There was a long wait. Inexplcably the toddler meal came out first. The toasted ravioli was pretty good, brimming with cheese filling and served with a tasty sauce. My daughter had the fried fish, which she liked. My veggie burger was tasteless, and the fries were kind of flabby and arrived lukewarm. My granddaughters chicken strips were good. The Apple slices were mealy and dry. I wold come here again, but I would stick to the fried fish, chicken and toasted ravioli.

We came by for lunch after the zoo with our two toddlers. It took one hour after placing our order for the kids’ chicken tenders to come out. 15 minutes after that my husband and I still hadn’t gotten our lunches so we asked for the check. Our total for two kid lunches (which consisted of 3 tenders and about 10 fries total), two milks (because they aren’t included in the kid meal price) and two sodas was $ 21. The sign out front said kids meals were half price. I guess we didn’t get that deal because after an hour and a half there we were served no food and had to get the kids home. Don’t recommend for children. Can’t say much about the food because we didn’t get any but the sodas were cold. Staff had no explanation for why other customers around us ordered after us and received their food, ate and left while we were there. Owner was there behind the bar and did nothing.
UPDATE: the owner was not aware of our situation which was a misplaced ticket in the kitchen. He subsequently offered refund and gift card which is beyond fair. Mistakes happen. I’ve heard the food is good so we will try again sometime.

Love the atmosphere here, and the bartenders and other employees are always cool, interesting people. I have trouble finding stuff that I want from the food menu (why did I think liver and gizzards would be a good idea?), but the fish & chips – particularly the fish – were good the one time I had them. I’ll mostly stick to drinks here, but I do occasionally fantasize about their fried chicken…

I had my husband’s surprise birthday party in the private party space upstairs. It was perfect as it has its own bar and restrooms up there.
I worked with Joe, the owner, to organize the party and the was very easy to work with. He was very accommodating for any request we had as far as decorating and additional food that was not on the catering menu.
I had ordered a good amount of food but by far everyone was talking about the toasted ravioli’s the next day. made in-​house and just amazing!
I also ordered the wings, spinach artichoke dip (cheesy and delicious), chicken tenders, sliders and salad. All the food was great!
We had Connor for the night as our bartender. He was great and very attentive with our our guests.
Keep this place in mind for your next party!

Myself and two friends visited Pat’s for lunch today as we have been on a fairly regular basis for the past decade. All three of us ordered the Chicken fried Chicken which is no longer listed on the new menu however they still are able to make it. This is the dish that we almost always order and is what keeps us coming back. When lunch was served we were presented with country fried steak. We mentioned to the server that we had ordered Chicken fried Chicken and he said he had entered the order correctly but the kitchen screwed up. The country fried steak was horrible and I ate about two bites which the server had to have noticed. He took our three ice teas off the bill and left us to pay for the Country fried steak which we didn’t order, wasn’t good and didn’t eat. All good things must come to an end as I won’t be returning.

We stopped in today for lunch and had a great experience. We were early so the restaurant was not crowded and the service was great. The highlight of my meal was the pan-​seared garlic infused green beans. They were incredible and completely worth the trip. I would come back just for them. I had them as a side with a BLT. My husband had the ruben with fries. Both sandwiches were excellent. The fries were okay. The green beans were by far the best.

Pat’s has always been a great neighborhood place to eat and drink.
But what happened to the two-​piece lunch special?
Pat’s no longer offers its delicious two-​piece fried chicken lunch special with a couple sides.
The waitress said I could get the four-​piece meal. For lunch? Yeah, right!
I ended up getting a cheeseburger (really good) but I didn’t go to Pat’s for that. I went for the fried chicken!
If their specialty is fried chicken, where’s the fried chicken for lunch?

Every time I come here to eat the food is perfect! I don’t think you can go anywhere like this and get a salmon burger that is cooked to perfection. Simply amazing!

We really enjoyed the fried chicken, toasted ravioli and garlicky Green Beans. However next time I will get the wings instead of the half chicken dinner.

Feeling nostalgic one Wednesday evening, we decided to give an old favorite another try. We recalled memories of drawing with crayons on a paper menu with our young tike, enjoying cold beer and feasting on burgers and chicken fried chicken. With the news of a remodeling of what could once be considered an establishment on the fringe of cleanliness, we were down.
It was a sad reunion.
Things started off fine as we sat down and were greeted by our server who seemed pleasant enough. She promptly took our drink order which arrived in a timely fashion. That was highlight of the evening.
I chose a cocktail in which some proceeds were respectably given back to the community because I think that is a very cool thing. I could have let go the fact that it was teeny tiny with just a splash of alcohol because it was for the community, after all. Except that the rest of the evening was so awful that it gets vented upon in it’s own paragraph.
We ordered the chicken wings to start. The crayon drawing tike, now a teen, ordered the Philly. My mate ordered a simple salad with chicken and I chose the chicken sandwich. Sometime after about 35 minutes without a hint of food, the hunger anger set in and pleasant family-​time conversation turned to a clock-​watching whinefest — to ourselves of course, because our waitress seemed to be avoiding us at that point.
Without apology or explanation for the delay, the wings were at last delivered some forty minutes after our arrival. But instead of plates, our waitress plopped down a stack of napkins and poof, she was gone. Five minutes into the awkward, messy chicken wing eating debacle and with nary a plate in sight, our food finally appears. Philly sandwich is cold, but not in a good, supposed to be cold way. Chicken sandwich was lukewarm-​ish but the cold salad came out with steaming hot chicken atop.
Now, I know our waitress did not leave the building. I saw her walking about, nowhere near our table, seemingly attending to the only three other parties in the restaurant. Not once did she come over to ask if everything was ok or if we needed anything. Not even a glance in our direction. A different server came to clear our table. The only other time we saw her was when she plopped the check down as efficiently as the napkin dinnerware earlier.
So, long story summed up: never again. I’ve honestly never had such crappy service and mediocre food for a marathon-​of-​waiting dining experience. As far as I could tell, the «remodel» consisted of sprucing up the booth tables with some sort of woven plastic shelf liner and tidying up the menu with standard pub fare that’s just meh. Maybe it was an off-​night, but there are too many other great places in this town with better food, much better service and plates for the chicken wings.

I love this place. It’s in my neighborhood. I love how Joe goes above and beyond to help non for profits. Try the fried chicken, sticky garlic beans, toasted raviolis. Also, come for breakfast. Today, we ordered the breakfast to go. So yummy!

I live right down the street from this fine establishment. That’s a problem in itself because it’s hard NOT to walk down here every day and get their fried chicken.
PROS
1. Their fried chicken is amazing. Regular or spicy will do the trick. It’s really good. I’m from the mountains, so I know fried chicken.
2. The staff is friendly.
3. The rest of the food is good!
CONS
1. The big salad isn’t really that big. It’s just a lot of lettuce and a minimal mix of other veggies. It’s tasty, but it’s not big.
2. I’m not sure if I just go sit down at this place at the wrong times, but the wait is beyond too long. My family recently visited for Memorial Day and I raved about this place. There was NO ONE inside, which was perfect for us because we had my 2 year old niece. We ordered relatively quickly and it was a solid 30 minutes before we got our food. We we were all ready to leave when they finally brought it out. But the weird part? My mom had the big salad (which she enjoyed), but she got hers last and actually 5 minutes AFTER the rest of us got sandwiches or chicken. That’s kinda backwards to me.
3. We were parched when we sat down, so we basically inhaled our drinks. Our server was sitting down, and didn’t come check on us for a good while to where we almost walked over to the bar to get a refill.
All in all, I enjoy this place. The fried chicken is great and other selections are fine.
However, the wait time is ridiculous and the amount of attention you get from your server is awful. I really think Pat’s is great, but it seems to be hit or miss with your service and wait time on food.
Three stars awarded for the chicken alone. Get that service and cooking time better and this could be 5 stars easy.
*UPDATE*
After posting my review, I was contacted by the owner who went above and beyond. That just earned a whole new star in my book. I’m definitely going back and if the service is better this go, it’s an easy 5 stars*

Checked out the renovated Pat’s last night and they get a 3-​star A-​OK from me. This is the place to go if you want fried chicken done right. Hell, everything we tried was fried — onion rings, livers and gizzards, chicken fried chicken and a fried chicken sandwich. All tasted great! My only complaints were that they were stingy with the garlic mayo I got with my sandwich and I thought the breading needed a little more salt, but those were minor. Everything came out piping hot and the service was great. You really feel like they genuinely appreciate that you stopped in. I’ll give my arteries a little while to unclog, then I’ll be back!

Here’s the deal, we took our 2 year old to the zoo and wanted to grab a bite before driving 2 hours home. Stopped here because the deli was closed for the holiday. Um… so glad! This place has the BEST fried chicken I’ve ever had. We got spicy… not overwhelming, just great flavor! Also, my husband got a fried chicken sandwhich… loved it! Keep in mind, we never order fried chicken due to it being heavy, but also not consistent. This was beyond amazing! Also, the waitress was super sweet and helped me find a new beer! So happy we ended up here! My son loved it too! He’s 2. Very happy with everything!

After a visit to the zoo, we needed just a bit of sustenance to tide us over so we dropped into Pat Connolly’s Tavern in Dogtown. We pretty much had the place to ourselves, but it was off hours so that didn’t surprise us.
Originally opened in 1942, it has changed names and owners over the years, and has now returned to being owned by the family. It’s always disappointing to see Budweiser ads (sorry St. Louis & Anheuser!) in an Irish Pub, but we also know that some folks just don’t understand the pleasure of a true Irish ale (ha, ha). Plus, having a place to have a pint, Irish or not, is a great thing for the neighborhood. The place is small — long and narrow, and although it’s been spruced up, it has a homey feel. Once can’t miss the bar — beautiful wood and original to Pat’s.
We just had chili, and it was very good. Menu is more bar food than pub food, but all reasonably priced.

Went there for a work happy hour which uses the upstairs floor… Nice space for our rather large group. Food was really great, especially the toasted ravoli (both meat stuffed and cheese stuffed ones)! The manager (?) was very helpful making sure to stock everything and kept everything running smoothly. The bartender did a good job of cleaning up tables, clearing empty drinks and plates. Overall, the above was my reasoning for 3 stars which is average/​good in my book.
I couldn’t give Pat’s 4 – 5 stars because of the bartenders attitude, lack of beer selection, and missing beer menu. Bartender wasn’t rude, however, you could easily tell she didn’t want to be there. She seemed mad at you when asking for a beer menu or what the beers were. Our group tends to have a rather large beer/​wine tab, but I think the bar lost out on some profits for not having anything on draft or more of a drink selection. I asked for some other Irish beers like harp, smitticks, and killians but was told they didn’t have them. If I remember correctly the beers to chose from were typical AB products, corona, CANNED Guinness and CANNED Magners. I feel like an Irish bar should have the last two on tap…
Overall, for a smaller group or just a few friends, I would definitely recommend this place. I believe it’s family owned which is awesome! I just hope they can improve on the later aspects before they host another large group.

I went to Pat’s several times before the remodel and beyond the non-​smoking and new ceiling, not much seems to be new. Not a bad thing, I always liked their neighborhood bar and grill feel.
The fried chicken and fried fish were delicious, and were accompanied with perhaps the most edible green beans I’ve ever had. The chicken was a ½ chicken, and I’d count it as one of the best in the city.

Such an improvement! Their menu has changed, but they kept the important items and added fresher food.
Staff is mainly the same (which is a good thing). The owner seems to be around a lot and caring for the place. Before I really couldn’t tell you who the owner was.
Caesar salad was one of the best I have had. Toasted raviolis were delicious and housemade. Fried chicken is much better again!
Most of the items are made from scratch, all the way down to salad dressings.
I haven’t tried their ‘throwback’ cocktails yet.
It’s much cleaner. They definitely took time to clean up everything and give it a fresh new ‘old’ look.

This is supposed to be one of the best places to go for st pats… don’t. Their corned beef was tough, like shoe leather, with no flavor.
They had a guy singing acoustic with s guitar & he was TERRIBLE!
We had to waved down anybody to get anything. I couldn’t get out of their fast enough.

This bar is where you should go to drink. None of that froo-​froo vodka sprite business. Order a draft beer, sit in one of the high-​backed wooden booths, and watch the ball game.
It is in a great spot by Turtle Park in Dogtown, and this is truly a neighborhood pub. It’s got a little Irish flair and their onion rings are amazing. They recently remade their menu but kept the rings. Now the menu looks a little nicer.
This place has that atmosphere where you don’t have to keep your voice down, but it’s not super loud either. You could bring your kids but maybe not late on the weekends. I’ve come here a couple of times with girlfriends and we always have a great time. The wait staff are super friendly and pretty quick. The food and beer is always great, so I would definitely recommend this place.

The Pat Connolly Tavern is my neighborhood bar. We love coming here for their onion rings… they are seriously amazing. Best onion rings ever, trust me.
Other than the O-​rings, it’s your basic dive bar/​St. Patrick’s day bar in Dogtown. Service is usually great. One waitress (that I usually recognize when I go there) is really hilarious. She’s pretty sarcastic and makes conversations fun!

We go here once or twice a year just for fried chicken. We went Sunday at noon and it was not crowded. The experience was wonderful! Karen waited on our table of 5 and what a pleasure! Ask for her when you go. Thankfully, with the changes made, they did not change their fried chicken. It comes with fries and coleslaw but we substituted mashed potatoes a green beans. The beans have a small up charge but well worth it. Buttery and just the right amount of garlic.
If you are looking for consistently good fried chicken and great service, this is the place!