Dooley’s Irish Ale House

Was there this past Monday with a friend. Inside is nice — albeit a bit confusing. Drinks were great. However service was honestly just terrible. I sat down at the bar and she said hello but otherwise ignored me until my friend came in. She didn’t even ask me if I wanted a drink, just said to «sit wherever I wanted». A few minutes later my friend walked in, then she asked us if we wanted a drink. Okay. Got our drinks and they were good. After that we had to flag her down to get a menu, order, another drink, etc. She was very sweet and kind though. But I did see both employees (that were in the FOH) drinking beer in shot glasses behind the bar. Not a huge deal but it really doesn’t look professional.
Food was great. We both had soup and fish and chips. Cheddar potato soup was delicious. Fish was just as fantastic. Fries were good however they put a ton on the plate. I had to ask for ketchup.
Bottom line is the food and drinks are great, service is not. I’ve experienced better, as my rating says.

Irish bar with no Jameson? Hmm… Staff not friendly, even though there are more staff than customers each time we’ve been there. Drinks are fine, food was fine, but not a great deal or scene overall. We try to support local businesses, but one could do better. Maybe they’re still working things out since its newer? Hope so!

Amazing service and food. Our bartender made a hell of a cosmo and the lemon drop shots were tasty. Cant wait for summer to sit out on the patio

Just tried the beer and 3 different apps, slightly limited beer selection, but did have good stuff. I’m giving it four stars till I can try an entre or two. Will definitely be back.

First experience there was on new years eve. Went with a group of 4 and with the place being new I did not hold high expectations of seamless service especially for what I would assume to be a busy night for a bar. We ordered our first drinks at the bar while waiting for the other half of our group to arrive. The bartender was friendly and knowledgeable and they have a decent Craft beer selection. But that’s where the good experience stopped… 10 minutes in.
We moved to a table and waited a good 30 minutes for our server which we had to ask the bartender for. We were there 3 hours and were only able to manage to get 2 drinks each. We saw our waitress all of about 3 times. The kitchen closed at 10pm and we didn’t get our food until well after that. I will say that their Irish cuisine is authentic and tasty, but was very disappointed that we had to try it luke warm.
During our experience we noticed another table of 4 looking disappointed and searching for service. On our way out we stopped to ask then what they thought. They mentioned that they weren’t able to track down their waitress in time to order food. Might I mention this was a group that owned a business and worked right down 72. What a disappointment.
2^nd experience there… we waited a month or so to try again. We stopped by on a Sunday for the Blackhawks game. We sat at the bar and had to listen to the bartender speak to another couple about all the drama that was going on in the place since they opened, while another staff member (couldn’t tell you what he was supposed to be doing) spoke obnoxiously loud about unprofessional things. We were only able to manage a drink and a cold appetizer that was supposed to be fried when we decided we needed to leave.
This place has great food and a good beer selections, but no specials on a Sunday during sporting events? I wouldn’t mind paying full price but when you’re charging top dollar for run of the mill Craft beer ($ 7 for a Sam Adam’s nitro) and providing room temperature FRIED appetizers with dive bar service you are begging customers not to return.
It truly breaks my heart to have to stay away from a place with such potential and within walking distance of my neighborhood

I LOVE the food and they have a wonderful beer list but this is the second time the service has been really poor. Long waits, food items missed and never delivered. Great place but hire more staff please

Great experience here today. Had a group in for lunch and they were very accommodating.
The drink selection is pretty good for a new place, they had quite a few mixed drinks, and the beer selection was good, about 50 total. For St. Pattys they had a lot of Irish beers on tap, and thankfully no crap domestics wasting tap lines. A nice surprise was 4 Hands peanut butter stout, and Ballast Point cans of Grunion, Longfin, and Victory at Sea.
Service was extremely accommodating, they were kid-​friendly and came by several times to check on us. We never had empty drinks. There was a mixup with a salad that didn’t mention bacon, but arrived with bacon. No-​go for a vegetarian. They brought out a replacement in 5 minutes. The Matt’s Reuben was very tasty, though not a huge sandwich. I’m used to Manny’s though, which is insanely large. The housemade chips are delicious and addictive.
Atmosphere was nice, they re-​did the old M.T. Barrells space, and added some cool knick-​knacks of Irish writers and musicians on the wall over the booths. Upstairs they had some classic arcade games and a pool table, though i’m not sure if this area was open to the public yet, we just sort of wandered up there to check it out.
Overall a nice addition to the Main St. scene in West Dundee, they just had their official grand opening, so i’d encourage people to give them another chance, as I would any business that just opened with new staff.

The macaroni and cheese here was very good! I’ve heard good things about some of the other food from my fiancé, and friends. The service on the other hand was horrible! I had to ask for a glass of water 4 times before I got it.

This was the second time we’ve been here (the first time was just for a quick drink) but tonight was date night. I guess we’ve been lucky as both times we had the same server who has been great, no bad experience here. And the food certainly to me seems 100% made from scratch and my Matt’s Reuben was fantastic (although pass on their sauce and go with the 1,000 island), my girlfriend had the cod sandwich and it was great too, also both the chips and fries were great as well. I’d like to give this place five stars but it seems a little confused, is it a bar/​restaurant, is it an Irish bar (playing Justin bieber?), is it a sports bar… I’m not sure, so maybe after they get a little more mature it’ll be a little clearer, but all in all come for the food and have a couple of drinks, well worth it.

I guess this is a hit or miss place and we must have hit it at the right time :) I’ll admit I’m use to walking into a place and being greeted by someone which didn’t happen here, which is fine, please put up a sign saying seat yourself.
Service was friendly and prompt, we ordered the fried fish and it was tasty. The fries were superb! I’m a fry snob BTW!
We will definitely be back to try other items on the menu. I love the décor and feel of the place, nice addition to downtown and much needed!

I hate to do this to an Irish Pub… but you guys need to get your shit together. «Servers» lack service and professionalism. And blasting metal at 5pm rather than some lower volumed traditional Irish music (or even Dropkick Murphy’s or Flogging Molly to keep it modern and «hip»), what the hell man?! If they turn it around, there’s potential with such a beautiful building… But after stopping in twice with horrible service, and friends and family having the same experiences as well, we’re going elsewhere. Hopefully you guys read these reviews and shape up. I’d rather see you guys flourish than fail.

Poor service. Took over a hour for a sandwich with a side of fries. No one stopped by to apologize for the wait. Ordered a Cosmo which is made with a splash of cranberry, the one I received looked like all cranberry. They added more vodka after I said something but again drink was not executed. No garnish. Again as I said before no Jameson but they have Jameson décor, no corona, no patron and no fireball. Would not go back. Would not recommend.

This place has potential. I came on a Saturday night for dinner. When you walk in there is no one to seat you so we sat ourself. We then waited around 20 minutes for service and no one came until we flagged someone down and asked for a server. Once we finally got a server the rest of the experience was great. We got the nicest and most down to earth server. She saved our experience. Food-​wise I tried the mussels, cocannon balls and loaded chips. All the food was great and have a homemade feel to it. If the place gets their act together and is managed better, it has some great potential.

Eight of us came in and sat down for 20 minutes. 20 minutes and did not once receive ANY service. Staff ignored us the entire time. We will not be returning, this place is shit.

Never had a chance to try anything at Doolys. 8 pm on a Saturday night you should be ready for many random couples walking in to try the new guy on the block. Everyone who works the front of the house will run this place into the ground. No hostess and no uniforms. This means the employees blend in with the customers. No one asked if we needed to be seated nothing. It’s completely amateur and there seems to be no experience here. I give them 1 year. The location is cursed. Also, Dundee needs another Irish bar am I right? That makes 4 or 5.

I really hope these folks make it. The food was superb, great drink/​beer selection and the staff are incredibly nice. There was a mix up, and a wait, but that’s totally besides the point. I’ll take concern and quality above any sort of mix up. Great people here. Give it a try, be patient, and enjoy!

Reading the reviews before me, some were upset about the service. To me that’s something most places experience early on, I had no issues with bad service. I sat at the bar and was asked multiple times by many different people if I needed anything. I think they’re paying attention to the customers needs and opinions. Like any new place, I feel you must go to multiple times to make sure you get an accurate opinion.
I ordered the cheese and potato soup and chicken dinner. The soup came out like warm, I asked to have it warmed up and was immediately given a new bowl the was perfect. The soup was fantastic! The chicken was good, but bland. I’m not sure if That’s normal for Irish chicken or not, I like spicy or some sort of seasoning to give it a little twang.
The décor and atmosphere is nice, I definitely like it. It does feel like an Irish bar.
Looking forward to coming back and trying the corned beef.

Hands downs the best corn beef in the area and great homemade potato chips. Seemed a little disorganized service wise, but this place it off to a solid start.

I hate to give it such a poor review since i know they are in their «soft» opening but if there service doesnt turn around by the time they officially open this place will not last.
We went to check it out around 7:30 last night. Wasnt super busy but busy. We got a small table and the waitress came by for our drink order & we put in an appetizer order. 10 min later no drinks we were ready to leave when another waiter came by & asked if we wanted to order. We explained we did then he said oh shes new i will be taking over. I dont think the girl even remembered taking our order even though we watched her punch it in. We gave him our order and mine was a blue moon & he said we dont have regular blue moon just the ipa. It was just a mess from the beginning. A waitress that doesnt even know the menu yet shouldnt be taking orders. We got our drinks and appetizer and then ordered food. When i got my beer which was in a bottle he brought me a glass and i picked it up to pour my beer and the glass was hot as if it just came out of the dishwasher. Who brings a hot glass with a beer. This staff is clueless. Long wait and thats fine but food was nothing special. I ordered gaelic chicken sandwich and my husband ordered grilled cheese. House made chips were good. Service was below awful. Even our new waiter after the first girl was just odd. I joked and said he sounds like hes on drugs. Mummbled could barely understand him and was just very odd experience. Never had service like that anywhere. The people sitting at the bar looked like the service was great but that wait staff needs 100% make over already. Im not sure if i would even try it again when they officially open unless we sat at the bar. Please look at your waitstaff because that will kill your business. It lost ours

My husband and I stopped in while out Christmas shopping. They are still in the soft opening phase but we had a great experience. The bartender was very friendly and attentive, drinks were good, and the food was great. I ordered a hot toddy because I had a bit of a sore throat and it was very will made. First we ordered the Cal Cannon bites for a starer and then shared the shepards pie for dinner. Both were excellent! The cheese & potato soup was also delicious!
Highly recommend!