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Downey's Restaurant

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526 S Front St (at Front St and South St)
Philadelphia, PA 19147

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(215) 625-9500
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Reviews
( 24 )
( 5 )
( 1 )
( 1 )
( 11 )

Best

Great local Irish pub, complete with real locals and real Irish folks. We come here on Sunday nights for the casual vibe, frosty Smithwicks, and kick-ass steak sandwiches. Comfy c...

Worst

I stopped there on a recent Wednesday evening...I sat at the bar to eat & drink. The bar was only half full, but it took the bartender, a middle aged man, about 10 minutes to app...

Pleasantly Surprised 2/18/2011

Met friends for drinks last weekend and wow was I surprised. Good food, decent beer prices and great service. I will definately be back! more

Terrible! 12/1/2010

Ate there tonight with my husband...fish and chips were the worst ever. Fish was like rubber and not anywhere close to fresh.' On tap' cider was flat and waitress was rude. Wouldn't waste my time or money again! more

Very Much Worth It 10/18/2010

I stopped in on this Irish Pub when I was in town and loved it. Worth every penny and I will definately make it back. Recommended to people who want a relaxed atmosphere and a great meal. more

Awesome! All you can eat! 10/15/2010

I went in to Downey's last week to try out the all you can eat crab leg special. It was great! I had so much fresh crab legs...I was in heaven! I ate more than the $18.95 it cost me. The atmosphere was fun and the staff was really friendly, I'll definitely be back! more

Great Happy Hour 9/16/2010

Great deals during Happy Hours! Meat, veggie pasta etc. plus cheap beer. Being at the end of South, there's few tourists considering the location. more

The Worst Place to have a party .. and the rudest owner!!! 6/8/2010

I hosted a bridal shower for my cousin's upcoming wedding at Downey's. The party was a complete DISASTER!!!!! Frist off, it was 92degrees outside, and they did not have the airconditioner on!! And only turned it on after we asked for the 3rd time! Second off, the party, which was a brunch, started at 12:30, and the food wasn't put out until 1:30! Third, we were promised a carving station and a omlette station, wich was not set up. Instead, the ""carving station"" was downstairs and the meat was cut down there and then put on the buffet. The ""omlette station"" was actually 1 waitress, for 50 people, taking omlette orders and then bring the orders to the kitchen and then bringing them out. The entire omlette process took about 1 1/2 hours. The bride and the mother of the bride didn't even get their omlettes because of all of the confusion. Cons: Unorganized, lousy food, and horriable customer service!! more

Excellent Lobster Deal 11/23/2009

Downey's restaurant is top of the line, pleasant staff, lovely atmosphere and the best lobster in town, if you like seafood and a fun environment, Downey's is the place to go Pros: Location, atmosphere, food more

Get a service lesson...and a cat 2/20/2009

This place is beyond awful and I can't believe it is even still open We were greeted by a sour faced hostess who asked us to wait at the bar and never returned. They might consider getting a cat since there are a few unwelcome whiskered guests and I am sure 1 of these guys made it into the soup. After 20 minutes and being grossed out, we gave up and went to the diner up the street. Pros: location Cons: rude staff, disgustingly dirty more

Absolutely HORRIBLE, Don't go here!! 8/9/2008

I was at Downey's on 8/9/2008 for an anniversary dinner with my boyfriend. We arrived and we sat up top which was nice. But the service was horrible. It took the waitress 20 minutes to deliver our drinks. Then we had to ask another waitress to find our waitress so we could order our food. We ordered and appetizer and our entrees. An hour went by and needless to say no appetizer or no dinners arrived. There was another waitress walking back and forth by our table, no one came by to say there was a delay on our food. After waiting an hour for our food, which never arrived we LEFT. We complained to management and they did absolutely nothing. We ended up going to another restuarant on South St, but whatever you do don't go to Downey's. You will be disappointed!! Pros: Nice View of the City Cons: Terrible Service, You never get your food, Overpriced more

Great place, lousy bartender 6/13/2008

I stopped there on a recent Wednesday evening...I sat at the bar to eat & drink. The bar was only half full, but it took the bartender, a middle aged man, about 10 minutes to approach me for my first drink. He then did not return to me for the rest of the HOUR that I sat there, soon needing another drink. He was too busy socializing with patrons on the other side of the bar. While I was waiting, I saw two different employees go to the free happy hour buffet that was set up and took & ate food using their hands and did not use the tongs that were sitting by the buffet. During this time, I flagged down a waitress and ordered the lobster. The waitress was very nice and the food was good...the large tasty lobster came with bread, veggies and a baked potato. I could have used another beer to wash it all down, but it was not going to happen with the bartender on duty unless I got up or yelled for him. I finished my food, paid, and went to another bar for the drink I needed. I like this bar and its location and the food is very good so I'll likely go back, but they need to improve many aspects of their service. Pros: location, great food, fun atmosphere, Cons: poor service more

One of my favorite places to party and eat in Philly. 5/26/2008

Although I have not been to Downy's in a few years since moving to West Virginia, this is by far one of my favorite places. I always have a great time. The food is always great and I love the Irish Soda Bread. The Raw Bar is A must. Pros: Fun Place To Party As Well As Dine. Cons: Bathrooms are an adventure after a few drinks. more

Irish What? 3/9/2008

We decided to go to this (over-hyped) irish bar for dinner on the day of the St. Patricks Day Parade. Why was the dining area almost empty when we arrived? I quickly understood why as our experience progressed into a dining nightmare. NO greeting from our server just an immediate ""what do you want to drink?"" Half of us received our beers in pint glasses, the other half in plastic cups (not a deal breaker, but a bit odd). We asked for bread and he brought out a basket of Dough. LITERAL dough. The bread was far from being baked thoroughly. My daughter (who is four) was delighted to have a ball of play dough to keep her entertained. Though we would have loved bread... Pros: cool bathrooms Cons: everything else. more

best reason NOT to go 2/29/2008

over priced, lousy food, Irish...not there... Pros: looks nice... Cons: ...on the surface more

best lobster in the city 12/11/2007

just the best place for seafood , you can`t get this deal any place in the intire state of pa 2lb for 16.95 are you kidding ? i bring my own fork and knife for a deal like that . Service is fast and accurate delicius homemade bread and good dessert ,thick jucy steak ,exelent atmosfere make this place a landmark . Pros: specials Cons: non more

Absolutely Horrible-WORST OF PHILLY 12/8/2007

I have never been to a restaurant like this one in my life. This used to be a good place to go, and I used to come here frequently. But then they started bringing out the lobsters without seafood forks, saying they ""ran out"", they upped the price of the lobsters, and the service got so terrible that one waiter went so far as insulting a family member of mine directly. This used to be an ok restaurant that was only slightly overpriced if you ordered off of the alcohol list or menu-now it's just an overpriced dump that has bad, slow service and no silverware. I've never been to a restaurant (besides this one) where they ""ran out"" of silverware, and hopefully I will never go to another one. One thing I can tell you-I'm never coming back here. Pros: The lobsters are good Cons: You can get them cheaper at shoprite when they're on sale, and they'll even cook them for you (and you don't have to eat it with a spoon!) more

No service and no clue!!! 10/31/2007

We are new in the area, so we signed up for a service called resturant.. They sell vouchers for reduced meals at various resturants. The reason we used their service is we can sample various resturants and see which ones we would return to at a later date. Now about Downey's it started bad and got worse-the waiter was clueless,had no idea about the voucher,had no idea about the menu,just had no idea.The best part about the whole experience was we LEFT before ordering anything. Now I know why at 7pm on Oct.31st there were less than 20 patrons in this reasturant. more

lousy experience inspired me to start doing these reviews 10/31/2007

went there for lunch today. truly terrible value for money- a small bowl of french onion soup that was truly lousy by anyone's standards was $8. need i say more? for a bowl of this soup & simple sandwich & non alcoholic drink for my friend and i, it was $50- and my very hungry friend left a lot of her food because it was pretty yucky. (and i'm not a picky person- i actually felt inspired to start doing reviews for citysearch because i don't want anyone else to waste such money on lunch at this place). more

HORRIBLE SERVICE 8/26/2007

This place is horrible! Do not go there! I ate their with my family and it took 1 hour and 20 minutes to get our food. It took the waiter 20 minutes to even take our order and there were only three tables he was serving. Two other tables in the place waited as long as we did. When he finally served us, he didn't bring my husband's meal and it took another 10 minutes to get it on the table. When we finally got our check, not only did they not take anything off our bill to compensate, but they actually added something to the bill that we didn't order. By the end of the night there were at least three tables and a guy at the bar who were complaining loudly about th extremely poor service. Our table and the table next to us asked for the manager to call the owner to authorize a discount and the owner said no to our request. This place is sleezy and I will never eat their again, even though I live just a couple blocks away. I am ashamed they are even in our neighborhood. Pros: nothing Cons: everything more

Fun, Casual place with a good menu 8/10/2007

I have been here a few times. The last time I ate there, I took a friend visiting from another country to meet up with some friends from the area. It was a great time and a good environment. It was the perfect place to relax after touring the city. The menu has many selections (not too many traditional Irish, but many traditional Philly meals) for everyone. They did make a mistake with the reservation, but they quickly fixed the problem and we were seated immediately. Great place to eat in the Spring, Summer, and early Fall. Pros: Good menu. Good Specials Cons: There are few Irish dishes on the menu more

Avoid they canceled The Peace Creeps the night of the show, while they were setting up.... 3/12/2007

The food is overpriced, cold and no taste... The owner canceled a show, the night the band, The Peace Creeps) was setting up for. Won't be back again... Came up from DE. Cons: They canceled a show for the Peace Creeps as they were setting up!!! more
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Menu for Downey's Restaurant


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Editorial
  • Irish pub in the heart of Philadelphia serves traditional Irish and American fare for brunch, lunch and dinner.

  • 2/26/2007 Provided by Citysearch
Additional information
  • Hours: Mon. - Sun. 11am - 2am
  • Payments: Discover, American Express, Visa, Master Card, Cash
  • Neighborhoods: Center City East, Center City
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