McGrath’s Irish Pub

One of my favorite haunts in Alameda!
The new owners have done a great job fixing up the place.
Drinks are reasonably price and made well.
Bartender’s are efficient to get those drinks in your hand while still being friendly to everyone there.
Just a great place!

I have been going to McGrath’s off and on for a few years. Since the new owners took over in March, the pub has improved immensely. The new owners really care about the business and their clientele. It is as close to a «Cheers» type neighborhood bar as you can get. Everyone knows your name and if they don’t at first, they will. The bartenders are attentive and extremely friendly. I have never experience or witnessed any hostility or discrimination in any way. This is my favorite place to go and enjoy a pint of Blue Moon with a slice of orange and chat with my friends.

Under new ownership, McGrath’s has been transformed from a «good» bar into a «great» bar. Great décor, friendly atmosphere, strong drinks– what more could you ask for?

A week before St. Patty’s Day, my friend that knows the new owners of the bar through business tells us about McGraths; how it has recently changed ownership and that the new owners have completely remodeled the place to attract more people. When discussing what our plans for St. Patty’s Day was, one of my other friends told me that I shouldn’t go there because the last time he went there, he experienced racism; his friends that he went with were given bad service, looked down on and one was not allowed in because they were not white. I thought my friend was joking around, that racism still existed in this day of age in Alameda.
My friend that knew the new owners recommend that we should go to McGraths for St. Patty’s Day. When I first got there, there was a short line to get in, the Owner and workers were wearing kilts, the one that greeted us at the door turned out to be the new owner, he was friendly and let us inside, so far so good. When I went to order drinks at the bar, there was a big wait because of how many people were at McGraths, it was loud and packed. While waiting to order drinks, I overhear this bald guy wearing a kilt talking to another person at the bar about how the people behind him are loser faces, that he doesn’t know why they are here and that they are really bringing down the atmosphere… the people he was talking about were my friends and I. I couldn’t believe it, was he really talking about us? I looked around the bar, we were the only non white people there besides these 4 people who were standing behind my friends and I. I thought it was a random guy who was out celebrating St. Patty’s Day but later found out he was an employee at McGraths. I couldn’t believe it; my friend wasn’t lying about having a racist experience there. I’ve lived here for 14 years, never experienced any racism in all the years I lived here until now. It’s sad to see that there is still racism left in the world, and it happens to be a place I call home.
McGraths has got new owners that have really made the place very lively and fun, but I guess like everything, it has its own flaws. Hopefully with this review, people will know about what happened and will not have a similar experience as I did.

I absolutely love this place. I’ve been coming here since i moved to california in July and it’s a great place to come and grab a drink. The new owners are amazing. They are super friendly and have put alot of work into making the place alot better.

Wow! New owners have done an amazing job (in a very short time period) of cleaning up and re-​modeling the place. It looks SO great! How cool is the booth and table made out of an old boat! (fashioned by the owners themselves!)
Tasty beer selection, stiff drinks, friendly staff and great prices!

New owners have cleaned this place up. I came in on St. Paddy’s and almost didn’t recognize the place…
Gone is the live music, but rumor has it that there will soon be a patio in the back, a la Lucky 13. The new owner apparently is a contactor and has worked miracles in a short time…
The friendly bartenders are still the same, and the prices are still cheap. The rather chesty mermaid up high is a nice touch. This place deserves a look…

Hmmm. this place is dead. I came here yesterday. thinking it will be cranking b/​c it was THIRSTY THURSDAY! It was so quiet. and boring.
This place needs to be remodeled definitely but I believe it’s under new management right now and they are working on it.
The bartender was cool. I had the BAY BREEZE and that drink taste like juice to me. I was disappointed because I was expecting to feel buzzed and stressfree from a long day of class i had.
Anyways, definitely try this place out. I heard it’s pack and cranking on the Friday and Saturday nights!

I wouldn’t call this a dive bar, but it would be pretty close to one! But in a good way! It’s a local pub that has a strangely positioned location, on Lincoln Ave. but really in a residential neighbourhood. So lots of locals frequent the place.
I often drive by seeing people standing outside smoking, but all queue up and march right back in for another drinkie or two!
They have Comedy Open Mic Night which is on Wednesdays, as well as have a Talent night. Kinda good place for speakeasy venues. Lots of artists come here, so be open minded and friendly as maybe someone’s pro career may be launched by an Open Mic Night at McGrath’s.
They have live music at times… They have internet access. A jukebox which is not free. AND pet friendly!

I am now an Alameda resident and as such i am determined to find a good local Bar I can run to for drinks and escape. Enter Mc Grath’s!
I first came to McGrath’s for the Comedy Open Mic which is every Wednesday. It is hosted by the very funny Justin Harrison! Turns out McGrath’s loves an open Mic and has 2 Talent nights each week! I love this because the East bay is often overlooked for fun, easy-​going outings especially Alameda, so McGrath’s a a real find for a struggling artist like me! I can go do a lil stand up have a drink and walk home. Hooray!!! Great bartenders, cheap drinks, fun atmosphere, all at McGrath’s. If you find yourself on the enchanted isle of Alameda and looking for some local flavor try McGrath’s you will be glad you did!

On my first venture out into my new digs last night i went here after searching Unilocal for bars with live music. Saw this place near the top of the list and stopped looking. Irish pub with live bluegrass?! I’m effing there!
When I got there I had to circle the block once to find a suitable place to park. From the outside this place looked Irish Pubby enough and i think i might have squeeled a little bit when i was walking up to the door. My first impression of the place was a little mixed.
When i think of an Irish pub, i think wood everywhere. The bar, booths, tables, everything. That’s not the case here. Everything here had the feel and smell of old musky dive bar. I’m not sure how they qualify this place as an Irish pub. Maybe they have food during the day of the usual Irish pub fare, I’m not sure.
But the whole time i’m taking all that in, there’s this wonderful bluegrass band playing and it was hard for me to care about anything else. I met the bartender and talked for a bit and she introduced me to an off duty bartender that was there and a quite sauced regular. All great people, I had fun. I’m not sure what time the band started playing, when I showed up it was around 10 or 10:30 and they played till around 11:30 or midnight.
Though it doesn’t fit my concept of what an irish pub is, the people and the bands are enough to make me forget about it. I can’t wait to come back and check out their thursday nights, with promises of live blues/​funk/​rock bands.

I’ve just started going to this place. I like it and it’s walking distance from my house.
It’s a old time bar with good music and people.

Bluegrass jam session last night started with five guys standing in a circle and within an hour there were like twenty people taking turns playing their guitars/​mandolins/​singing and whatnot. Not to mention they were all REALLY talented.
After bullshitting with a couple regulars and the bartender over a couple pints, the bartender gave my friend and I a free house shot and offered up some of his Domino’s pizza since the only food they were selling was chips.
Add that to an adorable little doggy running around befriending everyone in the place and you get the coziest pub I’ve been to since moving to the Bay.

After moving to the Island of Alameda a few months ago, I happened upon this lovely little bar on Lincoln. Modest/​humble/​happy vibe and very lively locals. Great bartenders that always make you feel welcome.
I particularly like the live music, the internet access, the occasional canine visitor, and the jukebox with its vast library. My only complaint is that I end up burning though my paycheck in order to have music, since the tunes I inevitably choose are up to $ 1 a song. Needless to say, my future kids will be paying their own way through college.
All in all, McGrath’s Pub a great place to go at the end of a long day. In fact, I’m heading there right now to drink Jameson with ice and water and listen to Marc Broussard’s killer/​cool song Home. See you there!

Bluegrass isn’t pretentious, its not the kind of music that wants for authenticity, and it is uniquely american. (I really need to buy a dobro).
If that kind of thing appeals to you, you might enjoy McGraths.
They only have one pitcher in the house though… we had to keep bringing ours up when we wanted refills. So remember to BYOP folks…

welcome’s to alameda’s version of cheers where everyone knows your name (if you are a regular). people here are very friendly and cordial. random décor: airlanes next to the ceiling.
imbibes
–guinness on tap (5) poured closely at an angle, set and poured again. it was nice but needed to be colder. (a contrast from the early days when guinness was drank at room temperature).
shots:
–bluegrass jam sessions monday nights 7:30, open mic tuesday nights, thurday nights, $ 1 bar
–well stocked full bar
–a bartender resembles alec baldwin.
–no pool table, just a dart board and juke box.

Maybe it was the old carpet, or maybe it was the fact that they let dogs in, but I could not get over the smell of this place. I could barely drink my Guinness because it smelled so bad (but at least they had Guinness on tap).
Everything else about this place was good: friendly people, great live music, good layout, good beers on tap. However, the only person I’d recommend this place to is my Aunt who lost her sense of smell.

Nice local neighborhood dive. Live music, with a cover sometimes. Ok beer, ok prices, ok atmosphere. Overall, OK.
I had a good time here, but I just can’t find myself giving a crap about the place, so 3.5 stars, rounded up.

Don’t let appearances fool you. This pubs not pretty to look at but the people and music will make you comeback night after night!!!
Great drinks at the best prices around. Bluegrass runs through the foundation of this place, and is the heart and soul. All the best bands and musicians around come here. Monday’s is acoustic jam night, a can’t miss!!!

A square room with minimal windows and scant lighting combine with an off-​white interior and a cafeteria-​like floor to create an establishment that comes off as somewhat dingy, yet has a humble and welcoming feel to it. Numerous 19^th century era paintings of multi-​masted sailing ships grace the area above a freakishly odd combination of mirrors set behind copper-​colored upholstery embossed with anchors on either side. It’s an odd combination of old-​world artwork and kitsch from yesteryear, but it somehow manages to convey a feeling of local charm rather than one of urban decay.
Two dart boards are located towards the back, a pool table sits in another room, and a big section of empty floor looks like a dance area. A trio of Stella, Guinness, and Boont Amber round out the on-​tap beer selection, and a host of bottles take up the slack.
The day crowd is a collection of codgers and middle-​aged men with a sprinkling of married couples. A chatty and cute-​as-​a-​button bartender by the name of Kimberly was holding the fort that afternoon, and she gave me the low-​down on Howard Jones, a local musician that was due to perform that night at 8:00. Due to the fact that Howard fills he house without fail, I was told to get here by seven if I wanted a seat… and to get there by nine if I wanted in at all.
I left at around 5:30, got something to eat, then took a spin out to the beach. I would’ve stopped by to catch the show, but my modus-​transportation that day was via bicycle. Daylight was waning, I’d be buzzed on the way home, and the ride back to Fruitvale BART wasn’t a savory one. I rode by at 7:00 and wistfully eyed the crowd of locals that were starting to trickle in. Perhaps some other day…