P. Brennan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant

So haven’t been to this place in awhile, and was disappointed to see that nothing has changed. Still the same nasty tables that no one ever wipes off, empty tables with prior customer drinks, and bartenders that would rather chat with current customers then those of us waiting for a drink. Will be a long time before I come back again.

Review is for their lunch only.
Every once in a while, I’ll stop by P. Brennan’s to get my soup and sandwich fix, their seafood chowder is absolutely delicious. For my half sandwich I got the corned beef hash sandwich. It kinda sucks that they only give you half of a sandwich, it would be nice if they could implement a $ 2 – 3 upgrade option for an entire sandwich? I was still pretty hungry after my meal :(
My coworkers are frequent customers and their favorites here are their french dip, and black bean burger. Be mindful that they don’t open for lunch all days of the week, so do check before you come! There is free parking underneath P. Brennan’s around the corner (turn right on Walter Reed)
Remember to do your Unilocal check in here, you get an order of chips with their delicious tartar sauce.

We ducked in here after a show at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse across the street. If you want to observe the matings habits of the Arlington-​bro in person, this is your spot. The drinks were cheap and their selection of 90s R. Kelly music videos was… interesting.

A group of us went after Sunday brunch, it was the closest bar we can find without having to drive. It’s spacious inside but kind of dungeony. Super dark but lots of tv, typically sports bars I would assume. Despite the fact it was Sunday they have good amount of people bc of football. I don’t remember getting service at the table and not sure if they are supposed to have a cocktail waitress but we all went to the bar to order and back to the table for solid 4 hours. I would say though drinks were reasonably priced and bartenders were friendly enough.
I am not sure if I would necessary drive all the way out here but definitely like to come back to see how it is on a different night if I am in the area.
I would give this place a 3.5 based on my Sunday visit.

I gave this place three tries… I really wanted to like it. It’s never crowded and, given its size, that makes for a depressing experience. First time I tried the burger and it was OK but not great. Pubs are supposed to have great burgers.
I ordered Fish and chips next and it was good, better than the burger, and I was optimistic. On my last visit (and I mean that in several ways) I tried the fish and chips again. It wasn’t anywhere near as good as on my previous visit and now I feel myself getting sick from it. Maybe it had been sitting around for a while or perhaps the oil was just old. That, I think, is a risk with any restaurant that doesn’t do a lot of business and this place has one customer less as a result.
One positive note, for some reason the Guinness is better here than at The Celtic House. It’s not enough to bring me back. I only point it out to show that even this cavernous, dingy cloud has a silver (or in this case dark brown, almost black) lining.

I just feel like the reuben spring rolls are the pinnacle of bar food perfection.
The beer prices are great and the bartenders remembered us after only going a few times. It’s nice to be a ‘regular’ somewhere! If you live on columbia pike this place is best.

Husband and I went for dinner. Beer selection is great and not overpriced. I had the Irish Breakfast and loved everything about it. The black pudding, sausage, and rasher was wonderful. Husband had the fish and chips. It was cooked perfectly, not greasy, crisp. The cole slaw tasted like they just cut the vegetables. The tarter sauce was light and had a great lemony flavor. We can’t wait to go back.

A good spot for a few pints. Looks a little worn out from the exterior but inside it looks like the classic america Irish pub.
Good beers, including a some internationals (Stella, Guinness) on tap.

Awesome local spot, great food, comfortable atmosphere and very friendly service. I will definitely be coming back again.

Came here for a drink before attending a show across the street at the Arlington Cinema Draft house. Was quiet for a Saturday night. Bartenders were nice and attentive. Seemed like a great place to hang out with friends for a nice laid back night. Would definitely come back for some food and drinks sometime.

Great local bar.
The bartenders know you after your second time in and will pour you your usual upon entrance. They also have rail drinks for everything including scotch which makes ecru thing affordable. Best bar south of Clarendon. They get to know you pallet and will suggest beets and alcoholic drinks based hooks what you tell them. Service is bar none.

We stopped here before going to the Drafthouse for a movie. Oddly, as much as we frequent the area I had only been here once before.
Our waitress was nice and didn’t mind that it took us a little while to place an order.
On this visit I went with the french dip and Starr Hill IRA which they had on draft. Both was pretty good.
Hubby ordered the Jambalaya Pasta which in retrospect might not have been the good choice given the Irish leaning. I tried it and thought the dish tasted pretty good, I think his issue was that it was not traditional in flavor.
What we both agreed was really good were the chips (which we got for free because I checked in with Unilocal ;-) They were fresh, still warm in fact. I even liked the white dipping sauce which seemed to have a little garlic taste. I could see myself coming back for the chips and a beer (although they also had some other interesting sounding drinks on their list and the prices were not bad for any of them) and perhaps a burger (fingers crossed theirs will be good).

I had really high hopes for this spot after seeing their pretty legit happy hour menu — lots of food and beer specials as well as $ 5 martini of the day, $ 5 foods and half-​price burger Monday nights… but I was rather disappointed.
Right from walking in, the place was dark, drab and not that welcoming. We sat at the bar area for happy hour but no one came over to take our order. After looking around for a while, we finally walked up to the bartender to ask him to put in a drink order and to get an actual happy hour menu. He was able to deliver several drinks before the waitress even arrived.
When she did, we put in a food and drink order. She came back a long while later. No water, no napkins, no silverware. Just dropped off and went back to the kitchen. We had to «steal» all these things and more (ketchup, salt, pepper) from other tables around us. She did surface again a little while later. We ordered a third round and I asked for honey mustard. Again, the same long wait ensued. I was a bit surprised given the fact that there were about 10 people in teh entire bar and 5 of them were sitting literally at the bar being served by the bartender.
The food itself (I ordered a turkey burger and fries) was pretty standard, pretty plain. The cherry martini of the day was a bit sweet and served on the rocks in a glass, so not 100% sure about the naming of it.
Overall, it’s not bad to get $ 5 burger & fries + $ 5 martini, but the atmosphere and ambiance was a bit sub-​par. However, the waitress herself was very smily and friendly. She was trying hard and I do give her credit!

I’ve been coming to Brennan’s now for a little over a year for their Friday happy hours.
Right off the bat, I have to say The staff here rocks! Katie, Suzanne, Eoghain, Mark, Dwayne, Eric, Siobhan, and the rest of the crew there, have gone out of their way to make Brennan’s a happy and comfortable place to relax and share good times.
You have to love their beat the clock happy hour and the appetizers are tasty and priced to eat.
I’ve been through most of the menu items there and can’t find fault with anything. Some might not be my taste, but the food has always been fresh and well prepared. The Friday dinner specials are proving to be what I look forward to lately. Many times, they’re a departure from the regular menu and a tasty surprise each week.
Brennan’s is also a great place to simply belly up to the bar and have good conversation with fellow patrons. I’ve never been let down!

We came here this Sunday to watch some basketball and get some food and drinks. The place is huge but with a comfy feel. The bartenders have Irish accents (I love that) and all of them were on their A game.
My portobello mushroom sandwich was delicious and came with a bunch of yummy fries. My boyfriend got the P. Brennan burger and it was perfectly cooked (I even tried it and for a non-​beef eater that’s saying ALOT).
The Guinness was great and the house Cabernet did its job. I’ll definitely be back — I like that it wasn’t packed and obnoxiously loud. Sometimes you want to just hang on a Sunday, this is that place.
Enjoy!

Came here after the saint patty’s day parade in DC. When we showed up they were at the height of the Sunday brunch and it was very expansive. All in all the food was good, but it’s Sunday popularity resulted in slow refill times on the buffet so we had to get up frequently to get what we missed in the previous run. The service was good but also a wee bit slow.
I suspect because it was The Irish Weekend they got a bit inundated resulting in some service performance challenges. Because of this I am giving three stars but I will go back at some point because the food was good

P. Brennan’s is a big, dark Irish-​style pub. You come for the drinks, not the food. Reasonably priced, strong mixed drinks and an incrementally-​priced, time-​correlated beer happy hour on Fridays make this an attractive option for getting a good buzz on.
I’ve sat in the restaurant, at the bar, and at the bar tables. Service was best at the bar; it’s definitely lacking in the other sections. Food is fine – definitely edible and works to soak up the alcohol. I’ve had better chicken sandwiches and fries, but the housemade chips are great and the mozzarella sticks do the trick.
I’ve never seen it crowded, so it’s a good place for a big group or if you want to actually hear your companions.

Some friends and I go in on Fridays to play beat the clock for Happy Hour! It’s a great place to go after work for a couple drinks, Guinness starts at $ 2 at 4pm and goes up a dollar an hour till 7pm! Now tell me, that isn’t a deal to melt my Irish heart I don’t know what is!
They also have these great little fresh made potato chips with a homemade sour cream onion style dip that is phenomenal, but I ways ask that they drop mine fresh so they are nice and warm! (Hint… Check in on Unilocal,it’s a check in special ;))
Their other food is good, pub food… Nothing to write home about, but by no means bad. Everything I have had was tasty, the fish & chips were good, nice & fresh tasting, not soggy and pungent, and the Shepard’s pie was ok, needed a bit more seasoning though.
All in all, the environment is great, the food is good and the beer is super. You really can’t go wrong…

Ah, another check off the old «I have to find every Irish Pub in the world» list… I have a long LONG way to go.
I’ve been to P. Brennan’s a few times now. I am perplexed on why there is never anyone there? Monday night football brought a few people in and Wednesday night Karaōke drew a better crowd, but I am really shocked that it’s not packed all the time.
I like the lay out here, it’s really spacious and the super high ceilings really make the place easy to hang out in all night without feeling boxed in.
There are a lot of different specialty beers as well as a page long list of Whiskeys, some Irish and some not. My drinking companion was really excited about this… I prefer Fireball if it’s going to be a Whisky night.
My drink of choice here was a Black Velvet, half Guinness and half Magners cider. Word to the wise… this drink combination has always been known to me as a Snake Bite. A snake bite at P. Brennan’s is half Lager and half Cider… so make sure you ask before assuming. They got me once… and I watched it happen a few more times while I was there.
I haven’t had the food here but it is certainly on my list. That Irish Breakfast is calling my name. Hope to have a food update soon!

P. Brennan’s went above and beyond last night for my first Meetup which I am extremely grateful for. Thank you so much.
Service was superb and so were the happy hour specials… now bottom line — my meal:
I ordered the Shepard’s Pie. I asked them to pack half of it up before bringing out to me since didn’t want to overwhelm myself with their huge food portions. This turned out to be a very productive idea because it served as two meals, and I got more out of it. It was very tasty and tasted as good the second time as it did the first time.
The pub fair here is good. I like that they have good food with great drink specials. You can’t find good quality on both food and service. Seriously, I am very surprised I have yet to have any sort of miss experience here.
Keep up the good work on keeping this one particular customer very happy!