Irish Times

Just average. Bartenders were great! Nice place, but very quiet. Food was average at best.

This review is based solely on the service and the attitude of the staff. I was hanging out a few friends and my father for a few minutes before a Rangers game. I was told twice by the owner, not asked politely, but told, to move because I was blocking the entrance to the bathroom. I was standing on the corner of the wall, but I was never standing in the hallway, I knew better than that.
Then after standing for about a half hour, I decided to leave. So I walked over to my father and we began discussing which trains we’d take back to NJ that night. Within 20 seconds, the owner storms over and yells at us, telling us we have to move out of the way now. I wasn’t even standing close to the hallway and the owner had the gall to yell at me in front of my friends and family. I told him I was walking out on the spot. He said «Good. Go.» And I did just that. What a classy guy. Until he’s gone, there isn’t a chance I will ever step foot in that restaurant ever again.

*This is a guest post from Anne’s BF*
«This is a three star place. They make you feel uncomfortable if you want to drink and sit a table without eating. However, there is tons of room an plenty of TVS, good options for beers, and it’s reasonably priced. It’s also well located.
Nothing special about this place, other than where it is. The food is average and forgettable. The only reason to come here over Brother Jimmy’s is that there is more room, and it’s better to watch TVs.»
(Changed his mind to a two star review after thinking about it.)

This place is about as Irish as Albania, but aside from that, I can’t complain about it.
Stopped in with a friend while waiting for a train (that’s not a euphemism, she was really waiting for her train to leave Penn Station) and we had a nice time. They had some decent beer (I had a Palm), the place was clean and the service was good.
Our non-​Irish bartender — a handsome Ukrainian– was able to do some very cool tricks with empty beer bottles, making Tom Cruise in «Cocktail» look like a clumsy hack.
The crowd was friendly and it wasn’t too loud, so I had a nice time. I’m sure before a Rangers or Knicks game the d-​bag factor increases exponentially, but on an off night, this is actually a very nice place.

If you are in the mood to revisit your college years at a fraternity house, this is the place. As soon as you step in, the place smells of stale beer. It’s a good place to come for beer pong because there are two pong tables, one in the front and one in the back. I liked frat parties back at college so I like this place once in a while, but I can see how it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

I would have said this place deserves 0 stars (although you can’t do that on Unilocal), except the penne was decent for an «Irish» bar.
We were heading to a concert at MSG and being familiar with the usual over packed bars and restaurants surrounding MSG we decided to head to Irish Times, because it seemed a pretty empty… well, now we know why.
If you’ve read my reviews before, you know that I’m big on service. In my opinion, the two most important things about the restaurants/​bar industry is good food and good service. I have seen people eat at complete crap places because the food was really good and the service was excellent. Clearly, they were not aware of that here.
The staff treatment of the patrons is HORRIBLE! The bouncer at the front door was actually the nicest person there. We walked in and immediately up in face was a hostess who asked if we needed a table. We told her we hadn’t decided yet, and after minute said yes. She gave us a bit of attitude at the decision change, but NYE is kind of crappy to be working. As the hostess was leading us up the stairs to our seats we were accosted by a bouncer? The manager? I’m not even sure other then the fact that he was wearing jeans and a pullover, and demanded «where we thought we were going?» my boyfriend responded with, «well, I thought the hostess was leading us upstairs to have dinner…» we got an «oh» in response. No apology.
The upstairs was pretty empty. About four? tables full. The food service was okay — for a packed bar… except the restaurant and the bar wasn’t packed. However our drinks took foreverrrrrr. The bill took even longer to get. To the point where the friends who we arrived with left for MSG, and different friends showed up. The «bouncer» on the stairs who had previously been rude to us, was equally as rude to our friends.
After dinner we headed downstairs so I could use the bathroom (the upstairs one was gross), and we got yelled at by a different «bouncer» type (this one was at least wearing a sports coat), for «blocking the fire lane.» Seriously? What happens when you actually have a packed bar? Clearly the «bouncers» they had IN the bar were on a power trip and were some of the rudest people I have come across.
Definitely not worth going back to ever again. I’d rather go to a super packed bar where you can’t move then here.

Disgusting drinks, cheap on the AC, and horrible service.

I’m happy to have this place stay at two stars. The food and atmosphere, at least during the day, are definitely up to par, if not phenomenal. This place worked out really well to sneak out to during lunch and catch Euro action.
There is a shapely bartender who is friendly enough. The bar is quite spacious, with a second floor deck for a larger group. Beers seems standard pub fare for the area.

Average Irish bar — great for beers, and to watch the Euros
Really bad for food. Don’t come hungry.

Friendly staff, good drinks. Zero complaints. Didn’t get the chance to try the food. Across from Penn station so it is good for a quick tullymore dew.

This bar is in a great location around the corner from MSG. I mean the drinks are pricy and not the best, the food is ok, but going with with low expectations it met those. I’d say it was a solid Irish Sports Bar if it were located in the mid west or something. Being near MSG, I have a little higher standard I need to hit.
Good for a quick drink before a game.

This bar is in a good location, across the MSG, before and after a game, while waiting for your bus… walking and shopping around, I could go on and on…
Atmosphere is so… so. The usual Irish/​Sports bar. But its huge though, they have a couple tables in the front good for groups, a few booths in the front as well, a few more tables in the back, and an upstair seating if you are having some private party.
They play music sometimes, large TV screens in the bar, one in the back… but this is a sports bar so if you wanna go dancing, not the place for you…
Service: So. so…what do you expect in a bar anyways?
Food: Not a big fan. Fried Calamari is chewy… dont be surprised! I warned you. Burgers are okay, not too juicy, not too meaty… not too dry… Wings are somewhat overdone with sauce… I could go on and on…
Manager: Nasty!!! He actually told my friends not to sit comfortably in the booth! Who says that anyways? No wonder why the place is huge and built for no one!!! — empty!!!

I wish I just disliked this place casually enough to just forget about it.
Instead, this place angered and upset me, so, I feel left with no choice but to warn others!
What it boils down to, honestly, is the disdain and rude attitudes the bartender and greeter (waiter? who knows, it’s not as if there were any tables to wait) had towards anyone that walked in the door. Excuse me, but are we not patronizing YOUR business? The place was almost literally empty, and yet, I and the people I was with got stared down so hard we eventually left because it seemed like the bartender wanted us to. We just took our business elsewhere, and from the huge empty space that is Irish Times, apparently that’s what everyone else did too.
I don’t know how you could be the owner or manager of this establishment and think you’re doing a good (or even average!) job with this place. And why you’d continue to employ that bartender that was on this past Saturday, I have no idea. I’ve never seen a business that reveled in treating customers badly and watching them leave.
But unfortunately, I guess now I have.

This place HONKS.
Food terrible, unfriendly staff and owner was there too, also very aloof. Drinks are pricey and honestly, they could do way better with the place. The décor is nice and it is clean but zero atmosphere, unfriendly and pricey??? Goodbye!

Went to MSG came by here. Should have checked Unilocal first. My bad!

In a haiku:
Coors Light is six bucks.
But I guess they pour it well.
Better than bus line*.
*Bus line = psycho lines for Megabus across the street.

This bar is not crowded during games. How can you beat that? Even when the Yankees were playing in the World Series we still got a seat. In this area, every time there is an event at MSG the bars get crazy. This one isn’t too bad because it’s pretty open. Places like Stout can just get claustrophobic…
This is the worst area in NYC people– everything is crappy here! The Irish Times is better than most.

Two co-​workers and I came here to get drinks before heading to Penn Station to catch the train back to Boston. I ordered a Smithwick’s and we got an appetizer platter. The food was not that good. The chicken tenders were dry, tough, and chewy. The potato skins had little taste and the mozzarella sticks were luke-​warm without the cheesy goodness.
I would go here for drinks if I was waiting for the train again but that’s about it.

Newly opened in the area, I was very surprised that this bar was completely empty on a Saturday night.
The bar/​restaurant is very large and clean, the servers are friendly and the two drinks that were ordered were pretty damn good.
GO THERE. GET A DRINK.

I used to work smack dab in the middle of this area, so I can fully attest to the fact that there is literally not one good dining option to be had within a 20-​block radius of Penn Station. With that, my friend and I were taking Megabus up to Toronto and really needed a solid place before our long ride for some food and libations. I used to walk by the countless pubs that dot this area and recalled that The Irish Times always looked fairly nice and clean, and being directly across the street from the Megabus stop outside Madison Square Garden, it was the obvious choice.
Their website touts «happy hour specials» (including $ 6.00 «martinis» and $ 4.00 draft beers) on weekdays from 4:00pm to 8:00pm, so that was an even more attractive reason to go. With that, we attempted to order some of these fabled $ 4.00 beers upon arrival and were told by the (relatively incoherent) waiter that there was «no more happy hour.» Seeing as how it was 4:25pm (and citing their website), we inquired about this discrepancy and never really got a clear answer. OK, whatever… The beers ended up being $ 7.00 a piece, but live and learn. (I just saw that another Unilocaler mentioned having the same problem, so these bitches need to get their story straight.)
The menu is fairly standard as pub menus go with burgers, the occasion «Irish» «specialty,» sandwiches, appetizers, etc. I had a grilled chicken wrap, which came with fries and was certainly passable, if not borderline good. My friend had a turkey burger, which looked good too. The portions are generous for the price and the service was fast and friendly.
The place itself is actually very nice for a pub with a lot of wood paneling and flat panel TVs here and there (to provide additional light, if anything). By the time we were leaving, it was getting crowded, so I think the after-​work set likes it.
Overall, a decent option, though that happy hour issue was pretty dubious to me — Two stars because I think false advertising on their website is deceptive and the prices don’t otherwise warrant anyone’s business.