Finbar’s Irish Pub

Poor food menu selection. Beer choices are mediocre — patio is very nice in summer. I enjoyed the entertainment they had. The service was fast and courteuous

I went to lunch here with my wife a short while ago, largely because of so many positive reviews from friends and acquaintances, and really looked forward to it. It was good, but not as good as expected. I think that was largely due to the restaurant being played up so much by those who had recommended it to us. I have absolutely no issues with the service we received; our server was quite pleasant and treated us well. The food – and again, perhaps due to it being over-​hyped – was merely adequate. My most descriptive word would be… generic. I freely admit that it could be due to my choice of fare, but I have a seed of doubt in my mind about that.
I think of many other small, unassuming pub-​type restaurants we’ve visited, and compared to them Finbars does not stand out in any significant way. Again, it felt generic, lacking in personality. I won’t be crass enough to list any competing restaurants here that I felt were a better experience, but my suggestion would be to shop around, as it were.

We would like to give great kudos to Mike and Pam for the super invite that once again proved to us that Finbars is a jewel in the dining experience of dartmouth. We were chosen for the «Thank you list» which appeared in the February newsletter. Once again the dining experience, service and especially the culinary staff whom we never see, well done and as we say in the Navy, Bravo Zulu. Our waitress Emma was fantastic, and thank you again for a great meal and a very lovely evening. Gord and Jill Holstead.

Great service and great food! I get takeout from here about once a week as it’s very close to my house! The food is always amazing and the service even better if that’s possible. They always include a little extra like cookies or something which gives it that added little touch! I feel very welcome by the staff everytime I’m there.

Went here in a whim last night and really happy I did! I ordered the cheese burger and a house side salad instead of fries, tried to keep it somewhat healthy. I was pretty into it. A burger and salad might be my new thing, not the normal combo, but I loved it. They suggest bacon as an add on, and the only condiment on the burger is bbq sauce. I skipped the bacon, and honestly, the burger was so tasty I don’t think it needs it. The burger for sure gives other gourmet burger places a run for their money. The atmosphere in here is really nice and the service was fantastic. The place is dark and cozy. It’s a great place for a family meal, or just a couple of drinks with friends.

Right from the start… amazing. Courteous, professional, friendly, inviting, accommodating, fun, smiles, great food, certainly a return guarantee for me. BRAVO! A special thank you to Sarah and Meredith… both class acts. Too bad I didn’t win the trivia! I will be back.

Full disclosure: I’ve been here many times, but always on the same weeknight.
Why? Trivia night. Or the pub quiz. Whatever you want to call it, my friend’s team plays in it every week and I’ve subbed several times. It’s a fun time; even if I can never quite predict the potential topics.
If you’re thinking of going for dinner on Wednesday night, be prepared for some slightly slower than usual service and loud competition. Trivia night is kind of a big deal here.
Despite the large crowds, service from the staff is always quick and friendly. Yes, sometimes the food takes a little longer (it’s one of their busiest nights!). So I’d recommend coming a bit early. While I almost always get the same thing, the menu looks amazing. Prices are reasonable. Desserts? Good but overpriced.

The food is O. K but the noise level was unnerving the last time I was there. You should try it for yourself. Easy parking in the Sunnyside Mall.

Have to say that Finbars was our favourite spot since moving to the area. Lately however the food had taken a turn for the worse. Dishes that we have always enjoyed are not the same. Had the lamb burger the last time we were there (one of my favs) this time it was over cooked and the «red onion marmalade» tasted like ketchup with a few pieces of onion– terrible! The spinach dip was dry and not up to the usual. I hope that this is not a sign of their future and merely a momentary lapse. Will give them one more try and if things are not better, won’t be back

Tried Finbar’s Irish Pub for the first time last night, and will definitely be going back. Friendly staff and atmosphere paired with good food. Met up with others for an evening of Trivia and was not disappointed. It was extremely busy, so we had to wait for a table, however, it didn’t take too long. Although it was a full dining room and lots of social activity going on with the game, the service was above excellent. Our waitress was very attentive with all aspects from taking drink orders, serving food, checking on us, refilling drinks, clearing dishes, etc. She was great, and I honestly can’t think of any way that her service could have been improved upon. The food itself was very good, especially the Baby Grilled Cheeses — these were excellent. We also ordered the Finbar’s Famous Nachos. They were okay. Not your classic spicy flavour’s, more of a sweet onion/​mushroom which did not really satisfy the nacho expectations. Overall, it was a nice change from usual places, and I love that it is in Cole Harbour.

Great Atmosphere! Great Beer! Great Staff!

Finbar’s is one of our favourite new spots! We just moved to Cole Harbour, and a coupon for a free a appetizer and drinks was included in our Welcome Wagon bag.
We headed down on a Saturday, expecting it to be busy, but there was lots of tables available. We got seated immediately and picked the delicious sounding nachos as well as two on-​tap beer. The nachos arrived quickly and we’re AMAZING. Lots of cheese, bacon, caramelized onions, portobello mushrooms and little tiny diced hot peppers with sour cream and homemade salsa. We both agreed — best nachos EVER.
I ordered the steak and provolone sandwich and my husband the burger. Both were fantastic. Fresh melted cheese on mine with thinly sliced meat and mushrooms and onions in gravy. Truly awesome. His burger was cooked and seasoned perfectly with cheese, bacon and crispy onions. The fries were hand –cut and cooked to perfection. We also got curry to dip them in — what a great choice! It was flavourful, fresh and a great addition. No dessert for us but we’re looking forward to that next time.
The service was great, even as it started to get busy, but as a heads up — the tables are very close together. There’s enough background music and noise that I didn’t feel like we got to know our neighbours, but good to be aware of. It’s also dark, so reading the menus was a little harder for the older couple next to us (who broke out cellphone lights) but the food and service made up for any little issues like that.
Can’t wait to go back!

My son and I have been there twice. Food fantastic both times. Service was great. Absolutely love the atmosphere. I love it there.
The second time we went in the waitress from our previous visit remembered us and came over and spoke to us and asked us how our day was and how we were doing. It is great people like this that makes you want to return over and over again.

I recently stopped in to Finbar’s for lunch and was not overly impressed. The atmosphere was great but our waitress wasn’t overly friendly. The Quesdilla I ordered was not impressive. It was listed on the menu as being full of «pulled chicken and peppers» however when it got to the table there was maybe 2 tiny pieces of sliced chicken that had been reheated, no cheese and hardly any peppers. The waitress wasn’t very happy when I sent it back and I didn’t order anything else as my dinning companion was almost done at that point (his burger and fries were great). Overall not a horrible experience but not the greatest first time.

What a great place to grab a pint or some quality irish pub food. The Incredible atmosphere and service keep me coming back. The staff are more than happy to make my favourite off-​menu dish every time I go for a meal.
I love a warm hearty bowl of traditional irish chicken curry and fries, but its not on their menu. The few times I have asked if they could whip this up for me, they ALWAYS have been very gracious about reassuring me that it was indeed their pleasure to make it and also comment about how good that sounds, etc. Now, I’ve been to other restaurants where going off menu is an immediate annoyance (or at least they are smiling insincerely through their teeth when they tell you «of course that’s alright»). At Finbars, I’ve I never felt like I was asking a favour or embarrassed to go off-​menu because they seem to be genuinely happy that I came to their restaurant for something unique.
Usually when I write a review, I like to talk more about the food’s quality (which is great here), but I gotta say: the service and atmosphere here are absolutely first rate. I don’t know what their hiring/​training/​managing strategy is for front of house, but they are doing things right! The staff are charming and very knowledgeable about the food. They are interactive and funny when appropriate, while providing invisible service when appropriate. My glass has never been empty before being either refilled with water or another pint being offered.
The owners are charming and funny. I am on their email list and I look forward to hearing from them. Sometimes I get updates about just how they are doing and how much fun they are having with the restaurant. I attended a «cooking class» night at their Bedford location years ago (which I heard about through the email) and it was a great night!

I was really disappointed, since I’d heard good things about the other location. The service was extremely slow, and our server was pretty bad. My food was awful (grilled chicken caesar salad). Limp lettuce, fake bacon, and the chicken on top was a teeny-​tiny little piece that wasn’t grilled at all – just a tasteless, limp, colourless, itty-​bitty blob of chicken. And at $ 14 for a SALAD that was really disappointing. The rest of my party had mixed reviews – some didn’t like their meal, most people were indifferent, and one person really liked his.
I wouldn’t recommend this place, unfortunately. It has potential, but something’s missing and I don’t feel any desire to go back.

An excellent lunch!
Today I decided to try this place for lunch with my husband, based on the good reviews on Unilocal,and the fact that I had eaten at Finbar’s in Bedford once before, and liked it. I was really looking forward to visiting the new Finbar’s on Portland Hills Drive.
We found it easily just off of Portland Street, close to the bus terminal. The restaurant is large and spacious with big picture windows. The bench seat was super comfortable. I liked all the Tiffany lamps and the fact that typical lively Irish music was playing in the background, which reminded me of our trip to Ireland two years ago. My husband liked all the bottles of scotch on the wall and above the bar)
I ordered the fish cakes and he ordered the pan fried haddock. Our waitress was very nice. Also the bathrooms are pleasantly clean with interesting faucets and a cool soap dispenser.
The food was very good. Both meals came with a lovely salad of fresh greens, tomato and cucumber slices, dressed with balsamic vinagrette. They seemed to be freshly made and very good quality. I also liked my fish cakes which were cooked just right, hot but not greasy. The baked beans had a yummy flavour and I liked the green tomato chow on the side.
My husband really enjoyed his meal, which was great because I picked the restaurant, and he merely tagged along) His haddock again was just right, hot but not greasy. I liked his homemade tartar sauce too. His dinner also came with designer leaf salad and wild rice, with a lemon wedge garnish.
We enjoyed our meals because of the natural home made taste, and planned to eat out again some day. Great restaurant, great food, great place to go!

The restaurant: Great; the restaurant was really nicely decorated. When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was the dark wood all over the restaurant that made it feel very much like an authentic Irish pub.
Ambiance: great, it surprised me when I walked in to find lovely live music playing. The music was great and it made the dinner really fun and carefree. The one problem that I had was that they started vacuuming during the live music which was weird.
The Food: good, They had a great selection Irish pub foods. The one thing that I found was that all our dishes were needed a little bit if seasoning. I got the fish chowder and the fried salmon salad. The chowder was good and the salmon was great on the salad. overall the meal was good.
The service: excellent, answered all our questions with helpful answers. We came as a group of five so we had to wait a little while but nothing to fret about. The great thing about it was that they got us drinks while we were waiting which was great. I have seen few restaurants that do this so I was really happy with that. The staff seemed very nice and happy to work at the restaurant.
I really hope this restaurant keeps afloat because it was a very enjoyable time. They definitely should keep striving to improve.

I was so excited that they opened a Finbar in Dartmouth! Lunch dates what what!
I love the feel of Finbar’s — it’s so warm and cozy on the inside. That’s what it’s like at the Bedford location and it’s exactly the same for this location. Great job on the décor, love it!
I ordered the curry chicken wrap and curry fries — I don’t know why but I was feelin’ like a massive amount of curry that day. Our waitress was warm and friendly, food was brought up in quick fashion and the rest is history.
Finbar’s at it’s finest, can’t wait to go back again! :D

Sometimes excellent service can elevate a good meal to a stellar one. This is where Finbar’s shines. The food is tasty, make no mistake. Their Sticky Pudding is my favourite.
In my two visits I’ve had the mac and cheese (good but not outstanding), their nachos (my favourite appetizer by far), their cheddar dip (also quite good).
Extensive beer selection of both local and imported. So I was happy.
The one failing was the oppressive heat of the dining area… No idea if the AC was on the fritz or if in fact there is AC? I went outside on a hot day to take a breather.
Go — have a pint, grab a bite. You won’t be sorry.