Blarney Island

Came with friend one night on a Saturday towards the end of summer. Took there pontoon boat to the bar which was pretty cool. It was a night with some old country band playing on stage. The crowd was mixed half were in there 20s & 30s while the rest were in there 50s. I was able to get a new beer pretty fast every time up at the bar so I wasn’t disappointed on the wait. As they have more then one so service was decent. Only beef was the restrooms were pretty disgusting as most bars have the same problem. Well, I for sure will be back but this time more then once next summer.

Always a party! Always fun! Always everything to take you to a place of relaxation and debauchery…
Went there for Mardi Gras and the best time people watching… Can’t wait for spring!

Yeh its a floating bar and everyone seems infatuated with that, but its nothing special. Expect typical Fox Lake service (slow and forgetful) The place gets packed during events and weekend nights. We did take a helicopter ride here for like $ 50 which was cool. Had some D-​Bag security try to charge us $ 30 to park the boat on the interior docks, when we told him no he said $ 20 and don’t tell anyone. We gave him $ 10 which he pocketed.

Don’t try to get a helicopter ride at $ 40 a person the pilots too busy trying to pick up chicks the kids and I was were disappointed why is he there for his own entertainment and women that’s not a way to make money

It isn’t very clean at all and the bathrooms were horrendous but we had a fun time. The guys driving the boats were kind of rude as well. If you hate your job that much get a new one. But I’m still giving five stars because I had a good time. Also if your going to the island your drinks will be super expensive. I’ve been to bars all around the U.S. And in Europe and I literally paid $ 35 for 4 Vegas bombs in Antioch Illinois! Most I’ve ever paid for those shots. I thought it was a joke, definitely wasn’t. You would have thought I got top shelf tequila.

This is the coolest place you can eat at on the chain. Even if you don’t have a boat you can take t a fairy over. They usually have a DJ or a live band and you always have a good time. The staff is friendly and the food is okay. There’s really no other place were you can eat at in the middle of a lake.

To the two dudes who bartended at 10:00 p. m on July 31^st FUCK YOU FOR IGNORING ME AND MY BF! fucking racists pigs. Waiting there for idk how long to get our drinks! Pinche putos! Learn how to respect your guests! Smh blarneys needs to hire better people more like not kids ADULTS even if they were adults. ACT LIKE IT! Smh

Blarney Island is– Blarney Island. It’s unique. How many bars do you have to get to by boat? I’ve been going there for about 40+ years. This time when I was visiting my «home state» we went by, and it’s always great for people watching. The band that weekend afternoon was really good. I think they were called 6 to midnight. We enjoyed them a lot. A dude dressed as a pirate was floating around and we took pictures with him.
There is always a story after you leave Blarneys!

A go to place in McKenry. We love this place. Great live entertainment and atmosphere.

WARNING! The idiot staff will call the police on you if they see you getting into a boat after a few beers. Even told me they’re calling the sheriff and sure enough a sheriff pulled me over and I got $ 340 in fines for not having a charged fire extinguisher, only one horn and my battery terminals not covered up. Most expensive two beers I ever had. It’s a good way to lose business. I’ve told all of my boating friends. Freddie’s is a much better place with cuter girls anyway.

To be fair, we came in a group of about 13 HOWEVER, this restaurant is on the lake so I would think they’d be used to people in coming in fairly large groups.
Our server forgot to bring out drinks multiple times so we had to keep asking her. She had another girl helping her but they weren’t communicating well. When I told our original server that the other girl was already bringing me a drink she looked at me like I had 3 heads.
Our food took FOREVER to come. At least 30 minutes. I got the chicken strips which were average. Ashley got the beer nuggets which I tried and I must say they were REALLY good! She also said her pulled pork nachos were tasty but a little overpriced. Brock got the Reuben which he was also pleased with. So overall our group was happy with the food MINUS the fact that Jessica’s BLT came out with soggy, gummy bacon and a tiny piece of cheese fused to the bread. My guess is hers was one of the first dishes made and it got stuck sitting under a heating lamp until the rest of our table’s order was ready.
PRO’s: Prices were good. They have giant Jenga to occupy your time while you wait an eternity for your food to be ready.

Blarney Island is the day party capitol of Chicagoland!!! …OK that’s an unfair statement since I don’t know what other day party options Chicagoland has to offer. But compared to no options in Lake Tahoe, this place sh*ts on it.
BF and I were excited about the concept of a bar in the middle of the lake. We certainly don’t have those in California (also considering our lakes are running dry due to this drought). Add the fact that there’s a DJ and multiple bars and a party scene, we were definitely excited. Unfortunately we came on a Sunday when everyone had turnt down a bit. A lot of the crowd was 40+ (and they were the ones seated by the dancefloor…) but I could only imagine all the madness happening on Friday and Saturday nights (unless they are also the crowd that gets hyphy on those nights???).
As for food, it’s mainly bar food so we ordered a whole bunch of things to munch on to pass the time such as chicken wings and nachos. People can drive up to this island on their boats and park it in the docks. I’m not sure if swimming is allowed around the island although I’m sure a fair share of drunk ppl have fallen in the water.
Multiple bars and a dancefloor in front, also some dance cages on the side (that were unattended the whole time we were there on turn-​down Sunday). I believe shots were less than $ 10 here which is decent.
Love the concept of a party destination in the middle of the lake but unfortunately we picked a bad day to go. Would love to see this place on a Saturday.

Total sh*t show!
Came here expecting a fun night on the famous blarney island, but left disappointed and mad.
The best part was riding the shuttle boat to and from the island.
The service there was absolutely horrendous… I could not believe the service my boyfriend and I received from one of the bar tenders. Once I was able to get his attention I asked for a menu and rudely told me they don’t have one. So we ordered a drink and he rolled his eyes and just seemed like he hated his life.
There is no food really available at the island so we finally ordered a microwaved pizza, after the pizza was done the bartender literally threw it on the counter… The pizza obviously fell out of the paper plate and was on the dirty– alcohol soaked counter. We looked at the bartender in disbelief, he had the balls to tell us and say «well, go ahead» At this point, after dealing with this guys poor attitude and service we said forget the pizza and said to only charge us for the drinks– he looked annoyed with our decision and threw the pizza out.
Not going back, can’t pay me to go back. Never been treated so poorly!

I’ve been coming here for over 10 years (actually 20 years since I started coming with my family when I was young and that does not count)
Thursday night boat races are the only nights I’ll come back now.
Weekend nights are getting worse. The trash level has gone up (is that even possible… I guess so. Eeek! Dancing cages WtF!!!) and sloppy drunks everywhere. Its only fun if you’ve been drinking and by that I mean you should have drinks before you even go there to tolerate.
I’ve had my bar tab messed up a FEW time not just one time so I’ll only pay cash now.
It’s been a year since I’ve got food and it was alright since you can’t expect much for a bar in the middle of the water.
If a good band is playing it’s normally a good time. However I do miss the lower bar since it was a nice get away from the band crowd. Now it’s all one level but I understand why they did what they had to do.
Only come here if you’re planning on partying crazy. Here’s your warning if you go sober.
A lot of boat parking but need to use two spots sometimes if the water is choppy/​high winds/​, your boat will bang around a lot if you don’t.

This… what…where…what in the name… what the heck is this?!
It’s like a tacky Club Med meets It’s a Small World Disney ride (worn out, plastic, cheese factor) meets country bar meets past its prime Margaritaville. Meets road weary dive bar meets over the hill college bar, grossest Wrigleyvile bar but for the 50+ crowd but with little kids too. I mean, w… t…f???
We pull up in our rented boat, not having been taught how to tie off and thankfully some folks came by to help us but it was not just to help us, see, it was to look down on us and show off their I-​am-​mightier-​than-​you rope tying abilities. And be snitty. Ok. Gee, thanks.
After all the warnings and stories and such about how drinking on the lake is so forboden, cops are everywhere, just don’t do it, blah blah blah… then here’s this party town Blarney get-s’faced-drunk-fest Island… so strange.
So we go in. It’s insane. And gross. And trashy. And… it’s all bars, an area to dance, a stage, cages for dancers (?! People still do that?), a DJ in a sloppy costumey Pirates of the Caribbean get up, one small food area with bad food, and super disgusting bathrooms. Food was pricey, drinks seemed average priced but with a very limited selection and service was rude and apathetic. Gimme your money or I sick jughead bouncer on you to beat you.
The crowd — not our type of crowd. Very surreal this place was and totally not our thing. We only stopped because my sweetheart was snacky, and mildly curious, but wow, curiosity sated. And scarred for life. This place really summed up Fox Lake/​Chain O’ Lakes for us and capped off why we’ll likely never venture back up this way.
Yiiiicccckkkyyy. Yuck yuck yuck.

I don’t think I have seen a group of drunker adults 40+ years old on a Sunday afternoon. It was a cool concept being on the floatilla and watch the helicopters come in but it was chalked full of rednecks (and not the friendly type).
Loved the idea of the place but it is just intimidating being there as I felt like a fight could break out at anytime. Would have been fun in college but I am past blacking out on a Sunday.
For a Sunday it was pretty expensive too even with the $ 2 8oz specials for tap beer. Really 8oz beers? I guess people have to drive their boats home so the 8oz can trottle a couple?

I don’t own a boat, nor do I know anyone who owns a boat. Almost everyone I know has been to Blarney Island, except for me, though I haven’t come across a band worth the gas to see all the way up there. This past weekend friends of mine were playing at Port of Blarney and I decided to head up that way to check them out, and this place out. I still haven’t made it to the island, but I’m getting close.
So my review is based on the fact we DROVE here and didn’t boat to the area. I’m not sure if the service is better on the island or what but the service here was horrible. It’s not even the fact they’re on «Island Time» here either… it was just bad, therefore the two star deduction.
For starters, it took forever to even get waited on as we sat out on the deck waiting for service while listening to the entertainment out there.
Chips & Salsa are complimentary and our server couldn’t get that right as she brought the tray to the table next to us… a table of three people with a half empty tray of chips and salsa.
We repeatedly had to ask for the following:
water…
napkins…
silverware…
refills…
It was all just bad, but the atmosphere there was great, and relaxing…
I’d hate to experience this place when it’s busy — there was NO ONE inside, and three tables outside, with two waitresses.
I’ll probably go back, but to the Island this time…

This place ROCKS! New improvements make a huge difference.