O’Dowd’s Little Dublin

I haven’t been there in years but can say with all confidence and honesty that it’s my favorite place to enjoy a pint or four when in KCMO, and is one of the very few places I’m enthusiastic about there. Well, was enthusiastic about since I’m now learning it’s closed. RIP.

Great place to quaff a Guiness.

I had the fish and chips here. It’s a little expensive around $ 12, but worth it for the taste. I really liked the Irish pub feel and on Friday they had a live band.
I also love there black’n’tan drink! My Irish must have.

This is a nice little Irish feeling bar, with friendly bartenders (Matt). It is a place we will go back to again.

I’m upping my star rating, based on great service and the new menu, which we got to try for the second time yesterday afternoon.
Ok, so first, the service. Jenni at the bar is great — after one visit she remembered us, and while she always verifies our drinks before she pours, she also knows what we like and treats us like «regulars» (which we are). A+ there. Grant, one of the managers, is also excellent — he used to be our regular bartender, and still comes over to chat with us any time he sees us, whether he’s working or not. Yesterday our server was Sarah K., and she also did a wonderful job — she was really friendly and outgoing without being over the top. Basically, it seemed like she enjoys her job, which is very cool.
So, as for the new (expanded) menu — we’re definitely fans. They’ve kept all of the more traditional Irish options and the old favorites (or at least my old favorites!), and added some salads, appetizers, and mains that, while they’re not «Irish», they’re still good standard pub food options. My husband is a big fan of the wings, and I’ve enjoyed the quesadillas, cranberry walnut salad (the chicken on the salad was great — it was nicely spiced), and the mac and cheese. You can get the salad in a couple of different sizes, and can get the mac and cheese as a side instead of a main, so that was nice — yesterday I had the small salad and the side of mac and cheese, and it was a perfect lunch. (The mac and cheese is a great option, btw — the toasted bread crumbs on top give just a bit of crunchiness to the perfectly creamy mac and cheese, and I really enjoyed it.)
Drinks are still a bit pricey, and still no freebies for us regulars, but I’ve now learned that the «buy backs» are a rarity for most of KC, so I don’t feel quite so put out. O’Dowd’s remains one the pubs that we enjoy visiting, over and over again.

Grasshopper is an amazingly offensive entertainer. If he was talented it might be excusable… maybe. But he falls short on so many levels. Stay away!!! Normally I am a big fan of O’Dowd’s Little Dublin. The charming faux «ancient pub» atmosphere, the Americanized Irish cuisine. The servers and bartenders are great. Nice place easy to enjoy. Decent food. The roof is a wonderful place to hang on summer nights. Recently however I had the distinct misfortune of lingering too late on“All you can eat fish” Sunday and had the distinct displeasure of experiencing the so-​called entertainment of a performer called Grasshopper. While I was underwhelmed by his cover of great music (the man does not have the pipes nor the musical chops to justify his song choices) I was seriously offended (as were my friends at the bar) by his attempt at comedy and commentary between numbers. Apparently most anything that is distasteful, lame or in direct disagreement to his views is «totally Gay’». As a gay man, I get particularly tired of the boorish cliché that even most high schoolers find passé let alone a grown man attempting witty audience repartee. So… I complained, closed out my tab, found out later that his public response was «get over it. and drink more.». Great fried fish aside (and it’s a really good South African whitefish — very tasty/​sweet and light) the «side of Grasshopper» starting at 9 pm
Sundays should be avoided.

I stopped in here on a Tuesday night for a couple of drinks with my cousin. Apparently this is their pub quiz night. Normally we do fairly well at these types of events. However, there were a couple of groups of people here who were vicious quiz takers. We couldn’t help but laugh at how serious a particular table full of 40-​something people were. In any case, we had fun with the pub quiz, even if we didn’t even come close to winning.
For the drinks part… 16 oz. Bud Light drafts were only $ 3.50 on this particular night and the service was fast. The bar was pretty crowded in the main area, but the rest of it was wide open. I don’t think this is a place I’d ever go to hang out frequently, but it’s fine for having a couple of drinks.

We love Irish Pubs!
We went around 4pm, I feel like an old married couple trying to beat the Monday night dinner rush. Ha! But honestly it was nice. It was nice for a change to not have to spar with someone for a table.
The service was excellent our server was very knowledgeable and excellent at making suggestions. They were very accommodating to our vegetarian needs :)!
I had the salmon sandwich and it was delightful! It was well seasoned and that wonderful smoked grilled flavor. We also had the nachos and the nachos were really really good. My wife and I split both and we were so full! Their happy hour specials were great!
We will be sure to return when we are in a little bit more of a lively mood!

I’ve been to this O’Dowd’s three times. Meh, meh, and BLAH. If I have my choice, it’s pretty much never going to be steak and potatoes-​type stuff, but it’s a local establishment, so I figured why not.
The set-​up of this place is a little different from the norm. A lot of different rooms, including a rooftop deck (haven’t been up there). So, a nice atmosphere all in all.
Now, let’s get down to the food. The first time here, I can’t remember what I had, but do remember being nonplussed by my offering. The next time, my friends wanted to try this location because they liked O’Dowd’s on the Plaza a lot (I haven’t been there either). I figured I’d try fish and chips, which, at an Irish establishment should be pretty dandy, but, indeed it was not. The fish tasted old, like it had been fried in day-​old grease, and after a few bites I just couldn’t do it anymore. Afterwards, let’s just say I had some upsetting gastrointestinal moments.
So I was less than thrilled to find out some out-​of-​town friends wanted to head there for St. Patrick’s Day a few days ago, but I figured if I stayed away from deep fried filth I’d at least not have a horrific experience. And I was correct: it was not horrifying. I tried the Irish stew, which sounded like a decent offering, with chunks of lamb, beef, potatoes, other veggies under a puff pastry. Our meals arrived on paper plates (mine in a miniscule Dixie bowl) and we were given plasticware to eat with. Really? I mean, I know it was St. Pat’s Day and all, but it seemed like O’Dowd’s was just feeding me reasons to be underwhelmed and never want to return. From what I could taste, my Irish stew had two small pieces of beef in it, but was somehow overly beefy tasting. I opted to take a few bites out of my boyfriend’s Pub Burger, which was just a basic burger (for $ 9), but still had a better flavor than the stew. Our server was also a bit unattentive, but being that it was St. Pat’s and the place was packed both inside and out, I don’t know that I can fault her for that.
I will say that I took a sip of my boyfriend’s Guinness, and it was actually a lot tastier than a lot of other places I’ve tried Guinness (I’m not much of a drinker though, so maybe not your most reliable source). No one had any complaints in the drinking department though. So, I suppose if you’re looking to have a few drinks in a different atmosphere and already ate somewhere else earlier, it’s probably… eh, okay.

I visited O’Dowds in the Zona Rosa Shopping district in Kansas City with a co-​worker. We went here on the reccommendation of a server over at Granite City Brewery since their kitchen was closed. We were hungry at 11:15 pm and O’Dowds was open till 3 am 7 days a week. It was not crowded and it was easy to get a table.
I got the Rueben Sandwich (could have been a bigger portion) and my co-​worker got a sandwich. They were not like the greatest ever but for the price and ambience it was enough. Our server was very attentive and refilled glasses quite often. We would come back here again if we go back to Kansas City.

We went to O’Dowds Zona Rosa tonight for a cousin’s birthday. The weather was just right to sit on the rooftop terrace. There were 8 of us and we sat very comfortably at 3 tables pushed together. That’s where the good news ends. I asked our waitress if they had root beer and her response was «Well, it’s downstairs.» What was that supposed to mean exactly? I still am not sure if she wanted me to get it myself or wanted a tip for having to go downstairs to get it for me??? Anyway, appetizers were 3 dollars off (all but 2 on the menu) so we ordered the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp. We got 4 bacon wrapped shrimp covered up by a mound of greens dressed in oil (no chive flavor) and a lot of kosher salt. There were a couple of pencil eraser sized globs of what tasted like a tomato aoli but was supposed to be a tomato horseradish vinaigrette. For the discounted price of 6.99 (reg. 9.99) this appetizer was still WAY overpriced. For our entrees I ordered the Pub Burger with blue cheese, my hubby ordered Corned Beef and Cabbage (mustard cream on the side), and the rest of the group ordered the Boxty which came in salmon or steak. Hubby said his tasted fine but homemade was better and «ya get more of it». I got exactly a bakers dozen steakfries if I counted the tiny bit pieces as one fry. Honestly! My burger came with veggies to top it but no ketchup, mayo, or mustard was offered. I finally got some when my burger was cold. The burger itself was good but not 9.50 (extra for blue cheese) good. The pickles had a couple of shredded carrot bits stuck on the underside like they came off another plate and the lettuce was wilted. When our cousin ordered his steak boxty the waitress asked «How would you like your steak?» He asked for medium rare and she replied «Well, we’ll try to do it medium rare but I dunno. Most people order them medium well or very well and they turn out good.» OMAGosh!!! We started laughing because we just could not believe she said that! He thought it was fine but the asparagus was anemic. Gee what a disappointment! Good thing everyone started in on the Black and Tans and other drinks. I wouldn’t go there again unless I had already eaten somewhere else.

Woohoo! My first first! Kind of surprised since there’s an O’Dowd’s at the Country Club Plaza too. And away we go…
Scenario: Dinner on a Thursday night during a business trip.
Price: Reasonable beer prices and food prices. However, the portion size for my corned beef was awefully small, and I usually complain about portions being too big! I’d rather feel full than stuffed, but this left me craving more.
Service: Read my other O’Dowd’s review if you like. Basically, hostesses have very low cut shirts (this girl seemed a little too young for such attire) and the servers are friendly but particularly inattentive at this location.
Atmosphere: The outside seating looks appealing, but it’s right on the intersection. Traffic noise is pervasive there and at the tables just inside the doors. Big trucks and cement mixers are still coming bye and making an aweful racket. Radio music was too loud as well. I got more of an upscale bar feel than an Irish pub feel from this one. Some middle-​aged ladies were sipping beers at the high tables next to us. Otherwise, kind of empty for such beautiful weather that day.
Uniquity: Zona Rosa location.