St. Declan’s Well

Down here for the bike ride today and found a gem. Finished the ride early and did a search for breakfast. Arrived a little after 9am and had a pint (or two) while waiting for the kitchen to open. Around 10:30 we placed our order. Aiden was very friendly to my wife and son even after my 4 year old spilled a ton of soda. We chatted all things Ireland. I don’t give out 5 star reviews much but I had a fantastic time.
Wife and I got burgers. I didn’t see the condiment rack so the wife pointed it out. HP sauce… today is going to be a good day. Started with the fried pickles. She is very critical of eating out but both of us agreed it was two of the best burgers we had in a long time.
If your in the area you need to stop by and grab a pint.

My first and only time at St. Declan’s Well was on a Sunday night for a Paint Nite. The Paint Nite was awesome, and something everyone should try at least one– artistic skills or not, fun for everyone.
The venue is pretty big and seems like it can be easily sectioned off for big groups/​parties. While I was there, St. Declan’s Well had accommodated a group of 20+ people.
The service was rude and slow, maybe they were just overwhelmed with a paint nite and a big group? Still, you should always be polite to customers.
They didn’t offer any Sunday night drink specials, but they did have $ 4 drafts.

If you’re going to advertise yourself as a pre– and post– basketball game venue, maybe actually be prepared for those crowds. Went there on a Saturday. Half our party ate 45 minutes before the rest of us because the kitchen was backed up. They had too few wait staff available. Our waitress was running around like a chicken with her head cut off. We couldn’t have as many drinks as we would have preferred. And, even though my food arrived long after some of the rest of our party, it was somehow cold. And the food wasn’t so good. Wouldn’t recommend.

This place was great if you’re just looking for a bar that serves good drinks. We didn’t eat there, but it was relatively clean and seemed like the food was OK too. Perfect for a pre-​game drink if you’re going to a Penn sporting event as we were. We just stumbled upon the place, but I wish I had known about it prior to going there.
Kind of like a Fado Irish Pub, but slightly better

Poorly managed, slow service. They ask you to come before the game, but don’t have the staff to accommodate you. Okay food.

I wasn’t too thrilled with the food at St. Declan’s Well. I tried the chili, the house salad, and the fish and chips. The house salad was fine, there wasn’t anything really remarkable or bad about it, nor would I expect there to be. The chili wasn’t my favorite. It could have used a bit more heat and flavor, not bad but I wouldn’t order it again. The fish and chips were the worst thing that I tried. The fish was sort of squishy and rubbery, not flaky at all. The fries weren’t anything memorable either.
I was glad that they had warsteiner dunkel on tap (I think that was the brewery, but I’m happy with any dunkel).
The quizzo was a lot of fun. They might be able to get me back for that.

The chicken wings themselves get five stars. They were some of the best I have had. Perfectly fried to a nice crispy texture. I was not sure I was going to like the fact that the sauce is served on the side. However, I liked that I still had all the taste I would’ve had if the wings had been mixed with the sauce, but I did not have messy hands afterwards! I highly recommend.
The Reuben sandwich was quite good as well. I normally do not like fresh-​cut fries, but these were actually pretty decent.
I should also say that the waitstaff was very good.
I definitely look forward to going back and trying some other items on the menu.

Great place for a drink. Food is typical bar fare. Bartenders are friendly and attentive. Location is good.

I’ve been to St. Declan’s Well twice now. The first time was for happy hour. They have some decent brews. The service is good and they do not get too crowded. They have some decent apps as well. It’s a decent bar.
The second time was for lunch. It was okay. Not a ton of options. They were out of my first choice. To be frank, I don’t remember what it was. So, I got a corned beef sandwich. It was tasty. Nothing spectacular though.
I’d say it’s more of a bar good for drinking around happy hour than anything else. Not where I’d go if a meal was more what I had in mind.

Very good food, great service! We will definately be back. Good menu with a variety of food choices.

Food: Wings were pretty tasteless. The pork I had was undercooked and had to send it back. The potatos and cabbage were ok. The pork, once it was cooked correctly, wasn’t all that tasty. Kind of a weird taste
Service: This was on point. The waitress was very friendly and did her job well.
Overall the service is on point… the food wasn’t.

Just a classic pub. The Chesapeake fries offered a nice change of pace.

Been here several times. The staff is amazingly friendly and it is refreshing to go into an Irish Restaurant and meet people from Ireland. Aiden, the bartender is so friendly and just one of the employees here from Ireland.
Today I had a Grilled Tuna Steak sandwich and it was terrific. It was grilled just the way I like it and the service was amazingly quick! Every time I eat here I am pleasantly surprised. The last time I was here with a colleague he had the Tenderloin Sandwich and he said it was one of the best sandwiches he has ever had!
The happy hours here are fun and Quizzo on Tuesday nights are always FUN!

Faux Irish pub that maybe tries too hard on one end of things and not quite hard on enough. Pricy but without the value, and in a sort of odd location across from the old Penn ice rink, St. Declan’s has much promise but based on how dead it was on a recent Saturday night, is going to have to change some things up fast to fulfill that promise.
The décor looks like it was expensive buildout — they joined together the former sushi place with another space to make a bigger joint, with a bar on one side and a restaurant area slightly screened from the TV/​bar, complete with stone pillars — and they put in nice tables and chairs. But the décor is awkward: some Irish scenes in oil paintings (see pictures) and a few knick knacks, so it’s sort of a cross between your TGIFriday’s ambiance and the intended neighborhood pub feel. So it’s spacious, which is nice and what brought us there — good for groups, for now — but really feels weird, almost too nice and a little empty in a way. Just not your let’s-go-hangout-and-get-some-color joint at all.
The menu is a mixture of standard American bar food, a few attempts at pub food (bangers and mash, for example), and some low-​end entrees (salmon, eggplant parm, et alia). The bar features a lot of single malt scotch and irish whiskeys, although I did have to explain to the server that the number next to the scotch referred to its age, not the price. (Seriously). They are quite pricy by the glass, and oddly feature more Scots than Irish labels. It’s not really the place to graze authentic single malts, unless you’re made of money and just don’t care about trying more than a half dozen or so.
The beer list is decent but again, a bit pricey.
The advantage of going with a very large party, many of whom are on their Nth repeat business is you can get fair warning about the food. Basically, the sandwiches and the appetizers are fine, and the higher end entrees extremely hit or miss («disappointing» was the description of our friend who was on his Nth repeat visit). So avoid the large plates and stick to the standards. Larger entrees are about $ 15 and up, standard sandwiches in the burger-​Reuben range are $ 10ish, so it’s not cheap.
Service was attentive and prompt, as was the kitchen service, but done without a lot of knowledge or flair. They put up with a large group quite well (but with a number of mistakes), which, again, is what brought us there.
It’s the sort of place you’re kind of rooting for but you have the sense it’s not going to end well unless they gussy it up somehow — either give it character, or get the menu under control. As such it may be worth checking in on every now and then, fwiw.

I have come here a few times after a Tuesday night football league at Penn Park for drinks with my team. Coincidentally, they also have my favorite pub activity – quizzo/​quizo – on Tuesday nights at 9. There are four rounds, first and second place win a bar tab, everyone else is out of luck. The categories are usually general knowledge/​trivial pursuit type categories. Difficulty is average. The quizmaster is a nice, funny guy.
Drink specials are $ 2.50 domestics, $ 3.50 rail drinks, and, usually, a few craft or imports for $ 4.00. Decent prices and decent quizzo. As to beer selection generally, they usually have about 6 craft or local selections (surprisingly not a lot of Irish beers given the name). Food: I’ve only had their crab fries, which are very strange – thicker cut fries seasoned with salt, and the accompanying cheese (?) sauce has the Old Bay seasoning in it. Not what we expected, but the taste was fine and fries were crispy. One of my friends orders the Shepherd’s Pie every time we come here and clears the plate. I don’t know if it’s because it tastes amazing or he is a human garbage disposal that loves shepherd’s pie (both could very well also be true).

I’m a regular for Tuesday night Quizzo with Bob (who ROCKS), and this place is awesome. Everyone on the staff is super friendly and helpful. The drinks are reasonably priced, and all of the apps I’ve tried have been on point. To top things off, the bathrooms are squeaky clean (something I always value). All in all this is definitely one of the best pubs available in University City.

Decent Irish pub at fair prices. The staff is friendly and they have tons of soccer/​football here it seems whenever a match is on. Haven’t tried the food. They do advertise a morning-​after brunch for your hangover.
Also, it is pretty clean. Doesn’t hold much water for me, but I’m sure others.

This a nice change of pace for the Free at Nooners, like myself, after taking in some fabulous, live XPN radio station music, which is right down the street. They have lots of seating for big groups (note: the Game of Thrones-​Style giant wooden tables). They have a lot of beer on tap, especially Irish beers, and hefty portion sizes for their lunches. I got a filet medallion sandwich with onion rings and they definitely didn’t skimp on the onion rings. Its a decent Irish pub in the area if you’re feeling something different than Slainte or the World Café.

My friend lives right by this spot, so I have stopped in twice. The bartender, who’s name I believe is Brian, is VERY friendly. Super chill vibe, and they have Goose Island, Matilda! It’s crazy hard to find, so I love this place for that.
It’s nice to go into a place in University City not packed with Penn kids. I haven’t tried the food, but I will come back to review when I have.
If you’re the type that likes to grab a drink by yourself, this is the spot. I felt super welcomed and comfortable.

I want to be excited about this place. It has the potential to be great, but it’s just not there yet especially with New Deck right around the corner. They do a great job nailing the flavor on the Chesapeake fries but my turkey sandwich was barely lukewarm (and basically listed twice on the menu). My girlfriend’s salad was mediocre, sprinkled with incongruous cubes of hard cheese. I will note that the service was great and I’m going to cut them some slack for being brand new.