O’Harleys Brewhouse & Pizzeria

Soooo happy this place shut down. Honestly, the entire staff (myself included [I was a server for about 6 months]) was in an abusive relationship with their work place.
Tony would NOT pay his employees. Like, he simply would not hand out pay checks every two weeks as required by LAW. You would have to ask him, text him, try to catch him and ask him «Tony, can I have my paycheck?» And sometimes he’d say tomorrow and sometimes he’d say yes and then just end up going to the back and never coming back out. Yeah.
Let me just say, I was in a very low point in my life when I found this place for employment. I myself was dealing with some issues in my life and I didn’t have it in me to demand the respect I deserve as an employee. I strait up would just tolerate my boss not paying me for the hours I came in, and the work I had done.
The husband and wife who own this business preach the word «family» from the beginning. They gave me a cash amount and two plates of food on my first day. I thought this to be a sweet gesture from that family, little did I know that was the only money I would be paid from them for MONTHS on end. They bring their two children into the restaurant frequently, and will expect staff to keep an eye on them. Then, they will only pay certain people first by priority (like people with kids, they say) and then leave other employees high and dry. They would CONSTANTLY say «you guys get paid, we do give your checks out and you get your tips». They would FULL ON withhold our paycheck a from us, and then if we got them… Tony would have a specific time we were able to cash it. So what would happen is… I’d deposit my check, and it would bounce. Basically, I wouldn’t have any money. At times I tried to go to his bank to cash it, which was some small bank (I’ll edit in the name later, I kept cards) run out of Mexico… and his bank would literally tell me «We can’t give you any money, talk to Tony.»
My server friend and I were owed payment after leaving there… for her she was owed like 6 months of payment for the work she had done at O’Harleys. And I KNOW we weren’t the only ones. Each bartender, and the entire kitchen on the DAILY would talk about how Tony had not paid them and they were going to quit.
I’m sure everyone is thinking… wtf…why wouldn’t you just QUIT?
And let me say, they really fucking pull at you. They bring you in close, you meet their children and their families. And then. crazily enough Tony is just mean. He would yell, and intimidate everyone including his wife in the restaurant. The customers would hear this frequently and feel sorry for the staff. shit was crazy. He was just abusive… but he was the one with the money. My staff wasn’t the issue, I loved the girls there. And no one wants to think about loosing their job. And I guess we always all thought there might maybe be some small chance that Tony would give us a good check. We all wanted to keep the place together and remain positive.
But Tony just wouldn’t pay his employees. If you were lucky and got on his good side and kissed his ass, you would get your check more often than others. But that entire concept was fucked up.
I was 20, and I needed the money. And if someone tried to pull that shit on me now and not give me my paycheck… id report them immediately. I still plan on going to the labor board with this place (as I went once and never followed up, I can always call back). But my point is… I would never deal with this kind of ILLEGAL WRONG treatment again. I legitimately fabricated this entire lie about me having a child… so that I would HOPEFULLY get my fucking check haha. I would show them pictures of my God daughter, and yeah. Pretty depressing. I would never put up with anything like that again.
I’m so HAPPY this place is closed down. Truly, from the bottom of my little pink heart.
The food was shit anyways. Our cook did the best he could with what we had, but O’Harleys was pretty gross haha. I liked the pizzas that I would get for free from the cook lol. Of course only when Tony wasn’t there… he would hate giving any of the staff free food. Shouldn’t we at least have been owed that since we weren’t even being paid? It amazes me how that man was able to get up every morning. He has a daughter. What if his daughter had to work for a man who YELLED, CURSED, SCREAMED, and didn’t even pay her for her job. Tsk tsk… talk about family.
This place made me feel borderline intimidated to do anything about them not paying me because of how violent and angry Tony was. And not to mention, he’d always have random sketchy people of all ages visiting the restaurant… and going to the back for a while and then coming back. The place itself wasn’t very clean, and was just a sinking ship from the start. Sometimes, games were fun. But nothing is worth dealing with a boss who yells and scares you, and never pays you.

Looks like «bar rescue» and Jon Tapper won’t be doing their show here. Woulda been perfect!

Yes, after 3+ years the place closed. Many of the patrons were very strong supporters of the establishment and the need for a good family place is still warranted at this location. Any business that decides to take the property over, please listen to the suggestions of your regulars. Would’ve helped this business keep going.

They are outta business!!!
They had an awesome beer selection and it was walking distance from my house… dayum this bums me out.
BUT I head the waiters speaking a few weeks ago about not getting paid on time and some other shady stuff going on… so I’m not surprised that they closed their doors for good.
Hopefully we get something in there that’s decent…

Ordered the ravioli and it was really good! During happy hour their $ 5 personal cheese pizza is a great deal. They have TVs to watch the games.

**Update: stopped by yesterday and they have apparently closed. Still had the windows painted with Christmas scenes so must have been in the last week or so.
This a good place to watch a game. They have a lot of tvs.

After reading the reviews, I was a little reluctant to come here. But this is my friend’s favorite bar and they were showing the fights, so I agreed to go– and it was overall a positive experience.
The pros: more TVs than you could ever watch; pool tables; good service; the garlic knots, which are great.
The cons: they don’t actually have all of the beers on the menu (maybe that’s temporary?); since it was a major fight night, there was a cover charge of $ 5 a head, which they advertise at the door and is completely reasonable but still a little annoying to pay.

Tawny was awesome and really made me feel like a local. I love the jukebox and it’s great music selections. I will definitly make this my go to spot!

What a strange establishment. It’s called O’Harley’s and has a similar layout to an Applebee’s with one big bar and side tables. It sounds like an Irish bar but it’s a pizzeria, complete with all Italian bar food. There were several of us but no server. I had to go to the bar to order my food. They also had a bunch of tables where the chairs were set on top as if they were closing. But they had an other 3 hours on schedule.
I had to wait for my steamed clams for about 40 minutes without any warning so by the time I followed-​up and waited more I was hangry.
Yes the clams were delicious. Buttery and savory. Enough to make me want to drink the sauce they came in. And the garlic knots were perfect. That’s why I give this place a 3.

This place was not bad for just a beer and wine bar. Although when going to an Irish bar one would think you can order Jameson. They have two pool tables which was a plus, and a really large parking lot so plenty of space to park. There was a dart board in the corner, but it could have used some love, and new dart heads.
The place had plenty of seating if you wanted to stop in and grab some food, but the kitchen closes at 2130 on weeknights so plan ahead. We did not have any food there so not sure what the menu looked like.
There were plenty of beers on tap to wet your whistle from, with an extensive IPA list, for all you IPA drinkers out there. The barkeep was well versed in her bet list and able to make some excellent recommendations.
The place could have used a bit more lighting, but otherwise was ok for a dive bar setting. Definitely has potential for a hang out spot with the boys.

Parking: smaller sized lot, but did not have any issues on a weekday night.
Service: great service from the bartender. She was informative of what they have on tap. They have mostly IPAs. They have a select few wines and don’t serve any liquor, which is odd for an Irish bar.
Atmosphere: TVs everywhere! The Padres game was on and everywhere I looked there was somewhere to watch it. The walls a covered with good sized TVs and you won’t have a hard time watching anything no matter where you sit. Speakers for the jukebox are decent and they had a good selection of 90s rap (Straight Out of Compton movie just came out) on when I was there. There were UFC banners everywhere which means they get the fights whenever they are on. I’m not sure if they charge extra for them. 2 pools tables that were free the night that we were there. They are in ok condition and they have plenty of cues. The tables were open the whole time we were here. There is an electronic dart board in the corner that can fit up to 4 players and there are a variety of games (we played Cricket).
Food: says it’s a pizzeria, but we didn’t try anything.
We went strictly to play pool, but ended up closing the place down and witnessed a couple getting «busy» in the parking lot as we left. Good times all around!

I have been here twice, and it has been under minimum expectations.
First Impressions: This place is a prime candidate for one of those restaurant make over reality shows. The interior is abysmal, it looks like it hasn’t bee updated in 30 years and since they haven’t been in business that long you know that when they opened they did not take comfort or appeal into account. And I am considering that this is a dive bar.
The Beer Selection: This is actually quite good. There is a good variety and a lot of different options to choose from. If all you want is a beer and you don’t want anything else you may be happier.
The Food: The food is best described as so-​so. When we last went only half the menu was available. While they let us know right away, I was still surprised that they stopped most of the food service so early.
The Service: The service is polite, but not very attentive. I have never seen this place very busy, so there was no reason for it to be so slow. Additionally, the waitress forgot that we ordered another beer. I said I didn’t want another but my SO wanted another. She returned with our tab.
It wouldn’t be hard for this place to improve. I hope they do so.

Unfortunately, since my last review the employees who used to work at O’Harley’s have all moved on to other establishments. The previous female bartender was really good at managing the bar but also checking in on tables.
The new servers and bartenders can be nice, but service is slow and terrible. We come about once every two weeks on a Monday for my husband’s pool league and used to order pizzas, pitchers, and other food pretty consistently. As I write this, I have been sitting at a table with my husband and his team for 2 hours, and we have not been approached once by a server. We have talked about going up to the bar to order drinks, but honestly, O’Harley’s doesn’t deserve our money at this point.

TL;DR the food gives you bloody vomit and diarrhea. The owner hates to make sure his signs all match.
Details: My husband went here for his Wednesday APA pool night and the sign outside said $ 3 dollar brews. He goes inside and they don’t want to honor it, because the owner (Tony) says inside that there’s a limit to the time on the signs on the table. So the sign outside draws you in, but once you get inside they don’t want to honor it. They exchange words over it and the owner gives him a free beer, but the signs on the tables don’t change. Our pool team co-​captain recorded it. We have photos of the sign outside. It was stupid because all the guy had to do was write the time limits onto the sign outside to match the ones inside. Instead he was blaming one of the employees for not changing it out like they should have a week ago.
So throughout the course of the night he orders the sampler platter with the 2 meatballs and marinara sauce, the 4 mozzarella sticks, and instead of the fried zucchini he swapped them out for onion rings, and then he had a Guinness. APA league finishes and he gets home around 11 PM and all seems well.
Until 3:30 AM when he’s vomiting blood. And there’s blood in his stool. We end up in the ER by 4:30 AM and the doctor suspects foodborne illness because all tests start coming back as negative for upper GI bleed. They give him 3 liters of IV drip and 3 different kinds of anti nausea medications before he’s finally stable enough to go home. We had to return later on that evening to have his kidneys tested because the dehydration was severe enough to show strain. They do a food history for the last 36 hours and the only thing he ate in that time was the food at the brewhouse.
I suggested he call the manager at the restaurant. He declined and told me what happened over the beer sign and said that the establishment wouldn’t do anything, just balk it off. So I’m doing the next best thing: I’m posting it on Unilocal.
Hopefully the APA team decides to play out of a different place, because this Wednesday night shows that the owner does not give a rat’s ass about his customers and does not take a «the buck stops here» attitude when one of his employees screws up. He’d rather blame it on the employee when things aren’t fixed.

The food was bland, the service was SLOW, and the place was filthy, dark, and noisy!
The restaurant was less than half full and I had to yell to the person next to me. Everyone’s meal came out at different times, and everyone at the table was done eating before mine came. It took 45 min to make my pasta?!
I will never go back!

I love this place!
Especially somewhere fun we can go in the poway area, and not have to drive all the way to PB, downtown !!
We always come her for the UFC fight nights. Sooooo Much fun! There’s always fun people cheering and filling the room with great vibes!
Great food, and good drink selection .
We always stick around and shoot some pool after.
Great times!

Growing up in this neighborhood makes me a good spokesman when referred to this place. For years, we have witnessed businesses coming in and out. Still, we love to come here to have pizza and beers in some relaxing after-​work nights.
There’s a lot of flat screen TVs, so you can come in and watch a game. In the middle of the room, there’s a couple of pool tables and a wide-​opened bar. I would say, overall, they did a pretty good job on the design to welcome more customers.
In terms of food quality, they have multiple pizza choices. The crust is petty good, good thickness and serve with good portion.
It’s only a 3-​star review because for those times we came to this place, there was never lots of customers. We just hope that they could come up with some specialities and attract more people to come.

We had eaten there once before and had the best garlic knots. I was really irritated tonight when I ordered the knots and received dinner rolls with some garlic butter brushed over the top. The girl literally made me think I was crazy for mentioning the difference telling me they were made the same way for 25 years and then saying, oh sometimes they do them with knots on the top. Anyway, I won’t order food here again.

The last time we were here was a Friday night date night. It was right when they opened and they didn’t even have a beer list.
Today was a much better experience. Lots of good $ 5 specials on happy hour including fried ravioli and individual pizzas. And they had $ 4 Stone Pale Ales.
The ravioli a were Delish but the mozzarella sticks were meh.
My husband and in laws raved about Tony’s Meat Pizza and I loved my chicken pizzioli. Chicken stuffed with Parmesan served in a bed of penne and marinara sauce. It came with 2 garlic knots.
The kids loved their $ 5 meals too. Grilled cheese and individual pepperoni pizza.
Good food. Good local craft beer list with Lost Abbey and other favorites.

For those like me who grew up in the Poway/​RB area, this building used to be Graziano’s up until 2 years ago. The placed was constantly packed with joyous families, little league teams, and loyal pizza worshipping patrons like me at all hours. After 15 – 20 yrs their lease was up and the owner of the plaza decided not to renew their lease at an affordable price and there goes our beloved institution.
That aside, I found the service and food at O’Harleys to be exceptional. The pizza is still excellent and the selection of beers has intelligence and depth. So what’s the problem? Why 3 stars? Well, like the other 6 businesses I’ve seen open and close in the last 5 years in this plaza, there’s never anyone in them. This to me means either the location isn’t working, there’s a lack of promotional/​marketing research, the landlord is just plain greedy, or worse: All of the above.
July 4^th weekend. Sunday. There should be more bodies than me, my buddy, and the lonely hum of the lights. Additionally, no one running this place seems interested in taking advantage of SD’s rich beer culture with a tap takeover or any other kind of promo to jumpstart a buzz. The vibe inside is dark and brooding. This makes me feel resentful. I fear it won’t be long before Gordon Ramsay shows up and starts throwing chairs.
In my humble opinion, whatever Graziano’s did to keep their loyal customers coming back for so long should be studied.