Murphy’s Irish Pub

Absolutely the WORST service of any restaurant I’ve ever been to! Took almost 2 hours to get a corned beef sandwich! There were only like 5 other tables full in the restaurant. Once we finally got our sandwiches, they were gross.

My husband and I came here for lunch and after finishing our meal, which the shepherds pie was runny and crab salad was old, our credit card declined 3 times. They said it happens all the time to out of towners. I have some advise either update your system or put an ATM at the front door. We had to wait 15 mins for them to reboot their system and then our card finally went through. They didn’t even offer to take anything off our bill for all the trouble. Totally ridiculous. Would not go there again.

Fabulous staff, fabulous time! My wedding reception was booked for outside on September 21,2013. It ended up raining. Murphy’s closed their pub to move my reception inside. They were so accommodating and easy to work with. The food was great, the staff was amazing. Every time we go to Tahoe we will be back. Thank you so much Murphy’s. John and I couldn’t have had a better night.

Held my rehearsal dinner here tonight. Leading up to the event my event Ann took care of all of the arrangements. It was simple and they made everything very affordable for a group of 30.
Dinner and the service was great. We had tri-​tip, salmon, chicken, and pasta. Everyone was stuffed and happy when they left. Thank you to our amazing servers. We will be back and next time we have to sit on the deck because it looks very nice!
Thank you again for a great evening!

This place has gone downhill over the years. We stopped in for a beer on our way to our cabin over Labor Day. I went to the restroom when we first got there so my husband ordered his beer at the outside bar and sat down. He didn’t know what I was feeling for so he waited for me to pick. I came out a few minutes later and waited… and waited and waited… for someone to come back to the bar. There is a side exit that goes to the outside of the building and the bartender was out there smoking (a pack apparently!) while his buddies would go in and out to join him for a puff. I downed my bottle and we got out of there. Used to be a fun spot to hang and play pool but now… eh I’ll grab a six pack and drink with the fam and friends at the cabin.

This is my favorite restaurant in South Lake Tahoe. It’s laid back and has a great fenced yard and lawn for your pup. They are very dog friendly and the food is great!

After a fun time at the Tahoe Trout Farm, we decided to stop off for a nice cold beer on a beautiful Tahoe summer day.
We chose to sit at the outside bar and ordered a couple beers. We enjoyed some conversation about different beer with the bartender when I noticed the infused alcohol.
He tells me that they infuse two different types of vodka and make excellent Bloody Mary’s. Since I’m a fan, I was game to try another and give them my honest opinion. I would say that I’ve had my fair share of them. *wink*
They make their own bloody mary mix and it’s great, from there he popped the celery and whole set of olives, onion, lemon and lime, topped with a crispy thick slice of bacon. The spicy vodka was the perfect addition to the mary which we both adored.
While we were enjoying ours, another customer at the bar just had to have one too. Turns out there are Bloody Mary fans everywhere and we like to try them all.

Sadly I can only give this place 2 stars. I really wanted to like it since it’s only a few blocks away.
When we went for dinner we waited a VERY long time for food. The food we got was only edible since we were so hungry by the time it came. Our vegetarian burger came out with a beef patty and then we were asked if we cold just eat it! The sweet potato fries were mushy. The beer was good and the live band was fun, which gives it the 2 stars.

Let’s start with something positive… our server was very young and trying very hard to handle all the outside tables that were packed on this beautiful warm day. Deck and garden are dog friendly! Another positive, thank goodness for the Unilocal deal of $ 35 for $ 50 because I’d hate to think the 3 of us paid full price for this meal.
Dirty glasses, weak mojito aside, let’s move on to the meal — Meh at best!
Mine was the best (Caprese Sandwich) and it was just mediocre. The fresh mozzarella was smooched all together with the other ingredients making it like a Caprese Salad Sandwich — yuck. Also ordered was a pulled pork sandwich which arrived smothered in jalapenos. Since no jalapenos were listed in the menu description and she doesn’t do peppers, she asked that they remake the sandwich. Our server was not surprised by this request and complied as she stated that the chef often times goes off and does his thing and varies from the menu. It was obvious when the second sandwich was served with the same jalapeño flavor that it was the first sandwich minus the peppers. It was left uneaten. Mr. S thought a Reuben sounded good and looked appealing when it arrived. Then he asked me if a Reuben should be crunchy? This sandwich would have been ok if it didn’t include a bottom layer of burned corned beef!
As we sat on the deck there were preparations beginning to host a wedding in the garden. Nice location for that if you don’t mind the bar/​deck patrons as additional wedding guests. I suppose weddings help keep the doors open because it sure isn’t the food.
I couldn’t decide between 1 and 2 stars and thought I’d be generous for the dog friendly deck and sweet young server. We won’t make this mistake again as there are many other spots in this area for good dining.

30 minutes in, and we’ve received 1 beer and 1 coke. Still waiting on water… and silverware… and napkins… should be an adventure.
From the looks of the other guests in the outside dinning area, we won’t be the only ones to never come back.
Plenty of wait staff, but they all run around without actually accomplishing anything.

The women servers were great. Very attentive and accommodating for me and my requests for my toddler. I hate to be one of «those» patrons, but I am. (I also tip well, to counterbalance my high maintenance).
Food: The burgers were mediocre. Not bad, but kind of bland meat. The stand out to me was the mozzarella sticks — pretty sure they hand bread some string cheese on site and are served with a sprinkling of parmesan and parsley with a side of spicy yummy marinara sauce. My son’s $ 7.95 kids meal fish and fries were eaten up by him and my husband — no complaints there. My husband wasn’t a fan of his patty melt. He was eyeballing my burger, but mine was kind of meh as well.
Next time we’re in town I think we would try The Burger Lounge down the road. The prices are about half as much ($ 6.95) for burgers. My burger at Murphys was about $ 14.00 (I added onion rings and cheddar cheese). The only reason we didn’t go to Burger Lounge was the fact that I read on Unilocal that Burger Lounge is cash only and we didn’t feel like running to an ATM.
The inside décor is sad dive bar. They definitely put all their money in to the outside to lure in tourists driving by, but that being said… the outside area is cute.
It seemed most of the people were there for beers/​drinking. It’s probably a great dive bar at night — but not the greatest for a young family with a toddler.
Side note: The bartenders were kind of obnoxious, as I heard one say very loudly «She’s a one timer» about some woman at the bar. I’m sure she would appreciate your assessment, cool guy.
Lastly, there was a patron there with a german shepherd off a leash that kept roaming close to my table that was very irritating. The bartender seemed to encourage the patron, so that’s another reason I probably would not be back.

I came in here a few weeks ago with few expectations; it was merely the restaurant nearest to the house we were staying in.
I was very pleasantly surprised by the whole experience, from the food (awesome fish and chips, great fisherman’s pie, and Magners on tap), to the service. I wish I remembered our waiter’s name so I could give him kudos here; I want to say Bryan, but I’m not sure (12/​21, lunch shift, anyone?). He was very attentive, provided good descriptions of the food, and when I asked for cocktail sauce, ran back to the kitchen to whip some up instead of just being content to tell me that the restaurant didn’t carry it. (Hint, Murphy’s: provide cocktail sauce, please!) I value service very highly, and it was terrific here.
I’ll return whenever I’m in the area next.

This is a great local watering hole but nothing more.
The shepards pie was abyssmal… Think of dinty moore canned beef stew with a lump of mashed potatoes on top… I could make it at home easier.
The fish and chips were very very good as were the onion rings. The beer was cold and we had a cute blond waitress…
Its a woody bar that might be unpleasant in the winter months but for a summer/​spring/​fall place to drink, the patio is wonderful.

Last weekend I went here for the third time over the past year. This place is terribly inconsistent.
On the first trip, the food was pretty good and the service was A-​OK, especially since I was in a group of 5. I wouldn’t have bothered coming back otherwise.
The second trip, with just two of us, was fine as I remember it. Nothing to write home about, but the location is quite convenient because we stay just south of the Y and can avoid state line.
This latest experience, in a word, sucked. The waiters are your typical Tahoe snow/​lake rats who could basically care less that you are there, to the point that they look you straight in the eye when you walk in and can’t even muster a half-​assed «hello».
It took a good 10 minutes just to get a menu and that was only because the waiter was also giving them to a couple that came in 10 minutes after we did. Another 15 minutes to order food, 25 minutes to get the food (after watching the couple that ordered after us get theirs 10 minutes sooner. Awesome.)
The food was mediocre and my corned beef and cabbage looked like it had been prepared by a surly man-​chimp named Cookie. It was roadkill-​esqe. The tasty mashed potatoes couldn’t save it.
It’s an Irish pub, for the love of God — that’s just wrong.
It was another 30 minutes before we saw a member of the wait staff again and could get our damn bill, which was unfortunate because we really needed a bottle of ketchup. Dry, tasteless fries — hooray!
It takes a lot for us to not leave a tip, but this place pulled it off. Run away, and quickly.

A local tourist trap, really nothing more.
I walked in with my family looking for a bite to eat. We were lured by the hope of Irish pub food and a beer after a long day on the lake. I noticed that half the dining room was closed off for some reason, and the very few seats in the front were full.
We walked to the bar area to have a seat. Unfortunately at 5 PM on a Wednesday the bar had several extremely drunk and belligerent locals acting obnoxious and sloppy drunk at the bar. So… we chose outdoor seating.
Unfortunately, all of the obnoxious drunks that were inside, come outside and stand in the outside seating area to smoke. We got to «enjoy» our meal in a cloud of cigarette smoke which was continually refreshed as we attempted to eat.
Murphy’s likes to attract dog owners into the outdoor seating area. I even noticed they provide doggy poo bags for people. The problem was, of course, that one of the locals brought his full grown Lab into the area off the leash where it got into at least two fights with dogs at adjacent tables while we were eating. Nothing like having a nice dog battle at the table next to you while eating.
The service was abyssmal. Four of us had to share 1 menu because our waitress didn’t bring us another menu until we were ready to order. When my wife’s seafood fettucini dish arrived she couldn’t eat it because we were never brought any silverware.
Three of us at the table had dishes with french fries. But of course, there was no catsup on the table. When I asked for catsup three of us were brought a tiny metal cup of catsup to share. Two of us had fish and chips, but only one small cup of tartar sauce to share. I’d like to mention that the tartar sauce was glazed over on the top when it arrived– an appearance it gets when it has been prepped hours in advance and left to sit in cups.
I was thirsty though my meal since my beer was gone before the meal arrived. I wanted to ask for water, but my waitress never came back. When she finally came back and brought a pitcher of water, she poured it into the kids partially filled sprite glasses and left. I did drink out of the kids sprite/​water glasses since the kids would now no longer drink them.
The food? Well the food was decent. Not great, but decent. Unfortunately the atmosphere and service were so bad that it completely overshadowed the food. The bill was big and the meal was certainly not worth the money we dropped in the restaurant.
As the night went on many of the local unwashed stoner skater crowd filtered in to hang out and wander around the restaurant. It wasn’t really my crowd.
If you are in need of a quick beer to quench your thirst, this may not be a bad place to go. If you want a family meal where you can relax and enjoy good service and a great atmosphere– this is definitely NOT the place.

Food = delicious. Patty melt… holy cow – huge patty, swiss, great grilled onions on rye! Fish and chips – fish is perfect. They have a great tartar sauce too!
Salad = good. I didn’t like their dressings, so we stuck with the vinegar and olive oil mixture.
Prices = reasonable.
Service = friendly, but a bit slow.
Overall – we’ll be back for the food. I’m not excited about their slow service, but hey, the food is good. They do have a full bar too! ;-)

Completely floored. I wasn’t expecting much based on the reviews but I absolutely adored every single bite of my big-​ass burger.
I came here with my parents and girlfriend after a nice hike at Fallen Leaf Lake and was famished. I needed to munch on some grindage ASAP. My stomach was talking and was audible over the car radio. Luckily this place was nearby and open.
We walked in and were greeted with an empty dining room and an empty bar (beside the server/​bar tender). I wanted to hightail it out of there. Empty restaurants scare me, usually something is wrong. It turns out, it just opened and we were the first patrons. e sat next to the fireplace to warm up. (it was in the 30s while hiking)
We quickly ordered a few beers. As soon as I saw Racer 5 from across the room I was elated. I sipped on that as we browsed the extensive menu. The thing was massive, usually I don’t like big menus because it often means a bunch of frozen foods and the possibility of error. Not in this case.
I order the massive «Full Monty» burger. Our served looked at me a little sideways and questioned my sanity. The thing arrived and now I understand why she was a little hesitant to serve it to me. The thing stands about 18 inches high. a tower of onion rings on top of the humongous half-​pound burger. It came with the normal fixings like lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles in a toasted bun. Then there was the extras.
Here is a list of the toppings:
Cheddar, Swiss and Blue Cheese
Fried Egg
Avocado
Pico De Gallo
BBQ Sauce
Sautéed Mushrooms (I opted out of this)
Onion Rings
Bacon
Jalapeños
Deep Fried Green Chile
and it was Blackened
It scared me a bit but I knew I could do it. I was starving after all. I like to think of myself as a veteran burger eater and I know how to approach something so big. Cut it in half. Duuuuhhhhh. The moment I broke that yolk, I knew this thing was going to be delicious.
I enjoyed every single bite. It just ‘effing worked. Everything melded together so well that I wanted to kiss the cook. My stomach ached for hours; in a good way that is. It hurt soooooo good.
I will return for another beer and possibly another giant burger.

I came here for lunch with a group of friends. The regular seating area was quite empty, since it was a late lunch (around 1:30pm).
As soon as the server saw us walk in, we were told to seat ourselves. It took a few minutes for them to give us menus. I noticed the servers seem to be really busy, too. Apparently there was a wedding taking place in the private banquet room, and another wedding being set up in the garden patio area.
After looking at the menu, I noticed Murphy’s offers a wide variety of dishes. I liked how they put the country flag next to the dish. I decided to order an Italian dish called lemon chicken with peas and penne pasta.
It took about 20 minutes for our food to come out. The portion size was pretty big. The garlic bread was ok. I would have liked the garlic bread to be a bit crispy, since it tasted stale. There was way too much peas in the dish (See the pic). The chicken was a bit dry, too.
Overall, I thought my dish was just ok. My friends seem to enjoy their dishes though.

Ehh.

I have to agree with Andy, why is this place getting such a bad rap?
I must first stress, I visited this place while vising my Irish friends in Tahoe, who live in South Lake. It was an Irish man’s recommendation to come here! It’s one of his favorite places. Tell me that counts for something!
I could quickly see why he loves this place. The service was excellent, the British owner was friendly and came out with jokes, and there is a heated area for music, pool playing, and another bar in addition to the restaurant with a fireplace? Woohoo! I’m all in!
We brought his little girl who’s two, and she fit right into the atmosphere. They have a good selection of kids size food on a separate laminated menu. She even took off her boots and ran around our table a bunch, which the staff thought was adorable. So being kid friendly is a plus.
The food was good pub fare. I mean come on, you don’t come to a pub –like place expecting 5 star posh food.
Yeah, some of it did seem like fried or reheated, as in appetizers like the calamari, but that didn’t hinder the taste. Or the presentation.
I happen to like the fries, they reminded me of In-​n-​Out meets McDonald’s. So the thin kind that go awesome with any sauce.
We also ordered chicken wings, one of our favorite types of pub grub. The waitress said «Make sure you let me know if he [my boyfriend] cries after he eats any of these». Yes the label was «Irish Thunder» for the XXX hot. They give you a choice of 4 grades of heat, and we got the top. And we were not disappointed. It was served with ranch, but the waitress promptly brought us blue cheese. It doesn’t say on the menu that it also comes with carrots and celery, a must in our opinion.
Let’s just say the next morning we put hot sauce on our potatoes at breakfast and it just tasted like vinegar. We had succumbed to Irish Thunder!
We were just here last weekend so the salad didn’t look too hot (they do have a salad bar = glance at walk in). But really, hey, there was 6 feet of snow everywhere so we were fine with sandwiches and appetizers. It warms the soul to have fried food with your beer.
Also, I really want to note a decent beer selection. The owner stocks the good beers that an English/​Irish pub should, so no complaints here.
All in all, a good genuine down to Earth pub experience. Exactly what I was expecting for a place well positioned near the hub of shopping, like within walking distance of the Y and for pub grub!
Basically, I can’t wait to go visit this place in the Summer! Looking forward to my next visit!
Oh and my boyfriend is a huge perveyor of Bloody Mary’s. They make a good one here, with a full bar to boot!
Oh and how did I almost totally forget?! They have a full-​Monty burger that puts like 12 or so things on it, you get to the hall of fame and get your picture taken for ordering one. I’m not even sure if you have to finish it to get in the hall of fame. They love that you just ordered one! It’s huge! Take that for nostalgia!