McLadden’s West Hartford

My visit to Mcladdens last night was a reminder why I don’t miss the Hartford bar scene whatsoever.
Yes Mcladdens has a sizable beer selection but atmosphere is lacking. Music was wayyyyy too loud. Bar design is absolutely terrible given there is a huge divider down the entire length of the space which causes people be unnecessarily crammed in. I have no idea why they would not remove this to open up the space. Over admittance is clearly a problem here– there is absolutely no way they were not over capacity as I literally could not move. I can’t even remember the last bar or concert or anything I have been to recently that was as crowded. Patrons here were not my favorite, my friend had no less than 3 beers spilled on her one of which was by a bartender. Crowd is definitely people in their young twenties (college kids) which means you can expect a lot of people bumping into you, drunkenly stumbling, yelling, and using the restroom for drunken pow wows with friends (which is especially annoying given there are only 2 single women’s restrooms that you have to wait 15 minutes minimum for).
Key message here is having a big variety of beers on tap doesn’t make a bar. So many bars nowadays have a huge craft beer selection so it’s not really a differentiator anymore (even though Mcladdens is clearly using this as their selling point) — it takes a lot more in terms of service, atmosphere etc to make an enjoyable bar experience not just beer selection, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. If its a total mob scene and you can’t even move a muscle and are getting elbows to the face the beer selection doesn’t really matter that much.
Overall I’ve been here during the day and it’s more tolerable, food is still your below average bar food but it’s more mellow. Based on my experience last night I would avoid at all costs on weekend evenings but if you need a place to hang and day drink it’s probably okay.

We used to enjoy the food here but there has been a decided change for the worse. We had the French onion and it was mediocre, with unmelted slice of cheese floating on top that had little flavor. The soup was lukewarm and lacked the rich broth we had at previous visits. Ever since the change in the menu the food has declined in quality and taste. Gone is the shepherds pie, which was a favorite on a winters day. Did the chef change? We will be trying another restaurant on our next visit to West Hartford. Disappointed!

Don’t know that I’d call it a gastro pub– but the beers are good. Go elsewhere for the food but beers are good for happy hour or late night

We came here one night to meet some of my wife’s co workers. We got a table towards the back which will be part of the only negative part of my review. They have such a great ever changing draft beer selection.
So from where we sat could not see the chalkboard and they are not listed on menu. So the waitress told us to go on our phones to check the beer list. It’s almost like they should have a tablet for people to use at the table.
Our whole party just got apps. I had the colossal pretzel. It was cooked perfectly and came with 2 sauces. An IPA bacon cheddar and a Dijon mustard sauce. I had this before else where and this was my favorite.
My wife had the New England meat and cheese board which was also well done. Overall we had a great time. Beers selection was awesome. Def will return.

Not a big fan… music is usually too loud, and there’s usually too many people here, so you’re almost always bumping elbows with people near you.
Beers are good, typical of an Irish pub.
I’ve never eaten here, only gone on Friday/​Saturday nights for drinks.

The waitress was wonderful! Beer selection is overwhelming. The food was just ok. They could have a gold mine here if they concentrated on their meals.

The food took a little long to come out but it was worth the wait. Burgers are delicious and sauces are even better !

Love this place! It was a blast on New Years Eve, so fun tonight during Geeks Who Drink Trivia and always a great place to grab an hearty meal. I love a good Irish pub that serves traditional Irish and English meals. This place has it and great servers! Drinks prices are reasonable and the overall atmosphere is great. Very cool and relaxed. My only feedback is that I found $ 7 for a cupcake to be overpriced. It was just a regular store bought tasting cupcake… other than that though, this is my fav bar in West Hartford!

Classic Irish pub with an upscale gastropub menu and craft cocktails. The menu has been updated recently and offers so many delicious options. My favorite drink is the Lolita Haze
(Tito’s Vodka, Crème de Cassis, Blackberry Purée, Lemon Juice). I only wish it were on the happy hour specials menu.
I come here often but have a hard time choosing. Build your own giant potato– even a sweet potato option. There’s also build your own nachos or mac n’ cheese with so many topping choices, but I haven’t tried those yet.
Build your own burger or sandwich too. I like the chicken sandwich and the turkey burger. Both the regular fries and the sweet potato fries are delicious. My favorite entrée is the Farm House chicken. It’s juicy inside with a crispy skin.
I find salads in most pubs to be boring, but the ones at McLadden’s are very gourmet.
Kids eat free from the kids menu if you order one of the large entrees.
The one disappointment on the menu is the chicken pot pie. The puff pastry topping is good but the inside lacked flavor.
I wish McLadden’s would offer Sunday brunch. But I do like that Sundays have happy hour between 1 – 5. And Happy Hour is offered on the patio, not just the bar area.

This place is my spot. I am a beer aficionado and there isn’t really a comparable place in the area. Always have great beers on tap — whether it be sip of sunshine, ghandi bot, and many others. 80 beers on tap all the time. Bartenders are attentive although many people here all the time.
Food — good bar food. Come here for the beer — get nachos and burgers and you won’t he disappointed.
¹⁰⁄₁₀

I came here for a birthday celebration. The beer selection is good, with fair prices. My table decided to order nachos and the pretzel as starters. The pretzel itself was a little burnt on the outside but the dipping sauces made it all worth it. You pick 2 sauces, I highly recommend the cinnamon as one of the dipping choices. For an entrée, I ordered the Reuben sandwich with sweet potato fries. Both were really good. The only thing I suggest is for an actual menu on hand for the beer selections that are not provided on the restaurant menu… my table was instructed to use our phones to pull up the beers off the website.

Excellent beer selection. Love the tv with beer info… just get a bit worried about how long the beer actually is sitting in all those kegs…

I only stopped in for beers but was impressed at the lengthy list of beer choices. The service was quick and the prices were reasonable. There is no reason why this place shouldn’t be on the list of stops for your bar hopping Saturday night.

On Monday’s they have half off burgers.
I repeat: on Monday’s they have half off burgers! Go here for happy hour and you’re set for the night. Their burgers are really good– thick, juicy, and well seasoned. I also ordered the sweet potato fries, which are cut a lot thicker than normal, but still delicious!

Rage city! Come drink your face off and listen to some rocking music on a Friday or Saturday night. The bar is always fun and reminds me of a frat party. I probably wouldn’t come here for a classy evening but definitely for a night filled with foggy memories.
Beer selection is solid though I’m disappointed this Irish pub does not have Kilkenny. Come on, you are an Irish bar! Though, they do have funky selections like habanero beer which is at least worth a taste.
As far as food, I can’t tell you the last time I ate here so I’ll need to update my review soon. I am curious about this trivia fundraiser night and also cupcake Wednesday’s. Maybe I’ll start celebrating St. Patrick’s day every day!

This is a review for the BAR only, as I have never eaten here. I have gone here a few times for trivia and maybe twice on a Friday or Saturday night. Every time it has been way too crowded, and not in a good «lets meet interesting new people» kind of way, but the «i’m being suffocated by douchey townies» kind of way. It’s so bad that friends of mine who are from West Hartford refuse to go there because they don’t want to run into all the former jocks with whom they went to Hall High School drunk at McLaddens.
Anyway, it takes forever to get a drink or table service. The Northampton, MA location around 45 — 50 minutes up 91 north is only a million times better, and in a way better town.

Waaaay to expensive for OK bar food. Was drawn to McLaddens because of their craft beer selection, but was floored when we got the bill for just two of us. Be careful when ordering flights… they charge for each glass and the prices range from 3 – 5 for each in the flight. Sorry to say not for me. Also, there was an extremely drunk and loud girl on a Sunday at 2:00 pm and they kept giving her more drinks.

I love this place! The tap list is a humongous list of 80 or so beers and the bar keepers are fantastic (specifically Erin, Elyse and Dan!) they make delicious cocktails if beer isn’t your thing.
The food is also pretty good for bar food. The portions are huge. The Mac and cheese is definitely a two part meal and if you like spicy, I recommend the mango habanero sauce :)

We came here on a Friday looking for a quick after dinner drink around 830. By that time it was already packed and there were a significant amount of drunk idiots surrounding the bar already. One dude broke his pint right in front of us and another basically cut right into our conversation with inebriated confidence. The bartender was also extremely hard to flag down between flirtatious conversations with a few male patrons. Lots of dudes smoking outside.
Maybe this spot is good for football on Sundays as they do have plenty of tvs.
The one positive is that they do have a massive beer list that was very impressive.
Overall, it just isn’t a great scene in my opinion. There are plenty of other bars in West Hartford worth checking out.

Came here on a weekend looking for a late night snack after hitting another bar for drinks with a group of 7. It was crowded and there was no place for all of us to sit together which was fine and understandable. Half of the group got a seat after 15 min, the other half waited almost 45 minutes. The hostess was not very good though and nearly let another group take the table that was ours. We had to step in and ask another hostess to kick them out of the table after the people had already sat down. Awkward but we had already waited a good amount of time.
The service was pretty spotty and the food was bland. My husband’s grandmother makes significantly better corned beef and boiled veggies. There was live music that was supposed to start but one hour after the sign said it was supposed to start (and just when we finished eating) they started playing.
Maybe I’ll make it a stop on a bar crawl as their beer selection is amazing but not expecting much more than that.