first time ever in this place, met two cute chics for lunch on way from western north carolina to eastern south dakota and I quite liked it. aside from being in central america ballydoyle is everything you'd expect from an irish pub. guessing there's live entertainment here because there's a stage occupying about 14% of the front room. no one was playing during lunch monday which was nice because we met for snacks and conversation. had the corny-beefy boxty which was kinda fun: meat and cabbage and different cabbage and cheese in a crisped potatoey pancake thing -- sorta like a gaelic panzerotti. chics were repeat customers and stuck with their faves: fish + chips and corned beef + cabbage which passed muster most favorably. eric was an agreeable host attending the beverages and the food stuffs as well. he is a charming young fellow and should do well whatever his chosen profession. read more

Ballydoyle Irish Pub - the bar and eric p - Irish Pub Near Me - Aurora, Illinois

The service is not that great. Had to ask our waitress three times for water and ended up bringing the pitcher to the bar and getting it filled ourselves. They have live music here a lot , great place for live music! There is a parking garage right behind the place so parking is never a problem. The food is great! The fish n chips is the only thing that I have had that wasn't great. My favorite is the spinach dip it comes with warm pita slices . I usually get that as my meal and fills me up. They also have a good selection of beer too, tried pineapple beer and have been hooked ever since but they dont have it at many bars. It's a pretty small place. The tables tend to be smashed together. Feels like you're eating with the people next to you. read more

I placed a carry out order on this restaurant's website, waited the 30 minutes they instructed (which felt long for a sandwich, but fine), and went to pick it up. After waiting about 5 minutes to be acknowledged (there were only 2 tables seated), I told a gentleman behind the bar that I was picking up a carry out order. "We don't do Uber Eats", he said, and turned his back to me. I explained that I ordered on Ballydoyle's website and had already paid for it. He typed at the register for a while and then told me that the sandwich I ordered was discontinued and that I should cancel the order or "do whatever I needed to do on my end". He seemed to think that was the end of the conversation. I explained that I had already paid, had no option to "cancel" because I placed the order on their website not a 3rd party app, and if he wanted to cancel the order I had waited now 40 minutes for, then he needed to refund me immediately. He gave a long explanation about the menu being changed and how he thought it had been updated on the website (clearly, it hadn't). Finally, he offered to let me order something else. Because a refund was apparently not an option and at this point my dinner break had been shortened to the point where I didn't have time to make another stop, I did. I had to wait an additional 15 minutes for the new order which I didn't even want by then (in total, an hour from when I placed the initial order...of a sandwich). I guess the moral of the story is don't ever place a carry out order from this place. My mistake, when there is an "order online" button on their website. I'm adding a second star only because the food I final received was good. The experience is 0 stars. read more

Too-ra loo-ra loo-ral! Oh Danny boy, these Irish eyes were smiling when my order of Irish chips came out. They were amazingly delicious, as was the blue cheese dipping sauce that accompanied it. I would have ordered more, but I had loaded cornbeef boxty coming. Mmm MMm, it must have been the lucky o' the Irish on my side cus I was on a roll. I wasn't done yet, because the bread pudding I ordered was some of the best I'd tried in a long time. I'll defintely be back soon. The feel off this place is great and the service is excellent. This place gets 4.5 stars, and it would be a solid 5 if the prices were a little lower. The bill can add up quickly for dinner... but... they do have half off any pints on Tuesdays. Woo! read more

Ballydoyle Irish Pub - Irish Pub Near Me - Aurora, Illinois

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Not that I've been starving for good service all week or the serious lack of a good Bangers & Mash for literally years, this place was a most welcomed find. Our bartender Lirim was attentive, knowledgeable and just plain fun to talk with. The fact that they even offered a true Bangers & Mash wasn't enough, it was out of this world awesome! (deep fried Italian sausages) There is a patio that over looks a downtown canal where you can eat, drink and (after 9pm) can smoke on. If all that isn't good enough for you picky cheapo's, your bill won't kill the bank. read more

Ballydoyle Irish Pub - Our bartender Lirim is awesome! - Irish Pub Near Me - Aurora, Illinois

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Horrendous in Irish is "Ainnus". What a freakin nightmare. We had tickets to the theater down the street. My wife made reservations for 6:30. They couldn't find our name on the list initially. We should have left at that time. There was an old rock band playing really loud to make up for their dreadful sound. Luckily we were in a back dining room so the deplorable sound was loud but we only had to yell at our friends and the waitress was almost able to hear with only asking 3 times what we were saying. We ordered the Oktoberfest appetizer tray. The small bite sized pretzels and bowl of chips and dips still makes me laugh even as I write this. 4 meals: "Worst burger I have ever eaten" "Mine was mostly mashed potatoes" "How the hell do you serve tiny pieces of Corned beef on a sandwich and not expect it to fall all over the table?" "The boxty was ok because I was hungry" They were out of the ingredients to prepare the hellfyre Bloody Mary so they charged us the same for a normal Bloody Mary. They have this table ornament decoration thing they give you to signify to staff you're heading to the theatre and presumably alert your server that a sense of urgency is warranted. Maybe if it was flashing neon our gum chewing server "might" have noticed. Did I like anything about this place? No! Oh I forgot that we just missed the belly dancers. How about if they stick to good Irish food and good Irish music. read more

We ordered the fried pickles, the black angus burger, and the chicken avocado sandwich. The pickles were great! They come in spears, nicely plated, and definitely fresh. The burger was pretty good too. $5 on mondays! The meat was juicy and your choice of cheese was nice. The chicken avocado sandwich was presented well. It did have a generous helping of greens and it could have used a little bit more chicken, but overall we were satisfied! And the view next to the river made it even better. read more

Ballydoyle Irish Pub - Irish Pub Near Me - Aurora, Illinois

First off, I would like to say I am writing this review based on booking a party through Ballydoyle in Aurora, IL. My husband and I were planning our rehearsal dinner for around 30-35 people for a Friday night. The entire planning experience working with the "party planner" Joanne was horrendous. We booked our party 8 months prior to the actual event. Joanne never sent any confirmation, outline of charges, let alone to know if we were actually booked for the event. Lastly, when taking our credit card information, she wrote it down on the back of receipt paper. She was extremely unprofessional. We stayed at this location, because the food was amazing, the venue was incredible, and every other time we had been there the service was great! Day of our rehearsal dinner and party, the food was agreed upon to be ready at 6pm. We paid for passed appetizers, a buffet, and passed desserts and paid for an open bar for our party. Long story short, no food was passed around, appetizers came out with dinner around 7:30pm, and it took almost 45 minutes to get drinks to our entire party. We had ONE server. Our server was incredible, but to only have one server on a booked party that we were paying 20% gratuity and service fees was uncalled for. Ballydoyle's did not add severs to our party and grandparents and family were extremely hungry as food was not ready at agreed upon time. Ballydoyle's clearly was not equipped to host a party. I DO NOT recommend using them for a party. The bar and restaurant are wonderful, but stay away from working with Joanne and using the party/event services. read more

The food here - 50 stars. Environment/ Ambience - 50 stars Beer List - 50 stars The wait staff both times we've been here - Negative 146 stars. (And i'm usually really lenient as I used to be in service work myself.) All in all, still a good experience despite the idiots they seem to like to hire. Candlelit dinner on a Whiskey barrel in an old irish pub-style restaurant. Great beers, listed by country or state. Looks like there's a cool outdoor patio, haven't checked that out yet. Rushing water below the bridge outside is cool as well. It'll be updated to 5 stars if i get just one good waiter/waitress. I don't go here often though. read more

Ballydoyle Irish Pub - Really cool building they've got - Irish Pub Near Me - Aurora, Illinois

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Great Irish Pub. Great classic beers. Live Music every weekend. A must go for St. Patricks Day read more

Yesterday the manager Dan berated a waitress near us in the most demeaning disgusting way. I could not believe the abusive , mean loud tone of this man. If he ever talked to my daughter that way.... I asked another waitress for his name and she too was shaken by this awful man. It was awful. The staff all knows how wrong he is. He should be fired or sent to a place that teaches the proper management skills he is lacking. So wrong on so many levels. The tone and message it sends out...I will not return if he remains. I am surprised the staff does not rebel, unless the owners back this behavior . Disgusted. read more

I keep coming back so they're doing something right. Been meeting buddies here since they opened the joint. They have a pretty decent beer menu and we like the different seating areas, most notably their outdoor back deck. That's preferred seating in the summer. Plenty of seating inside too, most with several tv's in eyes shot. I'll be honest I usually don't eat here. Irish food just isn't my thing but they do have a satisfactory menu with regular dishes like burgers, sandwiches, etc. Bally's tends to offer quite a bit of entertainment on their main stage so if you venture in don't be surprised if that's the case and it gets a little loud in here. I took my folks to eat here last weekend and of all things they had a polka band. Polka isn't synonymous with cool music in my mind but these guys rocked the house. Cheers. read more

We are here weekly for some classes. I would love to give Ballydoyle 5 stars, ambiance/decor is fun, location is great downtown...but I dread going, knowing we have to count on getting dinner there. I never know if the service will be kind and prompt, or if we'll be moving from table to table to bar, hoping to even be noticed before our kids are out of class and it's time to leave. Sometimes it's great, but most times, I feel like we're putting them out more than we're dining out. *Management has kindly contacted me regarding this review, I'm anxious to update after future experiences! read more

Interesting place with many rooms and hallways. Went for St Baldricks as my brother in law was getting his beard & hair shaved to raise money for charity. Place was mobbed. Many people donating, and they had various raffles and such. Nice event! I was worried about food and beer service cause the place was so crowded but the whole staff helped each other out. They had a bunch of beers on tap & some cans. Picked an old favorite.. McCaffertys Irish cream ale. Great beer for day drinking. Very light & you wont get blitzed on it. Food took awhile. Had the irish chips as a starter. Sprinkled with irish dust. Sugar and salt but not 100% what the other "dust" ingredient was. Never the mind. Reuben on rye was simple but a decent lunch. Place was decent but not unforgettable. Not sure if id go back. Street parking but busy so we parked several blocks away at train station behind casino. A bit of a walk read more

Ordered corned beef bites & family portion of fish and chips dinner (fish, fries, coleslaw, tartar sauce, lemons. Got home. Guess what we received? Fish. And Fries. No slaw, no sides, no appetizer. Now I understand this is a limited team due to Covid. But this was after 8pm at night. No big crowds waiting to pickup. Pulled right up to the door. No big crowd waiting for the first night of patio seating. I'd think (like all businesses right now), they'd want to get things right.....keep the limited customers you have happy. And coming back = more money during tough times. Apparently not. As there were 3 employees standing outside waiting to seat people. People who weren't there hardly at all. While we received about half of our food. And did I tell you about the last time we were there over a year ago? Waiting almost 30 minutes to be greeted by anyone from the wait staff and finally left? That why we waited over a year to try again. Our mistake. Trust me. It won't happen again. One star for being open. Yay, Ballydoyles! Way to somehow survive. See you never again. read more

Stopped in for dinner on a Monday night about 5:30 and the place was almost empty. I was surprised because the last time I was here (a year ago) they had a pretty strong dinner crowd. I was very surprised to find that there was no Wi-Fi! Its almost unheard of to not offer this basic service. We stated with the spinach artichoke appetizer which arrived piping hot with cold pita wedges. Toasting the wedges would have made them more useful as dip scoops but with the exception of a little excess grease the dip was good. My wife ordered the beef stroganoff, which she had before, and I ordered the two bratwurst sandwiches from their summer menu. I also asked for a cup of soup to which the waitress told me they did not offer, you had to order a whole $7 bowl of potato leek soup. When I pointed out that had I ordered one of the other sandwiches I could get a cup of soup for a $2 up-charge, she said they didn't do that any more and should really take the option off the menu. This confuses me as the soup, which is very good, is a heavy cream based dish. If you eat a full bowl you might just as well skip the entree. She suggested my wife and I share a bowl. My wife's stroganoff was very much to her satisfaction in both portion and flavor. My brats were served grilled two ways, one with sauerkraut and a blue cheese sauce and another with grilled onions and a chipolte mayo. The blue cheese brat was very good but the chipolte mayo was so overwhelmingly smoky as to overpower the rest of the sandwich. After the first bite, I had to scrape the rest of the mayo off. The big sin happened at payment. I intended to use a $25 Visa gift card to partially pay for our meal. The waitress came back to tell us that Ballydoyle does not accept Visa gift cards. They accept Visa but not a Visa gift card? What's the deal with that? Ballydoyle is OK but if I were going to pay full-price for a meal this is not the place I would have chosen. In the end it seems that we were in a restaurant that had had its day in the sun. read more

went there with four friends on a Friday before a show at Paramount. Checked it out online which said no reservations but people with reservations were taken first??? The restaurant was very dirty and bathrooms were deplorable. We ordered drinks and a sandwich . Drinks took 20 min and food never did arrive so we left after an hour. Very poor management. read more

We visited here last night before the show at the Paramount Theater. We had fish and chips and a reuben. Food was hot and good, fries were cooked perfectly. My beer was cold... I know many places are hit or miss but our service, food and drink was spot on. We tipped well as our waiter was hustling but more than this he was friendly and sincere. read more

I usually always go to Ballydoyle in Downers Grove since that one is close to where I live - but I recently went to this one in Aurora. Went to see a band there (American English who were awesome), and the sound was excellent. The food was very good, just like the other location. But I especially was very impressed with our waitress. She was very attentive, and very frequently came by to see if we wanted another drink, etc. I'll definitely be back! read more

I ordered the fish and chips through door dash. Let me just say that the food was absolutely delicious. This would have easily been a 5 star rating, but they did not deliver my chips that I ordered. The homemade chips. I am just sitting here thinking just how amazing they would have been. Now we wait till the next time I order from them. Yummo! read more

Great food.Fast and attentive service by our waitress, Nadia. The 4 of us had the roasted chicken dinner and Rueben sandwich. I checked into Yelp and we were rewarded with a delicious basket of their homemade chips. Drinks were good. Looks like they have also done some recent remodeling. Try Ballydoyle's, I think you'll like it read more

Had lunch there with coworkers twice now. Read the sign and seat yourself. Food was good, but not outstanding. I'll be back.

Great food, but terrible service. We went a few months ago and had terrible service, but wanted to give them another chance. Still terrible service. Waited for a refill on pop, never did get it. Had to ask 3 times for more cocktail sauce. Very disappointed! read more

Ten minutes wandering back and forth at the door before I got seated. Or rather....told to sit where ever I wanted. Sat outside after checking to make sure the patio was open. Sat out there for fifteen minutes with no one even coming by to asked what I wanted to drink or give me a menu. Gave up and left. No one said a word to me on my way out the door either. Disappointing. read more

Awesome location right on the river. The space is huge and the decor is amazing, very well thought out. We had the shepherds pie, lunch box and potato leek soup. All were amazing and very filling. read more

Ballydoyle Irish Pub - Lunch Box - Irish Pub Near Me - Aurora, Illinois

Went the other day with a former employee, everything was pleasant and quick so I decided to go with my husband a week later. COMPLETELY DIFFERENT no one at the door waited 5mins just to seat ourselves at the bar, waited 10mins no one served us about 3 employees passed us and nothing until one saw us leaving and he just looked at us and said "welp" and walked away. read more

I like to go to Ballydoyle's Irish Pub for the beer and bands, and that's about it. I've never been too impressed by the food (especially the boxty...ew). Got the incinerator burger one time and the incinerator sauce was so hot you couldn't even eat it. I love spicy foods, but it was not flavorful at all...just hot as hell. Irish chips are okay, but they put some kind of sugar on them to make them sweet and I'd much rather them salty when I'm drinking. I had my most recent birthday here with friends and family, and the staff were very accomodating. They worked with me through email and over the phone to help me set up a date and reserve a room....for free. They also offer specialized menus that you can design and open bars, but of course that costs extra. The customer service you receive when dining-in is wishy-washy. I've had great servers and I've had very poor servers. It gets packed on the weekends and I think that has a lot to do with it because they get assigned too many tables to wait on and become overwhelmed. Like I said, it's best to just go here to drink and listen to the bands. They are opening one in Downtown Naperville and I'm pretty excited about that. They always have great events going on, which you can find on their website. Decent place overall. Nice atmosphere, with great music and an awesome selection of beer. Just need to improve their food. read more

Ballydoyle is a solid spot if you're going to see a band. There are a lot of tables near the stage, and the sound system is good too. I came here to see Hot Sauce Committee, a 90s/00s boy band cover band, and we really enjoyed ourselves. The cover was more than fair ($5!), and if you get there early enough, they won't charge cover. But if you're doing that, be prepared to order a few drinks at least. The Guinness mixed drafts are good, and they don't stop at a Black & Tan. I had a Guinness mixed draft with a black currant beer, and my friend tried one with blackberry. The sweetness took the edge off of what I usually don't like about Guinness. There was also a server giving out samples of Guinness Blonde and Nitro. I later had an Oatmeal Cookie cocktail which was surprisingly good - I wasn't expecting much from an Irish beer pub's cocktail list. The cocktail list offers a lot of options too, and prices are reasonable. There's a Yelp check-in deal right now for free Irish chips, one of my favorite appetizers here, but with the check-in deal we didn't get the tangy blue cheese sauce. Darn. Still hungry? The mac & cheese bites are good too! Despite the big crowd for the show, service was excellent! Our server even remembered our names and kept our checks straight - I don't know how they do that. One of my friends got overcharged for 2 beers instead of 1, but he fixed it immediately. Big crowds mean hot. Ballydoyle is infamously hot. Wear lighter clothing, no joke! The crowd here is mixed, but there were a lot of younger folks all feeling up on each other (barf.) and later I saw a guy getting kicked out - must be why it smelled like barf near the bathroom. There was a questionably drunk/high/homeless man trying to grind on the women here too. I'm sure the crowd depends on what band is present - if you can hold your own, you'll be fine. During the day this is actually a pretty family-friendly spot. It's a cozy Irish pub that is a welcome addition to downtown Aurora. read more

Ballydoyle is basically your typical, run-of-the-mill Irish pub, except for one thing: Boxty. What is a boxty, you ask? It's an Irish potato pancake, and Wikipedia tells me that translates to "poor house bread" in Irish. Well, ship me off to the poor house, 'cause I want to eat boxty every day! Ballydoyle offers several different kinds, filled with chicken, steak, or corned beef, and I decided to go with chicken. It was delicious: a potato pancake wrapped around chicken, spinach, peas, and mushrooms in a white wine cream sauce, topped with sour cream and served with mashed potatoes on the side. Holy carbs, Batman! The only problem was that filling was more "warm" than "piping hot" - it probably could have used a few seconds in the microwave or something. But I was so hungry that I didn't feel like sending it back, so I ate it. The leftovers tasted even better heated to the appropriate temperature the next day. My boyfriend ordered the shepherd's pie, which was fine, but didn't blow him away. Like my entree, it was definitely very rich. Dieters beware. They have a nice selection of Irish whiskeys, scotches, and beers, though as Erin S. mentioned, you won't find too many craft beers. I'm not a beer connoisseur, so I'm okay with that. Also, they have Magners on tap. Score! And if you're tired of the same old Black and Tan, they have some fun "beer cocktails" for you. I tried a "Red Witch," which was Harp, cider, and black currant juice. Sweet and sassy (like me, obvs). For dessert, I tried a "Nutty Irishman," one of their coffee drinks, spiked with Frangelico and Bailey's and topped with whipped cream. Yum! I'm teetering between three and four stars here...I think I have to go with three since the prices are not at all cheap. Nevertheless, we'll be back! That boxty is calling me. read more

I have been here a handful of times and their food is ok but their service is not good. I have come here for lunch, dinner, and even their Halloween party. I like the views of the river from the back of the restaurant and the fact that they can open up the back windows on a nice day. There is nothing on the menu that is memorable to me and we had a really horrible experience a while ago that just sealed the deal on me never going here again. My husband and I went in for dinner with the intent on using a $25 Ballydoyle gift card we had. We ordered, of course it took them forever to get our food out when no one was there, and then gave them our gift card to pay. The server came back and said that their machine was broken and couldn't read gift cards. It could do anything else but process gift cards? Um ok. I get that sometimes things break and that's just how it is and it's not the servers fault, but she didn't do anything to accommodate us when we were clearly angry. She was just staring at us waiting for a credit card. There was no solution like they will have them fixed in a couple of hours or tomorrow or even let me go get the manager so they can explain it to you. She just stared at us. So we payed with our credit card and left. My husband then came home and emailed the manager saying how rude the server was. The manager apologized and promised to mail us another $25 gift card. We gave them our address but never received it. My husband emailed the manager back to say we never received it and never got a response. Whatever, I shredded the gift card because I don't want to come back anyway. read more

Our waiter was the only one for the entire restaurant. Despite that, he was top notch, taking care of everything. The goat cheese salad is the bomb & hubby enjoyed a smash burger, that they plan to put on the menu permanently. We also got to enjoy a complimentary order of Irish chips, dusted with something magical, along with a blue cheese dipping sauce. There are so many wonderful things on the menu, it's difficult to choose. I highly recommend! read more

Very fun times at Ballydoyle. They've got good beer, good food, and good music. The room itself doesn't sound that great and it isn't the most conducive to dancing and totally enjoying the music, but overall this is a great pub with great live music. read more

Ballydoyle Irish Pub - Live music at Ballydoyle (Pistol Pete) - Irish Pub Near Me - Aurora, Illinois

I will start it off like I usually do... Positives and Negatives. Positive: The sweet potato chips were awesome... Little sweet little salty You go the ambiance of being in an old European church (that could be bad if you're drinking) Service was A+ Negative: Can't really think of any except that the crowd was a bit older that I am. Ballydoyle's is good spot to check out if you live in the burbs. Its hard trying to find things that are special out of the city. Maybe other places offer cheaper drinks, but if you bring 2-3 people with you and have a drink you will have a good time. I still have to this day the fond memory of the pictures we took acting like we were in church. (THE SEATS WERE PEWS... INTRIGUING IS IT NOT?) Check it out read more

I was here at the grand opening and have also frequented this place many, many times since then. This, however is my first and overall review. Food: 4 stars... they actually have really good food here. I have tried their salads, burgers, wings, appetizers, etc! I've never really had a bad experience with their food. To be honest, I've noticed the portions decreasing a little and the price point remaining the same. This is fine if the quality of the food increases, but, I have seen that flip-flop more recently. Beer: 5 stars... the beer selection here is pretty amazing. They always seem to have something new to try and the cost for beer is pretty standard across the board. If you haven't tried it yet, get the Milk Stout Nitro from Left Handed Brewing Co. WOW! It's like the chocolate milk of beers:) Hats off to Bally for always incorporating new and exciting beer selections. Bar Staff: 5 Stars... AMAZING bar staff... even when things are crazy, they find a way to interact and make the expereince fun. They never short pour the drinks or trade out shelf liqour i.e. you pay for one type of gin, they pour another. They take the time to make sure things are correct and that you are happy with the food and drink you order. It really comes across like they are happy you are there. I haven't received the same treatment at other nearby bars. There is only one exception to this rule... if someone from the waitstaff jumps behind the bar! Which brings me to my next area of rating: Service Staff: 3 Stars... This is what dissapoints me most about Ballydoyle. Service unfortunately is either hit or miss. Whether or night is busy or slow... it doesn't matter. Most recently, yesterday to be exact, we had a server that came off prickly and it felt like she really didn't want to be there... but had to be. That sucks when you are on the receiving end of it. ATTENTION BALLY: Servers are the face of your company... when they are passionate about the experience, when they can pair beer wih food, and when they show gratitude that you are there... you will bring in more money. Please, fix this. General Atmosphere: 4 stars... You can escape in this place. It's fun and warm, and it's neat to look at all the design and decorations... most of which is from Ireland. Its great to bring friends and family too. If you haev younger ones I would bring them in the day time for lunch or early dinner. It has done a graet deal to enhance downtown aurora and I am glad it's here. Overall Rating: 4 stars... I So want to give this place 5 stars but there is always something that is holding me back from doing it. Hopefully, they can make improvements with Service Staff and food quality. I would love to give an updated review reflecting that. read more

I'm glad I read the Yelp reviews before checking out Ballydoyle, as we went out of our way to sit at the bar since it's sort of difficult to be actually sitting at a bar and getting bad service. (I mean, it's possible, but, yeesh.) Anyway, looking around, it was pretty obvious if you weren't sitting at the bar you were forever stuck playing the "Where is our server?" game- Lots of people with empty drinks craning their necks around and the like. But, anyway, the beer list here is very above average for Aurora. They've got a lot of great stuff on tap, and even more in bottles. Food was good too, we started with fried pickles which came as spears instead of slices which I vastly prefer. I got a pot roast boxty, which is really something you've got to try, as it sort of broke my brain. Essentially, it's like a giant pot roast taco wrapped in a pancake. The mix of sweet and savory worked oddly well, to the point that I was pretty shocked by how much I was enjoying it. It makes me wonder what else I can wrap in a pancake. Atmosphere was pretty great, but we went there on a night where there wasn't any music being played or any relevant sporting events on. I could imagine this place being a real mad house when either of those things happen. Menu prices seem just a ~tad~ high for the downtown Aurora area, but I suppose everything seems expensive when you're around the corner from taco places that serve you so much food you feel like you could barf for less than $10. read more

Noticing Ballydoyle opened early (10:00 AM) on Sunday morning, we decided to check them out for the first time after church. We arrived around 11:30 and we were just about the only customers in the place. No problem getting a table as we were invited to sit where we wished. We ordered our drinks and an appetizer, which came reasonably quick and we were given ample time to review their extensive lunch menu. Our server however, seemed a bit cool and indifferent and it took quite a while for him to return to take our lunch orders. There were four of us in our party and we each ordered something different, giving us a good sampling of the variety that does exist on the menu. We started off with an order of the Fried Pickles ($5.95). They were excellent but the appetizer only came with 5 pickles so you'll likely need more than one order if there is more than two of you dining. As for the entrees, one of us ordered the "Lunch Box", ($12.95) which was a lightly beer battered haddock fried to a golden brown and served with fries and a side of peas and coleslaw. She proclaimed it "excellent" and reminded her of her New England home where haddock is very popular. Another of us ordered the Chicken Pot Pie $13.95) and her eyes were bigger than her stomach and was unable to finish the huge portion that was filled with carrots, potatoes, peas and chunks of tender chicken topped with a delicious puff pastry. She pronounced it "very good". The third member of our party ordered the Patty Melt ($9.95), which is served with the traditional marble rye bread, with American cheese and grilled onions and comes with fries. It was deemed "tasty and good". I ordered the Reuben Sandwich that came with a generous portion of their slow braised corned beef, served with 1000 island, swiss cheese, and sauerkraut. It was tasty but I also noted the corned beef seemed a bit on the dry side, even with the dressing. I chose Ballydoyle's "Irish Chips" as a substitute for fries ($1.50 per sub) and an order of warm bleu cheese dipping sauce ($2.00). Both the chips and sauce were quite tasty. All in all, I give Ballydoyle's a 3 star rating but it has tons of potential. It's right on the river bank across the street from the Hollywood Casino in the heart of downtown Aurora. It has an outdoor patio which would be very nice on a warm day and the interior is decorated very tastefully with an authentic Irish Pub feel to it. As for the cons. Cool, aloof service. Considering the help outnumbered the customers 5-1 when we were there, we should have been treated like kings and queens. We weren't. Price. $78 including tip seems a bit pricey for lunch, considering half our party ordered sandwiches. Their $1.50 substitution charge felt more like a gouge considering I gave up fries for chips and the $2 for a cup of bleu cheese sauce also seemed excessive. I'll certainly be back (planning an event this Friday as a matter of fact) but there were a few things that left me wanting. Fix those things and I could definitely see 4 stars in this hot spot's future. read more

My girlfriend and I come here multiple times a month. We love it here. I even performed here on one of their open mic nights(which are every Wednesday). Everything is good here. From the seasonal menu to the beer menu. Favorite brew is Firestone double jack. Just an FYI though, if you use the check in to get free Irish chips don't expect the blue cheese dip and same size. read more

My husband and I came here for dinner before a show at the Paramount Theater. We made reservations because a lot of theater goers frequent the area restaurants. I recommend doing that especially on the weekend. Reading the negative reviews about service at this restaurant, I wasn't expecting the best experience. Happily, those reviewers were wrong. Our server, Santos, provided attentive and friendly service. The food was fabulous. The special seafood bisque served on Fridays was fantastic and rivaled those I've had at Nick's Fish Market or The Clubhouse. They also make a great traditional Moscow Mule. The owner, Phil, stopped by our table to see how we enjoyed our meal, which was a nice touch. I saw him do that to other customers, which meant he cares about his clientele and establishment. So looking forward to Ballydoyle opening a place in my town in January. Check in on Yelp and get a free basket of yummy Irish chips. read more

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This place is truly the dirtiest most disgusting place i have ever visited.it took twenty minutes to get a drink which was not cold,the waitress was rude and dressed like a slut,by the time our food came out,one hour,it tasted like it was straight out of the dumpster which we walked past and saw garbage everywhere. Most unpleasant experience of our lives.never to return and telling everyone i know Avoid this place like the plague read more

Best Guinness pour you're likely to get stateside. The whiskey selections are great. The food isn't quite what it used to be but still a decent spot to grab some pub food. read more