After arriving on Beaver Island, and doing some exploring, we had worked up an appetite. I checked on Yelp for suggestions, and after perusing what was open on that day and hour, we headed to Shamrock. Located on Paradise Bay and with a large side patio, we happily made our way over on our bikes for dinner. The bartender greeted me when I walked in, and when I said that I wanted to sit in the patio, she said "Sure! Grab a seat wherever you like." I found one in the front corner, perfect for watching the Bay, and ordered a Shirley Temple and a Chicken Cordon Bleu wrap. Both arrived in a decent amount of time. The wrap really hit the spot that evening. Crispy chicken tenders with ham and cheese for a little crunch from the fresh lettuce and tomato, all on a toasty wrap. The fries were cooked to golden and came with a smorgasbord of sauces for dipping. While we ate, we watched the calming scenery of the sapphire bay, and waved hello to bikers who pedaled past, all while keeping an eye out for the seagulls who kept watch for any morsel of food we may drop. The food was filling, the service was friendly, and the location couldn't be beat. For dinner on Beaver Island, don't hesitate to stop by Shamrock! read more

See all

The shamrock has a lot of charm but I'm hopeful the new owners will improve things somewhat. While I've mostly had decent but not great bar food here, the main issue is the prices are truly insane here. This is a common problem on Beaver Island because everything has to be brought off island but when you're paying almost $30 for a pretty average burger or some bland fish and chips, then it becomes a bit weird. I think if the new owners take over, they should either lower prices or improve the food quality because the quality of the food really doesn't match the expense. The service is pretty lackadaisical but I haven't had really bad service here just it tends to run on "island time" The bar and the patio are both very charming read more

This is a really nice bar in downtown St James on Beaver Island. They serve burgers, fries, and pizza to order, lots of different beers. Service was great, friendly. Nice friendly watering hole. read more

Shamrock Bar & Restaurant - Shamrock bar. - American Near Me - Beaver Island, Michigan

Hit this downtown spot more than once on a busy 4th of July mad house weeknd on the island. Its a bar, has food, no pretenses. Sit down drink, know what you want and enjoy yourself! Thats 5 stars for me but if you need pampering, stay on the mainland. Brother property next store, the Beachcomer opens at 5pm to finish off the evening until later read more

This place redefines "bad service". Waited 10 minutes before I could even flag down a server to get a menu with the promise "someone will get you". Well apparently "someone" was off that day because 10 minutes later someone never showed up. In the weeds? I mean, if they weren't the first restaurant off the harbor in a tourist spot, maybe. But despite having 4 servers that looked directly at me, my menu, and my empty table, none of them could be bothered. However, the patio appeared to get excellent service because that's where all 4 of them were focused. The only time they came to an inside table was to drop off a bill (I wonder how old those people were when they first sat down or if they had to get their mail forwarded). So, after 20 minutes of being excommunicado, we walked down to Daddy Franks for infinitely better service. read more

Love that it's been a traditional go to forever! But must say folks it's finally time to pull up that carpet. The smell! That's all. read more

Went here during my vacation to Beaver Island and really should have read the reviews beforehand. We had 4 adults and 2 kids. Right off the bat our drinks were very slow to arrive. Not a huge deal, I still had hope. We waited probably 50 minutes for our food to arrive, and EVERYTHING was lukewarm at best. Including two fish sandwiches that were room temperature. The kids Mac and cheese was straight up Kraft Mac and cheese as well. Tried to get another round of drinks to drown the pain and only the people at the table who ordered alcoholic drinks got their second round. $170 for 4 adults and 2 kids. Needless to say we didn't go back. Beaver Island is a super cool place but I'd never go back to this restaurant. read more

I primarily wanted to review The Shamrock to showcase Layla the bartender. She consistently remembers details about her people and makes an effort to be welcoming. She also will go the extra mile, every single time, to make sure that her people are cared for. The food is always good and the one time there was a slight issues with food, it was addressed and fixed immediately. This bar feels as warm and solid as a cozy cabin after a rain. read more

Shamrock's was another great find on the island. We were hungry from a busy day of adventures and we needed to find a good spot to eat, but most importantly, we needed to find a spot for my friend to watch his favorite team play soccer! lol Guess what? Even on remote Beaver Island we managed to make this happen, too! I was happy to see his excitment as we celebrated a WiN!!! Whoop whoop! Can you say SHOTS PLEASE!! Shamrocks had great options for food and drink. We both enjoyed our time here and learning more about the island from the locals. If you happen to make it out to the island, Shamrocks is a great spot to try. read more

See all

Fortunately, the food was decent. Not great, but certainly good. I walked in and ordered a chef salad and a quinoa salad to go. I spoke with a chef for a brief minute and he was highly accommodating. The service at the restaurant however, left a whole lot to be desired. Clearly a giant lack of training. It's really not that difficult to be nice, and to answer a customer's questions. The restaurant itself did not feel or look clean, the lighting was very, very dingy, it was extremely hot, and it was in drastic need of updating and remodeling I certainly will not be back there, and would not recommend anyone give it a try read more

We ate here twice. Food was very good. Our servers were awesome, lots of personality . Made our experience great.

With a map it's easy to recognize this place is not too easy to get to unless you happen to live on Beaver Island. The food was prepared to satisfy and the service really good in a bar setting. There's free pool and conversation with anyone there. read more

Only a few bar/restaurant options on Beaver Island. The Shamrock used to be somewhat decent, if not overpriced. Love the staff, but the kitchen/bar is overwhelmed at less than 50% capacity. Overwhelmed as in, 45+ minutes for a drink order, and 60+ minutes for mediocre food. The pace of life on BI is different than most places in the US. Still, charging island prices when you can't deliver on basic Beaver Island food service demands, has made this establish a no go for my family. Grab a bottle of wine and go to Daddy Frank's. read more

The service was good and timely. We had a good view of the ferry terminal and finished in plenty of time to catch our ferry. The server was nice. The food was good bar food. The clientele seemed to be a mixture of tourists and locals. read more

French onion soup and mushroom burger were pretty good. Ambiance was decent and staff did a good job for the most part. What knocked off a few stars was being charged $12.50 for a supposedly "top shelf" vodka Bloody Mary. I was never asked if I wanted the high end vodka and didn't know I had to specify that when I ordered. If you go there watch your bill. read more

This is a nice pub with a relaxed and chill atmosphere. Shamrock has a good selection of craft beer that's reasonably priced. They have TVs, a pool table, lotto and a great variety of options on their menu. The menu is through there is something for everyone. I had the famous whitefish, with tater tots. The whitefish was a bit fishy for my liking, but it was light and crispy, not heavy like some fried fish which was a plus. The bartender mentioned whitefish is fried with the skin on, which could give it a fisher taste. The tots were crispy and even paired well with the tarter sauce. Their tarter sauce is good, it's also homemade. Overall this spot is good I will be back. The people are friendly and have good recommendations on all things beaver island. read more

See all

Nice place. Great food and drinks. The staff was friendly. Good views of the lake. Server was iron Jamaica and had a cool accent. read more

Shamrock Bar & Restaurant - Wait staff. - American Near Me - Beaver Island, Michigan

See all

I'm glad I didn't read the past reviews before walking here from marina. Our food was fine, nothing fancy. I had a burger and chips. It was called the drive-thru, homage to a Big Mac but much better. My friends' food was also good but I can't remember what they ordered. Service was very good, drink selection satisfied. Enjoyed outdoor seating and breeze off the lake. Very fun and relaxing. read more

Shamrock Bar & Restaurant - American Near Me - Beaver Island, Michigan

Amazing service. We did a late fall weekend on the Island and our server, Shannon, was a wealth of information. She was attentive and helpful. Good food and friendly folk. read more

I wasn't expecting much. It was worse than I imagined. They were not busy, but we waited 45 min from time of order until we got our food. Waitstaff forgot half of what we needed. The food was meh. read more

The servers have no customer service skills. There is no sense of ergency at all. If they kicked their butts in gear, they could make so many tips. But we had to go to the bar to get drinks. The gal with the cornrolls was nusting her butt and sweating her butt off making up for the lazy servers. Then we returned and ordered a pizza to go and requested extra cheese. The new guy bartender gave us shit and was rude as crap. We'll never go there again. Whiskey Point Brewery gave us much better outstanding service. Even with a smile and they we're very busy also. But attitude and service is everything. read more

LOVE this place. Ended a quick trip to BI here. Came by myself and enjoyed pizza night with some salad and a couple local brews. The bartender Layla made me feel welcome and the locals were all friendly and fun! read more

Well so far horrible. Drinks are pure water bar tender was a ray of sunshine (lol kidding). Fish is fishy and tots are greasy. Service was ok. Ok. Didn't get the bills right either. Sorry I think this place is a no go. read more

The food was good, the service was awful! Everyone everywhere has been so nice until we come to this spot . Waitresses were unfriendly and we were treated to plenty of eye rolls and head shakes. read more

I love the Shamrock! The servers and bar keepers are amazing. The drinks and food are pleasing and the atmosphere is fun! Belly up to the bar, share your story and listen to other's stories. Its a blast at the Shamrock! read more

When your server does not speak English and you have to talk to foreign people for every customer service that's in United States and you go on Vacation it shouldn't be a challenge to order a burger. I asked what was on draft and was told about 3 beers she couldn't pronounce and she said that was it. You have like 8 taps. You have Keno and no ATM not too smart. By the way there is 9 people in here. Our drinks are sitting at the bar getting warm all while I'm writing this. Go somewhere else. COVID is not the excuse. Apparently the same ass jack owns all the restaurants in town. Get a clue. Your restaurants will all fail eventually. FYI the burger sucked. When the waitress asks "how long you want cooked" you know it's going to be a problem. Medium should not be gray in color. read more

Nice place to grab dinner. Service was great. Brussel sprout appetizer with bacon was the best I have had! Dinner was slow coming but the waitress explained that the kitchen had been slammed. Good Bloody Mary. read more

We spent the weekend on Beaver Island. We ate at The Shamrock numerous times as it was off season and places were closed for the season. Our waitress, Shannon, was so fun. She made us want to come back! Very attentive, personable and made it fun for us to be in the establishment. My hubby also had the most amazing char broiled burger he's still raving about! Service was good, nice menu, we didn't have a bad meal. Shannon rocks, can't wait to visit again. Hope she's still there. read more

We look forward to lunch at the Shamrock every time we come to beaver island. Had the bison burger and wife had the wedge salad-both good! Our waitress was friendly and efficient-have never been disappointed with the Shamrock! read more

Good service. Very good food. A great place to eat on Beaver Island. We went during the off season, so it wasn't crowded.

Hi expectations when looking at the style of the menu to so let down. Ordered fish and chips, which is white fish, got it with battered but they left the skin on and was told thats how we do it. Sorry but not on Whitefish you don't Ordered the truffle fries, got it with what looked like crushed salt only. I asked the waitress about the dressing of lemon aiol and parmesan. Her reply was simple, never seen it like that. I showed her the menu that explains it how it is supposed to be served. She asked if i wanted parmesan than. Simple reply to that, Thats what i ordered and expected since it's whats on the menu. Ordered buggers, Medium doneness and got red soggy beef and buns. Such a disappointment with a menu that is supposed to have a little bit above the rest style of food. Next time just go down and around the corner to the little ice cream shop that has decent food and great people working there. read more

We have been coming to the Shamrock for almost forty years. During that time it has had its ups and downs, but now it has hit a new all time low. The flood and drink is clearly "off the truck", but whoever is preparing the food doesn't read the instructions and doesn't know how to reheat. My wife's hot dog was cool in the middle and served with ketchup only. No mustard, relish, onion, etc. My iced tea was undrinkable which had not happened before anywhere. Not sure what was in it. I asked for my sandwich without fries but got them anyway which was a good thing because my sandwich was gloppy and mostly bread. A really bad lunch. read more

This place is not great. I've been there twice and both times had lackluster experiences. The pizza tasted like a frozen pie and was burned on the bottom. The fish and chips were great but had the skin still on so I had to pick through it. The lettuce had some rotten bits. It seems like the waitstaff is a bit rude to tourists and the cooks are not looking into quality control. read more

Shamrock Bar & Restaurant - Pizza. Burned on the bottom and tasted like it was frozen from a box. - American Near Me - Beaver Island, Michigan

See all

WE WALKED OUT! After having vowed 2 years ago to never return to the Shamrock until it had a new owner, we gave it another try. We arrived after the lunch rush, but still, what a mistake. After waiting 40 minutes, our clam chowder arrived, after waiting another 20 minutes and numerous inquiries to our waitress, our whitefish never did arrive. We paid the bill for the chowder and drinks and LEFT. Such a shame, it used to be such a great gathering place. read more

First of all, the service is absolutely horrendous. I went with a small group of freinds and there were maybe 2 other groups seated and our waiter came up to us 1 time just to ask for drinks, the other times we had to go up to him and ask for our bill, to place our order, and for refills. Second of all, the food took almost 45 minutes to come out. I ordered a burger and it was extremely over cooked. Every bite that i took made my mouth feel like the sahara dessert because of how dry the patty was. It came with fries, but they did not even seem fried. They were also cold and had 0 crisp too them. One of my buddies ordered a pepperoni pizza and it came with a surprise jalapeño. Lastly, this place is OVERPRICED. I highly recommend not coming here. read more

We ate here twice during our visit. One staff member was rude and unhelpful. When he was told that one set of the two side dishes (which were the exact same as each other) were cold, he made a big deal out of it and said that they both were put on the plate at the same time. The next day, we came for pizza. Negligent that this happened to be pizza buffet day (started at 5, we sat down at 4:50), we ordered a pizza only to see the buffet being set up 5 minutes later. Not only did the waiter not tell us about the buffet, but the chef said he could not put ours on the buffet and allow us to have the buffet instead because ours had "too many toppings." read more

The Shamrock Bar on Beaver Island: A "MUST MISS" if you like pizza. I don't generally go out of my way to write something negative about a restaurant (in fact, this is my first time doing so) but the pizza was "SO SO" bad that I feel obligated in some sort of weird way to warn others. My wife and I took the early ferry boat from Charlevoix,. MI to Beaver Island on July 9th 2012. Granted, it was a Monday and you would expect the place to be dead (and it was). After checking in to our accommodations, we strolled down to town to have lunch, and we decided to have it at the Shamrock. I ordered the pepperoni pizza. Now, I'm sort of a pizza guy. I make my own dough at home and I know which places serve the best pies from Pasadena to Sacramento.... I'm not trying to toot my own horn here but I do want to lay the foundation that when it comes to pizza I've been developing my palate for over 50 years and I do tend to notice a great pie when I run across one. You won't find one at the Shamrock on Beaver Island, and in fact, I can without reservation say that their's was the worst God-Awful pepperoni pizza I've ever had the displeasure of attempting to eat. Now of course, I was a customer so I was not in the "kitchen" to see the cardboard box opened and frozen pizza taken out of its box and placed next to some sort of heat source. But if I had to guess, I'd say they are serving a $1.98 Tony's pepperoni pizza (that's what they cost today at my local grocery store) and jacking up the price by a saw-buck. And in fact, I don't care about the rip-off as far as money; but I do care about pizza and I'll not sit by and let this culinary crime go unreported. I actually don't mind a frozen pizza. I eat them quite often at home and I doctor them up to make them turn out better. Heat up a stone, apply olive oil to the bottom so it toasts up nice and crispy, add extra cheese, onion, pine nuts, feta, etc. But "this".... This was a turd that no flowerly words can polish. The crust color? White. The color of the uncooked dough that came out of the box. The color of the cheese on top? Uncooked while with a little bit of sweat.... They warmed it up but they didn't bother to cook it (although it took a long time to come out). Not one bit of "cooking" color anywhere on this pizza. The Pepperoni? Well I ate 2 slices of this monumental disappointment, then I started transferring the pepperoni slices from the pizza slices I knew I would never eat to one more that I would try. So they didn't do much to screw up the pepperoni slices in less you count not heating them up very much. When the "low talker" bartender came up to collect the uneaten portion (seriously, he spoke in such a low volume that my wife and I only caught perhaps 1 to 3 scattered words per sentence so it was hard to tell what the hell he was saying) he asked if I wanted the rest (with no remaining pepperoni) in a cardboard box to go. I wasn't' going to say it, but I just couldn't help myself and I replied, "Are you sure that the pizza itself wasn't the cardboard box"? He looked me straight in the eye, gave a knowing chuckle, nodded his head and took the majority of the uneaten pizza away. So if you like pizza "and" if you happen to find yourself on Beaver Island, Michigan, do yourself a favor and avoid it at the Shamrock in St. John's. It sucks. read more

Ate lunch here 3 days in a row while visit the island. The food and drinks were excellent. All waitresses were wonderful and restaurant complied with Covid expectations. read more

Good bar food with a varied menu, overlooking St. James Harbor on Beaver Island. Efficient, business-like service and old fashioned, small town bar look and feel. A "don't miss" visit whenever I go there. read more

Good food, atrocious service. Food took forever to come out (about 1 hr), beer picher was only 3/4 full, no silverware (even after asking), no plates for apps, waitress was indifferent. The "manager" apologized and said the wait times are normal because the cooks don't get along - blamed it on the kitchen. Way to not accept responsibility. Nothing comped, no attempt to make us happy. Big group came in after us and was long gone before our food arrived. Too bad a place like this can't figure out customer service. We'd recommend going elsewhere. read more