I will never come back again. It wasn't the cobwebs on the windowsills that were in desperate need of dusting that I found disappointing but the cook himself. When my mussels were brought out, I began counting the empty shells. I stopped at six. After calling the waitress over, I offered to pull out the remaining empty ones; they weren't even in the dish. She said she would go get some more. The chef refused, saying the shells themselves must have been empty because he cooked them in the pot. I've had better food and service at Denny's. read more

You can't help but feel at home in a good Irish pub. Thanks to Leo Roche, Irishman and owner of The Black Sheep (and The Harp and Hound in Mystic), you can experience an authentic Irish pub in downtown Niantic. Located in a restored old pharmacy building, the bar combines cozy and cosmopolitan with dark mahogany pillars, earthy tones, and soft lighting accented by a smattering of clever memorabilia. Take a trip Monday through Friday from 4 to 6pm and enjoy buy-one-get-one-half-off appetizers and $1 off draft beers, well drinks, and house pours of wine. Do try the Guinness steamed mussels with basil-shallot emulsion and the crispy vegetable dumplings, and test your intellect at trivia night every Tuesday. read more

This is another local joint on Main Street but has better options than most in the area. Drinks and food are usually pretty good but loud music and below average service do happen sometimes especially on weekends. read more

Despite the flies, neglected cleaning, and flaky service, I was at 3 stars for lunch this afternoon. That was until the end of the meal when we found ourselves in the unfortunate situation of waiting about 25 minutes to pay and leave. Saw a family of 4 walk out in that time. By the appearance alone, and decently executed menu items they should be doing a brisk service in the tourist season. Some suggestions for mgmt.; The potato crisps were good, but would have been excellent had they been served hot and fresh. The cleaning needs attention. Staff seemed overwhelmed, maybe an extra person would help. read more

Food was terrific. Nice selection of beer. Service was slow and there not many people in there on a Wednesday @5pm. We had a party of four. Ate appetizers which were very tasty, reasonably priced and served hot. But the service was just under par. I will go back and give them another try. read more

Food was acceptable but nothing to write home about. Ambiance was good but loud . Servers were attentive but not the most knowledge ever. Wine/ beer selection was good. read more

The food was good, the patio seating was nice and shady. But the service was very slow! The Main Grille had a 20 min wait but this restaurant didn't. We were seated right away but we were there for a very long time waiting for our food to come. read more

Get over there once a year I guess. Love the decor and setting. Easy to get to with plenty of parking. Great for getting together for drinks or sitting down for dinner. The menu is not huge, but the specials always sound good. The prices are average I suppose. Beers on draft are good, cant find Boddingtons in too many places. The caramel apple bread pudding is really good. read more

I just had the turkey wrap and it was pretty god but a little bit dry. The fries wee tasty but not hot. I had a good waitress and would come back. Nice to have the football game on. read more

I feel like this place is hit or miss. Sometimes I really enjoy it and the food is on point and sometimes it's not. Last weekend a few friends of mine went in for dinner on a Sunday and there were barely any people in there which was odd to me. Our food was okay- I remember the calamari being better last time (this time it was very tiny almost burnt pieces). I ordered salmon on top of a salad and it was the skimpiest piece for 10$ extra. Maybe it was an off day or it's going downhill... I don't know... I wont't be back for a while. read more

You could not pay me to ever return to this establishment. I took my father here one afternoon for lunch. We were seated quickly but it was twenty minutes before a server even came to take our drink orders, at which point I asked the server for a soda and some bread, crackers, or anything readily available for my diabetic father whose sugar was crashing. She returned in ten minutes with exactly one soda and never returned. After waiting another twenty minutes or so with no service, we left with a $5 on the table. I can appreciate being short staffed or just having a busy day, but that was really unacceptable especially given my dad's diabetic situation. read more

Great lunch stop! The poutine fries were great, not the cheese curd kind but just good fries with chicken gravy and white cheddar cheese. Yummy. The Big Buddy stuffed burger is in the top 2 burgers my hubby has ever had. We are half way home to MD and still talking about how to strategize our next order for maximum enjoyment. We make an annual road trip up this way and will be back every year! read more

We went here on St Patricks Day eve. The service was excellent, my husband was happy with the selection and the food was good. It was loud, but we expected that and it was fine! read more

Very average place. The name is cool, the decor looked promising, but the food was dead average and our waitress was a little special. She could not figure out how to pronounce tilapia, so she offered us tile fish. I'd go back, but only because it's conveniently easy to get to. read more

The service sucked! The waitress never told us her name. She never came back to ask us how everything was or refilled our drinks. We had our dishes piled up waiting for her return. We then found out her name was Breanna. Never again will we return for just ok food. read more

Great hangout spot. Decent sized bar. Good drinks. Good service. Live music. A favorite spot in the summer due to the outdoor patio on main street. If you're looking for a place to grab some drinks and relax... great spot. If you're looking to eat, different story. The dining area is small and cramped, and people from the bar area spill over into the dining area. Its very loud. The food is ok. Nothing special. Service can be slow because they are slinging drinks as well. I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a place for drinks and will be there myself. I however find other places in the area to dine prior to drinks. read more

On New Years Day, we joined Colorado friends at a high top table for an early dinner. Everyone's dinner arrived on time except our Colorado friends'! The waitress forgot to enter his order, but quickly apologized, removed a drink from the tab and placed the order. We enjoyed the muscles, scallops and fish & chips. I like the relaxed atmosphere of the Black Sheep and parking is plentiful downtown. I will go back with friends for drinks, appetizers and laughs. read more

My friend and I recently decided to make a trip to the Black Sheep. MISTAKE. When we got there, we were seated immediately, we were seated in a dusty corner right across from the supply closet, and we were bumped every time the waitresses went to the closet. It was very busy, and our waitress was clearly frazzled. We were seated for many minutes before we even saw our waitress. All of our drinks remained empty throughout the meal as we were completely neglected by our waitress. I ordered the fish and chips, and when it arrived, the fish was chewy and overlooked, with an underwhelming portion of fries. For the price, I expected a lot more. Also, I feel like the sherry in the French Onion soup needed to be reduced more. Overall, I was underwhelmed by my dining experience at the black sheep read more

Stopped for a very late lunch on Saturday, August 23, 2014 at about 4:00PM. We'd been here before, so we knew what to expect--or thought so. I ordered the Black Sheep Salad with steak. I ordered the steak medium and explained, with a "hot pink center." I got medium well. Can't blame chef for that, it can't be easy to cook a steak that's less than a 1/4 inch thick. And chewy. Thank God it came pre-sliced! I've had better steaks at diners at breakfast. I did get through it with little grousing, as my companion's meal seemed fine. But when I got to the end of the meal I discovered the plate they'd served my salad on was cracked through. God knows what lurked in the crevices. I was furious. I will not be heading back anytime soon. Overpriced. Overcooked. Unsanitary. Three strikes in one meal. They're out! read more

Beer is good, entertainment is great, food is good too. Service here leaves little to be desired. If coming out for drinks and a quick bite to eat be prepared to stay a little longer than anticipated. read more

This place is trouble. Went in for a nice night out and ended up waiting for 20 minutes without being greeted or even looked at. Menu looked tasty if you are one of the two tables they can actually handle at once. read more

Nice local pub, with a good selection of beer, wine, and cocktails. The food can be a little inconsistent, but the mussels are always delicious (and a great deal), the steaks are nice, and they have good seasonal salads. read more

A family frequent haunt and my personal favourite. They have a yummy assortment of great food with fantastic, friendly service. I always leave with a smile and feeling great about choosing them! In terms of seating, there's something for everyone, from bar seats with sports playing to large family tables to intimate tables for date nights, plus, there's also seating on the patio. Order the whiskey burger with sweet potato fries --- you will not regret it! read more

I wouldn't have believed it had I not experienced it first hand. Black Sheep waters down their Johnny Walker scotch. The moment I tasted my first sip it was so obvious. I asked my date, another scotch drinker, to taste it. Without telling her my suspicions she said the same thing!!! Un-f'ing-believable. Poor form Black Sheep, poor form. read more

Local and stopped in for dinner. $34.00 steak ordered medium was served half RAW. It was so unappetizing I was only able to eat half of my meal. (It turned my stomach....and I was not the one eating the steak). Waitress returned to ask about our meal. Told her the steak was under cooked. She asked if another meal would be ok or steak cooked longer. Declined both since appetite was lost. Only discounted $15.00. Certainly would not recommend and will not be returning. read more

We are local and come here often in the summer. Service was stacking last night and forgot an order that we placed. Drinks were decent. Food was terrible. Not sure we will ever eat here again! read more

One of my favorite places. (Yes, it's noisy. It's a bar that hosts live bands/DJs)

I realize that not every day in the restaurant/pub business can be a stellar day. But, this place is consistently not a good dining experience, even after giving it about five chances. Whether there are five people in the building or 35 people in the building, this place is very noisy. It is hard to have a conversation without yelling and that is WITHOUT any music playing. Horrible acoustics, just horrible. To be honest, I cannot even remember the meals I have ordered in this place because they were THAT forgettable. Not impressed, not impressed at all. The service is not even all that great either. I can say that the best time I have had there was with their Sunday Brunch and that was only because we ate outside on the patio. This is the first restaurant that I have ever gone to, that when I left, I felt this great sense of relief as I realized that the noise level was getting on my nerves. read more

The Black Sheep offers what it claims to be Irish and British food, however, the food is expensive for what you get. For example, their Fish and Chips is $18 - not even decent fish restaurants charge that much. The Bangers and Mash tastes like baby food in texture. The burgers are not too bad and reasonably priced. They have a wide selection of drinks with some traditional British and Irish offerings such as Boddingtons and Magners Cider. It is a nice and relaxing place, with nice and friendly staff. It's just a shame that the food is expensive for the quality you get. read more

We came in on a Thursday afternoon while on vacation. The wait staff was lacking in that there was no interest in wanting to serve anybody. There were 4 tables occupied when we were seated, waited 10 minutes for a beer & glass of wine. The calamari was great & reasonably priced. This was the only good thing about this place. We were charged $18 for a Caeser's salad with 4 burnt shrimp & $16 for a Caeser's salad with burnt salmon. Complete ripoff & bad service. I would not ever recommend eating here when in Niantic. Go somewhere authentic like Flanders Fish Market! read more

I love their live music and their bar food is great! They have an amazing selection of alcohol and beers on tap. The service is also very friendly and the lighting is killer, makes you wanna stay for a while! read more

Great Irish pub with live music on Friday and Saturday nights. Good tap beer and atmosphere.

We swung by last night first time after running a local 10K. It was super busy on the patio but the hostess was great and figured out a way to sneak us to seat. The food was pretty disappointing. The wings, potstickers and calamari were all significantly over cooked. The salads we got weren't bad and the seared scallops I got were okay. The drinks are good and our waitress was wonderful. It's clear to me that this is a spot you go to to drink and hang out not eat. We won't be headed back. read more

I've gone here multiple times and sadly it has gotten worse with each visit. This has truly upset me bc 1. It's a great looking place for the area and 2. (more importantly) is one of the two bars on the shoreline to serve Berkshire on tap. My last visit in a nutshell: seated in diningroom around by the bar. Ten minutes pass not one server greets our table. We order from bar instead and i let hostess know since i figured the waitstaff wouldnt enjoy thr bar taking one of their orders. Hostess does nothing. Beers were warm. Food arrives via server pretending nothing happened. Crabcakes consisted of all cake, no crab. Tarter sauce smelled of the container it came from and husbands burger was overcooked. This is one of the few times i regret not complaining to a manager. I guess i just felt that if it were already that bad there was no turning back. Black Sheep please go back to how you were when you first opened! read more

Very average - nothing special about this place. While the decor and ambiance are nice for an Irish Pub, the food is mediocre at best. It is almost like they are trying to have a "foodie" type menu, but just can't pull it off. read more

It's far too loud, almost impossible to carry on a conversation without yelling. The drinks are expensive. This place could be so much more but poor management has doomed it. read more

Not a good experience, I'm afraid. Had a reservation, but the place was busy on a Saturday night, so we had to wait for the hostess to clean a table with a questionable looking rag. Waited quite a bit of time before the server made an appearance. Once we ordered drinks, they came quickly and they were good. Now we were ready for food, I wanted a pasta dish but the server explained that they were out of pasta!?? I ordered the fish and it was ok, my husband enjoyed his selection as well. However, I thought I saw other servers walk by with what It looked like the pasta dish I originally wanted. Hmm? The band came in to set up, they dumped their equipment in the middle of the restaurant and walked away. We were hoping to catch some tunes but an hour later there still was no sign of them. The worst part of the experience was when we finished our meal. We never saw our server again, ever! She seemed to vanish, never cleared out dishes, offered us more drinks or dessert. Never came back! We were cashed out by another employee and left. What we thought would be a nice evening out turned into a very frustrating experience. read more

Tuesday night Trivia is very fun--so much better than the computerized trivia. Great atmosphere, great drink selection, good food.

Have to give this place 1 star. We were a family of four; we had an 8 yr old with us and at first we were questioning whether it was kid-friendly as it's really a dark pub environment; it turned out it was fine and they had a kids menu. The service was quite a bit off, especially since the place was not crowded, i.e., we didn't get the clam chowder appetizer before our main entree, and we didn't get our silverware until after our entrees were served; we had to ask for them. Most meals (crab cakes, chicken fingers, tuna and meat loaf) were just average; the crab cakes were the best; the tuna was covered in a sauce, so didn't really taste the tuna; the most objectionable was the meatloaf dinner. It was more like a mushy hamburger drowning in a pungent and overly salted sauce; nothing like the usual sauce that you expect. The hostess asked how things were and we told her about the overly salty meatloaf; she said she'll talk to the chef. Normally, in most restaurants you get a response, but instead she never returned. Needless to say, when adding up each incident, The Black Sheep left a bad taste in our mouths and our experience. read more

First time to Niantic, after an unsuccessful date the lady and I decided it would be best to still grab another drink anyway, we went to "Bar?" across the street and it was too busy and we got stared at, so we ventured in to Black Sheep. Man, what a cool rustic joint... There was no room outside on the patio and the bar was pretty full, it was a Friday night so that makes sense. We ordered a drink and sat at the high tops that separated the bar and dining room. We stared at every dish that came out and all the food looked really good, we had eaten at Spice Girls and it wasn't good at all. I'm sorry, Spice Club!... silly me. I wish we'd eaten here instead, and I've been trying to convince some friends to go back ever since. We were there for about an hour and a half and watched the band to be set up for the entire time and after we left and perused Book Barn and walked past again, they were still setting up, I don't think they ever ended up playing music from their various instruments. Anyway I will be back to try the food and update my review when that occurs. read more