John Cowley & Sons

An Irish bar in an older but renovated building. A large free lot is less than a block away. Inside is an old dark wood stereotypical small city Irish bar. Many tables, a small bar in the corner, small patio out front. The bar stools are painful to sit on. Staff is nice, small beer selection. Staff was a little slow and good at not making eye contact.

My wife and I met friends here for dinner on a Saturday night. It was not busy.I had a cup of the potato soup. meh. It had chunks of bacon and cheese. It was fine. I wanted the soda bread, but they were out.My wife and I split the French dip. It was fine for us. It was on the smaller side. It was enough for one person. We opted for the chips (not fries), which were a kettle-style. They were good.The atmosphere is a little nicer Irish pub. Lots of wood. There is a bar in the far corner.Our service was lack luster. My wife had to ask several times for water. The waitress never checked back if my wife wanted another glass of wine. ‍Our friends had the fish-n-chips, which they said was ok.

Mediocre food and overworked sub-minimum wage staff make this a place easy to avoid. Now that prices have been increased 20% most people will stay away in droves.

I come here every month for their special wine tasting dinners and this is the first time I came to try their regular menu. I brought my family here for a special occasion/birthday and I made a reservation in advance for 8 people on a Sunday afternoon for lunch. They were very kind and even put us in our own room, called the Cool Henry room. This was a lovely surprise! The service here is always top notch. Everyone who works here is very kind and attentive. Ashley took care of my family and provided excellent service. The food is fantastic! Upscale pub food. They really elevate all the classics dishes. You can find a wide variety of favorites, such as Fish and Chips, Shepherd's pie, pizza, burgers, sandwiches like the Rueben sandwich, pasta, salads--there is something for everyone. They have vegetarian choices too.They have a full bar so you can order whatever alcoholic beverage you want.I got their famous Fish & Chips and I see why they are famous. Perfection! Crispy, crunchy batter around the fish, and crispy fries too, just how I like them. The fish was excellent. This is how fish and chips are supposed to be.I love how the shepherd's pie was served, with the lamb mince spread all around the plate, topped with cheesy mashed potatoes. In the past, I've had shepherds pie in a very layered, thick way, and this was much more manageable and aesthetically pleasing.Their famous potato soup was delicious! I loved the bacon, cheese, and chives in it. We also enjoyed the Irish spring rolls, filled with sauerkraut, corned beef, potato, mozzarella and served with 1000 Island dressing. The Mac n cheese is pretty epic. I love scallions so it was wonderful to find scallions and bacon mixed in.They have a very nice dessert menu too: carrot cake, cheesecake, tiramisu, chocolate cake, and ice cream sundae. Lovely lunch experience! My whole family loved it and wants to come back.There is a free parking lot behind the restaurant, and there is a good amount of street parking too.

Do the Irish really eat here? It's been over 10 years since we last dined here. We only went this time because of a birthday gathering. We ordered the fish and chips and French dip. I asked for tartar sauce and the waitress said it comes with remoulade. I said I'd like tartar sauce and she said it's the same thing. I told her it's not. She then said, it's what we have - do you want it or not? The fish came out and there are three pieces with a small coleslaw and fries. The fish was okay, the batter is kind of heavy. The slaw was a little watered down which made me question its freshness. The fries were overcooked and dry. The French dip - the beef lacked seasoning and was overcooked. No amount of au jus helped. After 7:30p, there is a $5 cover charge upstairs as there is a band. That said, we were done eating and the band was running late and didn't start when they were supposed to!

Where to begin? Should it be the $5 cover or should it be the $7 16 oz domestic draft beer?Maybe I'll start with the lack of seating despite paying to enter?They have these long beer garden tables, but those take up more space than they're worth.It's been about ten years since I've been here and will probably be another ten before I come back. Even bougie Royal Oak bars are slow to go over $5 for a beer. I expect my stay to be short. There are other options and I will avail myself of them.

I don't know how this place stays in business: the food is terrible and the service is worse. I actually had food poisoning the last time I was here and spent three days in bed before I realized what was wrong--the potato soup--which tells you that the kitchen is not clean. Waitress can't make a rum and coke without putting lime in it especially when she was told not to. The clientele are elderly alcoholics who have lost their tastebuds. I wish this place would close. It's an insult to the city and lowers the prestige of Farmington. Any place is better.

I want to love this place because they have bands and i appreciate that but we don't eat here because the food is less than mediocre. What is really irritating is the 20% service charge to help pay wages. They enacted this increase on already high prices well before they had to increase wages. The wages only increased to $5.99/hour which does not justify the 20% increase. The other thing that's a bummer is you get the feeling that they don't really care if you come or not. This place could be a gold mine with better food and appreciation for customers.

Food was mediocre and the service ridiculously slow. Then to top it offthey added a 20% service charge on top of the bill. When I questioned the service charge I got some lame explanation. What are they thinking.Won't be back ever.

The new added service charge to my bill left no money for the waitress paid eight dollars on a single meal. Did that money go to the waitress or does it just go to the owner? Yes, the owner he's ripping people off last time I go there Michael J Overall.