Bull Mc Cabe's Irish Pub, Durham, North Carolina Restaurant Details

Food:

Good spot for a laid back refreshment. Large outdoor area (some covered, some out in the open). A proper pub!

Food:

Great Reuben. Chipotle mayo Devine on a burger. Great atmosphere.

Food:

Re-reviewing as of August 2014: I have to knock two stars off from my original review. Since their remodel, they've cut a bunch of items off the menu and the quality of other items has gone downhill (especially the burger). They still have great staff and a great tap list, so I will continue to visit them often, but probably not for the food.

Here is my original review (July 2013): Can't say enough good things about McCabes. It's my favorite Durham bar. Great beer selection, top-notch burgers and fries (among stiff competition), a couple of amazing Irish and British inspired dishes (HIGHLY recommend the curry chicken and chips), super nice bartenders and fun decor. I always know I will enjoy what I get to eat and drink, and be served by competent, fast wait staff. It's a regular dinner and hangout stop.

Food:

Summary: Great place for beer and just beer…don't eat here!

I went with 5 other friends this past weekend for the first time since the renovation. The only reason this gets 2 stars instead of 1 star is because of the outdoor seating and the great beer menu with lots of diverse beer styles (i.e., not all IPAs). So, if you are just looking for a place to grab a beer and enjoy the weather, I would recommend the Bull.

But if you are hungry, eat before you come. I don't know what happened to the food, but it was awful. AWFUL! Two of us ordered the special of chicken and dumplings, which was described on the menu as "not how your grandma made it" Well, they are 100% correct, because I don't think any grandma would ruin chicken and dumplings like they did. It hardly had any chicken…just a few micro pieces. Instead we got a sticky, glopy huge bowl of what was supposed to be dumplings. All it tasted like was pasty salt. Neither of us liked it. Two of my friends ordered the veggie burger, which was a frozen boca burger. I expect that from Burger King, but not a still-down, non-chain restaurant.

My other two friends shared pork nachos. Perhaps we are spoiled by the Federal's pork nachos, but these were just GROSS. I have had better at high school football games. The cheese was grainy and tasteless and the pork was weird. There was a huge pool of dark brown grease at the bottom of the nachos…nastiness.

Food:

We live nearby so my husband and I wanted to visit for a couple of beers and a burger. The beer was a sour wheat and tasted terrible to me, but the waitress said I would have to purchase a second beer, she would not replace it. Well, that really sucks! I could not consider paying again to have a better beer which made it really impossible to enjoy the rest of the visit (even if it is a matter of personal taste, customer satisfaction should be enough to change it out, and beer was principally why we came on the hot afternoon). My husband said the kitchen/cook looked unsavory anyway , so this prompted us to just cancel our order and just fold on a bad experience. Both beers were full, the waitress would only take the burger off. I explained that we were gaining nothing--not like we had drank 2 full beers and then afterwards asked for a refund--actually we were forced to pay for 2 beers we were not going to drink at all because of such a bad experience at the restaurant. Still, she did not see my point (we paid 10.50 for a bad time!) but what is more important than seeing the customer's point, is addressing the problem to the benefit of the customer, in my case not making me pay again for the same product. A good place would readily exchange it, and maybe even engage you with extra samples to try out different ones, they would go beyond your expectations even! You would leave feeling like they are problem solvers and that they care about pursuing excellence at their craft and service. Maybe you would be so impressed you would write a good review! But that's how it is with these sorts of places, they suck because they suck and better restaurants are better because they're better ! So here's one of the only bad reviews I have ever written!