The Original Public House

Great place for brunches with big groups. Food is delicious, service is top notch and the atmosphere is like no other. Great place for outdoors/​indoor atmosphere!

Ok so we went for brunch today. Not great BUT…
Got a cinnamon roll and the eggs benedict with shrimp etoufee and hash. Cinnamon Roll was delicious. Benedict was not good. Had no flavor. We ate some. Then just couldn’t finish it. The hash was decent. Our waiter asked us what we thought and we told him, «It just wasn’t the best we’ve had. It didn’t really have any flavor or anything.» He agreed and said he wasn’t a huge fan of it either.
Why I rated this 5 stars? Because they took the eggs benedict off our check and told us he’d tell the cook and managers about it. It was really nice of them and we expected to pay for it fully! Will definitely be back to try other things!

My husband I visited here last Saturday. I ate the grilled cheese and my husband had the stew. It was different and yummy. Stew had a good taste. Bar tender was nice but a little pushy… We sat at the bar. He would come and stand in front of us and ask what we wanted and then say he’d come back. Normally if we look up and/​or Motion for him to come out way that means we’re ready… But he was nice. Just not exposed to bartending tips. Overall good food. Small smell when you first walk in… But could be from food.

Did not have the chance to order food but Sarah, up front, was amazing! Very accommodating and sweet as can be! Beers were great on a very busy night.

Was very excited to try this spot but it ended up being pretty underwhelming, which is a shame because the menu seems to have potential. To start off our server knew nothing about the beer selection, which is fine, but we had to remind him that we wanted info on what they had to offer and when we finally did get an order in, the drinks didn’t come until halfway through the meal. And they were wrong. The food was decent. We had the Parmesan chips to start and they were incredibly greasy, and surprisingly lacked flavor even though they seemed to be coated. My husband enjoyed his fish and chips, and I had the grilled cheese (only meatless option on the menu). It was good, not out of this world, and I personally didn’t care for the collard greens that comes inside the sandwich. We probably won’t be back any time soon.

The first time I visited this restaurant I ended up walking out because I didn’t understand the menu. I’m so glad that I gave it another try because this restaurant has some of the best customer service that I have received since I moved here. Everything that I have tried so far is delicious even the things I thought that I wouldn’t like. I usually order the TOPH Tower Burger, not because I like to order burgers but because I can’t see past how delicious it is. This is the one of the best burgers I’ve ever had! Overall I come here for excellent customer service and for the «peace of mind» that no matter what I order it’s going to be delicious. If for some wild reason I end up not liking my meal, I have full confidence that the staff or owner will make it right.

Went with a group of friends after I had heard from several people about it being a really good spot. It was. The Reuben chips were delicious and Magners’ Original Irish Cider was a great compliment. Plenty for three of us to share at the bar while we waited on the rest of the gang. Once the dinner hour hit, the place filled up quickly.
Several orders of Irish Stew were placed along with several orders of fish & chips. I, however, went with the Bangers and Mash. The Mash was OK, the Banger was good — not to spicy but the real hit was the spiced apple sauce side. DELICIOUS. The owner stopped by several times to check on us and the server was very sweet. There was a little blip with the internet which caused a temporary halt to the payment system and the tablet ordering system but that can happen anywhere and often does.
Will definitively go back for the Fish and Chips and to check out the Irish Stew.
Overall, price what you would expect so I recommend giving it a shot.

My wife and I have been twice now. Both times we had the grilled cheese which is really good. It includes collards and a tomato chutney. All the flavors are very distinct and robust. The reuben bites were also a good appetizer as long as you like saucey things.
Beer prices are good, ranging from $ 3.50 — $ 8 with a lot of beers around $ 5.
The place is very new/​modern looking in décor and doesn’t really have an old pub feel. However the style is nice and comfortable.
Service was quick and friendly. Seating arrangements feel a tiny bit crowded, but wasn’t bad. It is a little hard to hear in there even without music the acoustics are not great.
Hopefully they’ll get some Irish music on a regular basis — then I’ll be coming more often.

I really enjoyed the fish and chips. a nice clean, new look to the old Finnagins… the only thing. it was so bright. I Think the lights should be dimmed a bit for dinner. not a lot of atmosphere. more cafeteria like ambiance, and acoustically very loud. maybe a few divider walls to absorb some of the sound. With that said. I think they are in the right track and I will go back… I liked the comfort food feel of the menu. next time I’m trying the curry!

The Original Public House (henceforth TOPH) is a small cozy restaurant which used to be Finnegan’s Pub. It was bought out, gutted, and rebuilt by a man named Rahul, who has transformed it into a great place to eat. The food is delicious, and I cannot recommend the Irish Beef Stew enough. All of their meals are made in house. The interior of TOPH was completely redone, and is now (thankfully) entirely smoke free.
Rahul prides himself on the happiness of his customers, and went well out of his way to ensure my wife and I enjoyed our experience. He chats with you at the table for as long as you’d like, and was generous enough to give us a complimentary dessert (to prove we’d like something we said we didn’t — bread pudding. He was right).
If I had to offer any criticism of TOPH, it would be the rather limited beer selection. That aside, this place is incredible, the staff is friendly and competent, and the owner is generous and benevolent, and truly cares that you want to return.
Do yourself a favor, and give this place a shot.

Food was good. Service just ok. We did not know they had dinner specials. Waiter did not tell us about the specials even though we did ask about the «catch of the day» on the menu. We overhead a waitress telling other patrons about 3 dinner specials. (They all sounded good by the way). I had the Fish & Chips. Fish was excellent. «Chips» were OK — just frozen fries instead of fresh cut. Slaw however was outstanding and I am usually not a fan of coleslaw. Menu has some low carb options but is definitely limited. My companion went with the bunless burger option with braised cabbage.

The Public House was a sad excuse for a mashup between Irish and American food.
To start, everything is over priced. The beers are way over priced and the selection of draft beer is not that great. The food is over priced as well and comparable to that of Applebee’s. I had the fish and chips (worst I have ever had) and my fiancé had the fish tacos (also, the worst I have ever had). My friends had the bangers and mash (looked like two sausages on a pile of slop).
Final thoughts:
Beer selection sucks, food sucks (the dishes can literally be made from the canned food aisle at the grocery store) and you pay a lot of money to be left feeling disappointed.
Save yourself and do not go.

The Food Is Just Horrible!!! Not Irish. Good Luck
Going There!!! The Lucky Leprechaun Is Not There!!!

Resturant Rating
What does each star represent?
0 * Unacceptable
1 * Poor
2 * Improvement Required
3 * Good
4 * Very Good
5 * Outstanding
What do the Restaurant Rater categories mean?
When rating, look around the restaurant and ask yourself the following questions:
Cleanliness — 3
How clean is the restaurant? Acceptable
Are tables/​floor cleared of used food items? Yes
Are utensils, plates and glasses cleaned properly? Yes
Are food plates clean around the edges and neatly presented? Yes
Is food serving area clean and tidy? Yes
Food Quality — 4
Are the food items fresh and clean? Unknown
Are the meats of a high standard/​grade? Yes
Are drinks/​coffee made correctly and with good quality products? N/​A
Is food presented well? Yes
Food Portion — 3
Is my portion at the usual standard or is it above average in size and serving? Yes
Food Taste — 5
Does food/​drink taste fresh? Yes
Is food/​drink at the correct temperature? Yes
Location –2
Is the Restaurant/​Café easy to find and easy get to? Only because I drive by it, when friends try to meet us there they way the overpass works throws folks off a little. Someone worked with the city to have a small sign put on the side of the parkway, but because it half up the overpass hill its hard to see.
Is parking/​public transport convenient? Yes if not packed
Does the Restaurant have views? Not really, it’s off the parkway between access road and movie theater
Entertainment — 2
Does the Restaurant provide entertainment? If so, how good was it? I visited on a Saturday so only football was shown, but nothing special overall. Recommend putting a TV out on the patio
Ambiance — 3
Is the temperature in the restaurant comfortable? Yes
Does the décor/​music create a good atmosphere? Yes
Is the restaurant noisy? Yes, but it’s a public house so that is expected.
Service — 1
Do staff acknowledge you as soon as you arrive at the Restaurant? No
Are staff polite and attentive throughout your dining experience? No
Are staff professional and quick at meeting your request and during payment of the bill? Yes to the bill portion only. The waitress did not stop by the table between dropping off entrée and bringing the bill. We would have ordered more if she more attentive. The place wasn’t even packed, the BAMA game was already over and half the place was empty. Also the server that was helping her kept bringing drinks, appetizer, and entrée to wrong table. They blamed on the system having the tables wrong, but after the second time it happened it meant the staff didn’t care to remember.
Price — 3
Is the price relative to what you ordered (value for money)? Yes
Is the price competitive against similar restaurants? Yes
Comments — Overall I would return because the atmosphere and food was good.

First, there was bicycling on the Indian Creek greenway. Beautiful, easy ride; a little too short and there isn’t really a destination close to it, other than connecting Creekwood Park and a few neighborhoods. Our young guide on a bike tour of Dutch windmills chided us: «In America, you travel to bike. Here in Holland, we bike to travel.» Huntsville is getting better at urban outdoor recreation and green transportation, but has a long way to go.
Anyway, we were very proud of ourselves for making the short flat hot journey and wanted to try this restaurant. We’d read the nice review on
, heard good things from friends and neighbors, had the opportunity. Here we were.
The renovated space is very nice. It’s not real big, but it’s comfortable, not too noisy, and we weren’t crashing into the people at the table behind us when we pushed away from our own table, so good enough. Looks like they’re adding some indoor-​outdoor seating, but it wasn’t open yet. Quiet sports on TVs, if you like that stuff — distracting to us. The weather coming in from the superheated vestibule has to be brutal for the hostess, but it didn’t impinge at all on us diners.
My wife had the fish and chips. She thought they were very good, if a little light on the portion. In fact, overall I’d say the portions on all our dinners weren’t the OMG-​BIG ones you get at some places. Not stingy, just not gut-​bombs. Room for dessert. The tartar sauce was unusual, maybe more horseradish and something else; very good. The fries — OK, chips — were good, the thinner kind with skins. Get that.
My daughter had salmon. She thought it was excellent, and it wasn’t a bad price for the largest portion on the table. Her green beans were outstanding. Get that.
My chicken curry was good. It was American-​comfort-​food curry, seasoned with an upgrade to the McCormic-​style curry powder, not a true Indian curry. Nothing strange, not spicy-​hot and not unfamiliar. It was tasty and satisfying, nice comfort food. Oh — perfectly-​done rice. Get that, too.
We each got a beer and enjoyed the heck out of them. Daughter’s Peanut Butter Porter — yeah, peanut butter. What a ridiculous thing to put in your ale, you know? Who thinks of this crap? PB goes on a sandwich. What’s it doing in my beer? Oy. AND YET — it was the best of the three. The peanut butter flavor was definitely in there, but it was cheerily playing with the otherwise mellow porter. The combination was friendly, thirst-​quenching and went with the salmon. Well, I thought it did. But get that.
I got the Trim Tab Rye Brown and my wife got the Hop Burst. Both were much better than OK, though not stellar.
We used our Huntsville High School football discount card to get a 10% discount. Really appreciate the place participating in that fundraiser.
Since I paid the bill, I get to apply the stars. I give it four. Good, even very good food. Some good beers. Comfortable place to be. Service, by the way, was also good. But it wasn’t cheap eats. The value was just adequate. We’ll definitely go back, but maybe not a lot.
So go there. Try a peanut butter porter. Then maybe hit the movies and call it a date. You’ll be happy.

Service from David was excellent. Been here several times and have never had a bad meal. Clean place with a hip vibe.
If you come from brunch, get the Irish breakfast. Tonight we had the special which was grilled wahoo, and the grilled cheese which is amazing… it has chard, pimento cheese, pecans, etc stuffed in. Good bet selection as well.
Currently one of the best restaurants in Huntsville.

The food was really good. Not outstanding, but really good.
I had the beer battered fish n chips. My wife had the Reuben.
For the price I paid, I was disapointed in the one piece of medium sized fish I got on my plate. The coleslaw that it sat on top of was excellent. The red fish sauce on the side had a solid skim on top of it, thus making that unappetizing, but once it was dug through, it was tasty.
The Reuben came served on a thin sliced rye bread. Plenty of meat, good tasting kraut, perfect mustard, but the sandwich fell apart because the bread couldn’t hold it all together.
The service was fine.
The atmosphere… I seemed to think it of it akin to the sterile environment simular to that of a doctors waiting room, except a doctors waiting room has better décor. My wife said it reminded her of a car dealership waiting room. The lighting, even though the lights were dimmed, was harsh on the eyes. Lots of TVs, all on the exact same sports channel.
The food and the logo bill The Original Public House as an Irish Pub; the lack of anything Irish (other than a few small pics on the wall that appeared to be there to say: Oh yeah, we’re Irish), including the music, made the experience anything but.
The environment was so distractingly bland that it took away from the food, which was my single favorite part.
We will not be going out of our way to return anytime soon.

I give the food a 4 plus. It wasn’t quite a five, but it’s the reason we’ll come back. We’ll want to have their fish & chips, et al.
Sunday the wife and I each had a Half Irish Breakfast. She had the good sense to ask for a go box as soon as she saw the food, and immediately put some of hers in there.
I, on the other hand, ate all of mine. It was a little too much food, but it was all too good to stop!
My impressions of the restaurant:
I was surprised that there were a few steps up to the main entrance. I guess if you bring Great-​Grandpa and his wheelchair, you use the ground-​level door a few feet away.
It was not as bright inside as I expected. Yes, the windows are larger now. But they were relying on them for most of the light at brunch.
There was a step down, inside, from the hostess stand area to our dining room! No handrail, no stripe, no warning sign nor mat. I saw it on the way in, but overlooked this step up on my way out. I found it with both feet. Fortunately I was walking slowly and didn’t trip. Others may not be as sober, nor as lucky as the Irish.
The dining area got too loud for my wife, who was getting a headache. It was loud partly from the room acoustics, but I think mainly because the folks at the large table next to us had been hitting the booze for a while.
We had to ask for our check. That is the custom at European restaurants, but Huntsville’s workaholics may be in a hurry.

3.75
The atmosphere of this place is great. The food was pretty decent as well.
A few complaints though… We tried ordering a beer and they were out. Then we tried ordering Jameson on the rocks and they were out as well. After that being a disappointment, we decided against ordering any more drinks.
The food also took about 30 minutes to come out, it was not very busy.
Overall, I enjoyed the experience though. Would try again.

Overall, I’m extremely impressed by «The Original Public House». While the place has only been open officially for two days, I’ve been back twice and walked out smiling. The décor is sparse, and a little too «clean» for a traditional pub. They simply need more artwork, perhaps book cases, and areas to settle in and lounge as a traditional pub demands.
The bar area is small, but stocked with great whiskeys and at least 8 – 10 taps. That being said, they’re still trying to get the taps working properly and at the optimum mix for the nitrogen levels for a proper pint of Guinness.
The real stand out is the food. This is definitely a «gastro pub» that brings a new level of cuisine to the area. I’ve had the «Bangers & Mash» and the Pretzel Chicken Sandwich, both were excellent.
Highly recommend to support a wonderful new addition to the Huntsville food scene.