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Monday, April 28, 2008 , Updated

Restaurant review: Delaney’s Irish Pub in McKinney

by Chow Hound of McKinneyNews.net

McKinneyNews.net

Fish and chips from Delaney's Irish Pub.

MCKINNEY — It’s a wide open super-sized Americanized version of what one might expect to encounter in Ireland – minus the charm and sense of place (character) that only 200 years – and A LOT of spilled beer (and who-knows-what other liquids?) can add to a joint.

This week, CH visited the barely month-old Delaney’s Irish Pub, a pub that sits not in the rolling, verdant hills of Ireland, but in the monotonous concrete monstrosity (shopping strip) anchored by Market Street off of Eldorado Parkway.

The pub’s one room is vast – very vast – and is divided into subsections: one for darts, one for dining, one for pool, and one for drinking (they’ve got lots of booze – multiple beer offerings, ciders, and yes, the hard stuff).

It’s dark – not as in the brooding kind of dark, but the kind of dark that will certainly offer reprieve from what we got coming in the next few months -- and there’s a lot of dark wood accenting around the joint.

Obviously the owners have attempted to create a pub-like ambiance, but come on, this is Texas, not Dublin. Oh, and the little waitress was dressed as what can only be described as a chic Catholic school girl, replete with a short plaid skirt (far too short for a true Catholic), knee-high socks, a white shirt, and a very loose striped tie.

Let’s give the joint a “B” for decorating effort and move on, K?

On Chow Hound’s two visits to Delaney’s, he stuck with traditional Irish fare: one Famous Fish and Chips “voted best in Texas” ($10.50), one Guinness Stew ($9.50), one strawberry shortcake ($5.95), and one cheese burger with fries ($8.50). CH has no idea if strawberry shortcake or burgers are traditional Irish fare, but play along.

Let’s stop for just a moment so CH can spill the beans: The food was absolutely great. Boing! Bong! Ding!

Here’s why…

The fish and chips plate featured two plump Haddock filets that were flakey and perfectly fried. The batter – which hinted at a taste or two of vinegar – was light and crispy and delightfully golden. The fries were some of the freshest and perfectly prepared in town – no BS (boondoggle/spuriousness) here.

Of course, CH had to drip several more ounces of vinegar (provided by a bottle that stays planted on the table) on the fish. The vinegar with the ketchup-drenched fries made for a wonderfully satisfying – if not delightfully messy – taste sensation.

McKinneyNews.net

Guinness Stew at Delaney's.

The Guinness stew provided another pleasing – and certainly different -- taste sensation. Tender cubes of beef married with potatoes and carrots all swimming contently in a thickened Guinness stew juice (gravy) served in a nice fat hollowed out chewy and soft bun. Yum! The dish’s grilled veggie medley of squash, zucchini, and red pepper was a bit hardcore on the oil so make a little note to yourself if you’re not into that sort of thing.

The Strawberry shortcake ($5.95) with three cool (temp.) layers of sponge cake separated by a strawberry puree and whipped butter cream AND topped with a whisky bourbon sauce was very effective. And by effective, CH means delicious. Great hot weather dessert. Yum (again)!

The half-pound hamburger with melted jack and cheddar cheese was stupendous. What made this burger different from the kajillions available around town? Funny you should ask. Most importantly, the thing tasted fantastic. Why? The burger had a wonderfully smoky flavor and the Kaiser bun it was served with was fresh and quite chewy. Very nice. The only drawback was the price. Plunking down $8.50 for a burger (even with fries) seems excessive. But then again, a loaf of bread is $3.

Folks, there’s a new player on the west side of town. You might do well to stop by and check it out. It’s seriously quite good.

CH bone rating: 4 big bones out of 5.

Pegasus News content partner - McKinneyNews.net

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Anonymous

kzack1313, says:

Delaney's is located next to Market Street(texan owned and operated) not Central Market thx

Anonymous

1 year, 4 months ago
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speedstack, says:

One may think twice about what and where they eat if they had the ability to know the unknown. Delaney's Pub certainly is exotic with the over abundance of beers they offer. And the food is allright as well. However, this small locally owned restaurant is not abiding by health codes. Unfortunately the health inspector is not around 24-7 to see the cooks defrosting fish and chicken in the same sink as they are washing dishes in (at the same time)! Did I mention that the remaining drinks left over from customers are dumped into the sink on top of the defrosting fish, suasage, and chicken? They say it's ok because they wash the meat before preparing it.

If one were to go into the walk-in (large refrigerator), they would find bottles and containers that have never been wiped off. Exposed eggs, and food laying on top of one another; as well as open tin cans containing food.

Usually there would be a designated cutting board for different items to prevent cross contamination. Not in this place! Cut wherever, however you would like.

This certainly is not a place for children either. Twice now during my visits I have heard harsh language coming from employees. So, if you are simply just looking for a beer, then Delaney's is the spot! Rather it be food, a long healthy life, staying disease free, or a family atmosphere, then Delaney's is not your next neighborhood restaurant!

Anonymous

1 year ago
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mtate, says:

The above comment was left by a disgruntled employee. What a bitter person, to make false claims and potentially harm a persons lively hood. Delaney's and I quote one of the Mckinney health inspectors is one of the cleanest restaurants they have inspected. I have my inspections by the McKinney health department available for review by any of our guests at any time. I welcome you to inspect our kitchen as well. Our kitchen is scrubbed down 2 times a day from top to bottom. 1. We have 3 seperate sinks for defrosting our meat etc. we only defrost before 11 am. once lunch service starts unless we sell out of an item we do not defrost food items. 2. Our staff does not dump sodas in a defrost sink, by the way all restaurants have a dump sink. 3. The health department inspections are unannounced. They can show up any time day or night.Since opening we have been inspected approximatly 5 times in 11 months. 4. The most we have been marked off on in an inspection is for bottles we clean the tables with not being labled with the words sanitizer even if they say table cleaner you get marked down, light bulbs being out, you have to store all food products 6 inches above the floor. We have been marked down on our inspections for having boxes of whole uncut lemons stored on the floor. The past 2 months we have worked really hard and on our last inspection we had no boxed items on the floor in our cooler. We have also been corrected on the proper storage location of fish on our last inspection we had mistakenly put fish above potatoes in the cooler.

We make 95% of our food in house daily. We have never scored higher that a 19 on our inspection. Which is not bad for an establishment that makes the majority of their food from scratch. THE HEALTH INSPECTOR DINES IN OUR ESTABLISHMENT ON A REGULAR BASIS. DO YOU THINK IF WE WERE A FILTHY RESTAURANT THEY WOULD EAT HERE? As I said before any of our guests may inspect our health department records at any time. Obviously the comments about bad language being used at our PUB would be correct as it is a PUB. We have many families in Mckinney that dine at our establishment and you can find our own children there most days at some point during the day. I would hope that if you are reading this you will disregard this former employee's statements which are completly false.

Anonymous

9 months, 1 week ago
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Lauren Vaughan, says:

Well, I am not a disgruntled employee and I can tell you that I will not be returning to Delaney's - for brunch anyway. Being in McKinney on a rare breakfast occasion and not being a fan of chain restaurants (and hearing TERRIBLE things about the unsanitary things going on at Bill Smith Cafe), we were delighted to run across Delaney's. I called first to inquire if they served breakfast (we saw cars in the parking lot but there are 2 restaurants side-by-side and we weren't sure which one was open) and asked the girl on the phone if they served breakfast and she said they did. I asked her if they served traditional breakfasts, such as Eggs Benedict, she said they did. Yay!

We arrive to find a clean, well staffed restaurant without a lot of people (but enough to make us feel comfortable). Yay! We had a lovely, attentive server. Yay!

(Side note to Delaney's: Please take down the "Celebrate St. Patty's Here!" banners and decor. It's mid-April and either you're inappropriately late or inappropriately early. Also, for your female staff over 22, do not make them wear the schoolgirl outfits, it's also inappropriate. Moving on...)

A glance at the menu suggests that the girl I spoke to on the phone may need some additional training. There is not traditional Eggs Benedict on the menu. There is an Irish Benedict which involves a hardboiled egg, surrounded by sausage and breading and then deep fried. Boo!

I decide on the Bacon Breakfast (2 eggs scrambled or fried, Texas Toast, cream gravy, bacon and fries or Potato Cakes for $8.50) as it is the most "normal". I ask if they can do poached eggs. Nope, only scrambled or fried. Boo! I ask how their scrambled eggs are and am assured that they are moist & delicious and not dry and cardboard-ish. Yay! We ordered our food and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally the food shows up and we are all disappointed. The scrambled eggs are not moist. They are inedible. Their "Texas Toast" is thickly cut Sourdough bread and is a poor compliment to cream gravy (which was obviously from a mix). The bacon is extremely fatty and not at all crispy. The "potato cakes" are soggy, grease-saturated, deep fried shredded potato patties with some sort of breading that resembles a weird hushpuppy breading. Very unappetizing and it is so greasy that after one taste, I can feel my arteries clogging. Boo!

Their one child's breakfast plate is one scrambled egg and ham. For $5.50? And the ham is not a ham steak, it's shaved ham like you put on sandwiches. Huh???

The biscuits on a companion's plate were the driest any of us have ever had. They simply crumbled into pieces even though they were covered with the gravy.

After 2 bites of food, I had the server remove my plate from the table and the item from the menu, which they did without batting an eye, something I greatly appreciate. It would have been nice to have a manager come by to speak to us, however no one did.

Cute place, decent waitstaff and the good review above would get me to try Delaney's again - for lunch/dinner and their more traditional Irish fare. But for breakfast/brunch, I think I'll drive into Allen or Plano.

Verified

7 months, 2 weeks ago
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waptap, says:

I can't vouch for the breakfast as I have not tried it (but will make a point to do so some weekend), but I can tell you that Dinner was pretty amazing. I forget the actual name of it, but I had the chicken pasta dish (a white cream based dish) and it is sinful. Very, very good and there is no way a normal human can eat it all (very rich!). My wife had the Portabello Mushroom Sandwich because she is a health nut. I'm not too sure it is super-healthy with all that cheese on it, but she finished it! (and felt pretty guilty about giving in to temptation).

The waiters were nice enough and the place has a cool, authentic pubby atmosphere (at least on this Thursday night).

Overall, I was extremely impressed with this establishment. We love trying new places, but I will be returning to sample other items from the menu (including the beer menu next time).