The Irish Inn at Glen Echo

The service was lame. I have received better attention from country diners than I received here. The waiter didn't bother to tell us the specials. He came back once to check on us. Never asked if we wanted more to drink and didn't even try to upsell desserts. The food was mediocre. It tasted good but wasnt anything to get excited over.

Enjoyed an excellent meal as always. The irish Inn never disappoints.

Pleasant outdoor seating & onsite free parking were nice pluses. Service was good. We had crab cake sandwiches which was soso but nice that it also came with side salad.

The food was delicious, and the waiter was efficient and very pleasant. We live near by, and remember the restaurant in from 1959. Of course it was nothing like the Irish Inn.

Great service, very friendly neighborhood setting. Food was delicious and well prepared. We definitely recommend and would go again.

We had a lovely birthday dinner for a significant birthday. Everything was delicious. We had planned to sit outside, but it was too hot. Instead, we had a semi-private room. Great atmosphere.

Three items we selected from the menu were not available so 1 person in our group had to settle for the 3rd choice. Disappointing that so many options were unavailable.

"I love the relaxed feel of this place – like a comfortable dining room in a friends home. I definitely would return to try more dishes. Service was well-timed and friendly."

We arrived about 8pm on a hot day in early July. Thought we wanted to eat inside, but to us it felt warmer and more humid (if that can be believed) in there and the air seemed stale - poor circulation - and after a few minutes we moved outside, where it was warmer but fresh. The food was good, service was fine, neither were exceptional. The heat inside and out kind of ruined it for us.

I had a delicious Maine lobster roll lunch special. I have eaten at the Irish Inn at Glen Echo many times over the years and have never been disappointed. This restaurant is charming with a delightful array of eating spaces. The service is always attentive without being annoying. A real gem!

Perfectly sized portions. Great service. Delicious

Outstanding food & service. Restaurant was almost empty for the Independence Day holiday, glad they opened up.

we ate on the patio. it was a very nice luncheon and afternoon.

thanks to the staff for their service and the kitchen staff for their preparation.

bob h.

Overall another excellent experience. Edwin was an outstanding server, & took care to assist us with the menu, & other requests we had.

Nice outdoor area to enjoy the weather with a good wine and food

Nice to have a room for our group to chatter and reconnect

We are hoping that the Irish Inn will put in some noise reduction ceiling tiles or other measures to reduce noise. It was so noisy, we had to shout to be heard, adding to the noise level.

Wonderful al fresco dining. Park setting helps. Cheers.

Perfect lamb chips

Consistently good

I had lunch with 7 members of my book group. We enjoyed delicious lunches and discussed our latest novel. The staff was attentive and accommodating.

We had an early dinner on Father's Day... the restaurant was not busy that early.
The hostess wasn't at all welcoming, but I would have to assume it is because she lacked training; no smile, no pleasant chitchat, and she showed us to the table and put the menus down and left, even before we were seated.
And our entrees were delivered before we were finished with our appetizers, then the appetizer plates were left on the table when we finally started on the entrees.
The waiter was seasoned, but the rest of the staff just need to be better trained.

An excellent meal in a lovely setting for Father's Day. Food was excellent and service first rate.

The waiter was great. However, the food was just awful. After waiting for what seemed like forever, our brunch came out. The scrambled eggs weren’t even cooked the whole way through and the hash browns looked like something that has been run over on Cabin John Parkway- also cold. The “Irish bangers” were American sausages. The only good part about this special Father’s Day brunch were the scones at the beginning. Awful. Just an awful brunch and super expensive for terrible food.

...always a favourite, either on the porch or inside!

We had 3:30 reservations. Got there & they said dining room not open until 4:30! We could go in the pub they said. Shouldn’t that be addressed on the reservation page?.
The pub was ok. Menus were filthy! Encased in plastic but could have of been easily wiped off! Made me want to leave but on way to airport so no time.
Thank goodness we had Damien for our server as he was wonderful!
Food ok.

The Irish Inn at Glen Echo is a gem that is tucked away on the main road.

If you like Irish food and have not gone, do yourself a favor and go.

The staff is friendly and courteous . The food is great! Location to me is the best part. Right next to Glen Echo Park!

Go and enjoy!

I always love going to the Inn. Much of the wait staff have been there for years and know their regulars. They were extremely busy this evening, and yet our table was available. Stop by for a pint, good food and good company. You can't go wrong.

Very enjoyable and quiet enough for extended conversations.

Excellent food and wonderful service. It's always a pleasure to eat there.

The food is adequate and reliable, while lacking in creativity or inventiveness. Presentation is not a concern of the chef. Tables are close together and the well-meaning staff either clears plates while someone is still eating, or neglects to clear the plates until asked by the diners. However, the draw of outdoor eating and an appealing pub attached to the restaurant makes this neighborhood haunt a good alternative to the bustle of Bethesda.

We love the Irish Inn and the music and we have been patrons for many years. It is encouraging to see new young musicians and young people at this very traditional and laid back place that many local denizens consider their to-go place for a fun evening with close friends.

Perhaps we were just there on an off day. The staff seemed absolutely overwhelmed. I don't know if they were short staffed or slammed with more tables than anticipated or what happened. Our server (who we'd had in the past) was just tired. Not rude, but definitely trying to deal with something in the kitchen or at other tables. He was rushed and seemed to kind of rush us (with ordering and no polite banter back and forth). The food was not as good as it has been in past visits. The delicious scones that are worth every carb calorie were overcooked and hard as rocks. The fish and chips were greasy, the fries were cooked in old oil, and the coleslaw was gross. So why am I still giving this review 3 stars? Because in the past, it can be and has been a great brunch spot. The Guinness is always poured correctly and the Irish breakfast is stellar. The ambiance of the place is lovely (even with slanted floors in such an old building). I would definitely head back here again but it would be on a non-holiday weekend, I would sit downstairs instead of upstairs, and I would stick with breakfast over the other menu options.

I am in a wheelchair. They were exceptional in how they met my needs. Food was great.

Very enjoyable

Fortunately we were able to get a table on the patio because the inside of the restaurant smelled horribly musty, the smell hit me in the face when we entered the front door to inform the hostess of our reservation. Patio tables were crammed in and the wait staff could hardly pass through the narrow spaces. Chairs and built-in benches were very uncomfortable. Long cushions on benches slipped every time I made a small move like uncrossing my legs. Hostess sat a party of five next to us and jostled diners to move chairs — and it became like a communal table with just a few inches between our tables. Servers seemed to have very little experience/training in proper service methods, for example they cleared my husband’s plate while our guest and I were still eating (fundamental and unacceptable mistake). Our guest ordered a gin martini straight up with no garnish. It arrived with several olives so he had to send it back to be re-made according to his specifications — and it was not a great cocktail. My husband and I ordered wine by the glass. I ordered Pinot Grigio and my husband ordered Cabernet. The server did not ask which brand of Pinot Grigio/Cabernet we preferred, although we had the wine list with several types of each. The wine brought by the server was pretty bad — perhaps house wine since we did not specify because we were not asked? We usually would specify the brand of wine but the server was taking our order while they were trying to seat the party of five pretty much on top of us, so we were distracted. The three of us all ordered the dinner special which was swordfish. I was looking forward to it but unfortunately it was marginal at best. Bill of $175 for an all-around bad experience.

It was a gorgeous day to eat outside. We stayed for 2-1/2 hours and no one hurried us along. Pleasant waiter. Decent Reuben sandwich.

I have to admit I was disappointed by the food. Ambiance, especially the live music playing in the bar, was the best feature of the evening.

My wife, friends and I have been coming here for years, but on the bar side. On Thursday, May 16, 2019, we were on the restaurant side. The service was appalling, with the server pointedly doing clearly unnecessary busy work before responding to polite requests. He succeeded admirably in showing us he thought we were the lowest of scum compared to everything else in the world, and simply making a polite request was an invitation to a go-slow approach. No other server would step in. We could not get water glasses refilled, or a condiment brought to the table. He refused to pick up the check and credit card for 15 or 20 minutes in a then largely empty restaurant.
And on top of that, an Irish restaurant could not even do a passable corned beef and cabbage. The corned beef was in square tubes looking like Spam but without any flavor. The mustard sauce was supposed to impart some kind of flavor -- the wrong kind of flavor -- but did not even manage that. The cabbage was not cooked with the corned beef and its natural sauce, and was dry and tasteless. The meal was served not even lukewarm, but re-heating failed to unlock flavor that was never there.
We will try again to eat on the bar side, where service has traditionally been decent and friendly and where food is good bar food. I am not sure we will try the restaurant again. It takes a long time for a restaurant to build a good name, and the Irish Inn put in the effort and got it. But a reputation can be destroyed very quickly. The Irish Inn needs to get its act together, and I hope it does so quickly before more harm is done.

The food was not as good as usual maybe because of Mother’s Day busier than usual.