Dargans Irish Pub & Restaurant
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11:00 a.m.-1:00 a.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Music: DJ, Live
- Best Nights: Fri, Sat
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: Outdoor Area/Patio Only
- Coat Check: No
19 Reviews for Dargans Irish Pub & Restaurant
* guy with cracked skull outside first visit
* typical Ventura Crowd (locals thinking they live in Manhatten Beach)
* too many late 20's wearing Volcom and flat billed hats
* I think I actually got pinched by someone's meth syringe
but...
*restroom was clean...until someone vomited all over the sink(10:30pm)
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Young, dumb and full of....well, a lot of alcohol seems to be the patrons theme here on busy nights.
Looks innocent enough, but apparently there is a good reason they have half a dozen bouncers on weekends...
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If you need a beer and you want to be in a very loud, noisy and crowded place, this is the place for you. When I went was the St. Patty's weekend so there were not a single restaurant we could get in so we stumbled upon this place. We still had to wait, even though this is a BAR!! and the food was okay. I had Shepard's pie and it was hearty and pretty good but I wouldn't choose this place as a dinner destination. Probably because of St. Patty's day, they had a live entertainment (Celtic dancers) and it was pretty cool but it's so loud that you can't hear anything in there. Maybe it's a good place to loose your looser date so you don't have to talk... The waitress wasn't great either but I behaved so that my food arrives spit free...
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So I randomly found myself in Ventura around lunch time, and we ended up stepping in here for some food. For 12:30, the place was fairly empty, but not completely so. The waiter was very nice and attentive, and the food came out fairly quickly. The food itself wasn't amazing, but it wasn't that bad. We got a quesadilla as an appetizer and then I got the fish and chips. Even for fish and chips, which are usually greasy, these were really greasy. So I came out with a much fuller and more unsettled stomach than I was hoping for. If I could, I would give this place a 3.5, but since its got such a low rating already, I thought I'd just round up.
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I'm not too fond of this place nor impressed. My friend and I went here on a Saturday evening for dinner. It was quite busy and the wait was a lot longer than the 20 minutes we were told. A lot of people come here to hang out, drink, and talk.
It is split in half with dinner tables to the left and bar tables to the right. I don't feel like it has enough dining area to accommodate. I ordered the grilled salmon with brown rice and vegetables. It wasn't anything special. The salmon was salty on the edges and the vegetables were drowned in butter. Food is priced average. It's an Irish pub, so they're popular for their beer; which just isn't my particular taste.
There was entertainment while we ate. It just so happened that we went during St. Patrick's weekend (so that may be the reason?). So we had some river dance girls perform and a bag piper play as well.; which was cool.
I rate it a 2 star because I just wasn't impressed with the place. I probably won't come back here again.
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Good pub food. Not special. Wouldn't recommend it. The waitress was attentive.
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Dargan's depresses me. It has so much potential. But it always fails to live up to it, and I think next time I'm in Ventura I'm going to fall back on trusty Winchester's or Cafe Fiore for my after-dinner drinks.
We went last Sunday and it took 10 minutes to get me a vanilla vodka and Diet, and my friend 30 minutes to get a straight Diet Coke. The second drink I ordered? It never came. And the thing was, it wasn't even crowded. Everyone there had a seat.
There really is no reason to go to Dargan's given other establishments along Main Street try way harder to earn your dollar. The only reasons I gave Dargan's two stars: the hardwood floors, Smithwick's on tap, and the jukebox.
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Much like Ventura, Dargan's is overrated, bland and overpriced and going there earns you frustration and attitude.
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The food is kinda bland. I had the lamb and it was ok, but for the price I'd rather go to McDonalds and save the extra 20 bucks. Not literally McDonalds, but it's used for emphasis.
I agree with others that the drinks are overpriced and the layout sucks. You're either stuck standing between tables with a drink in your hand, that lands on the floor or on your shirt when people knock into you b/c there's not enough space. It's just much more of an annoyance than a fun night out with friends. If you decide to sit down on the western end of the place, then you feel totally disconnected from everyone else in the bar area.
And waiting in line for hours to get in on St. Patrick's Day is definitely not worth it! People were stuffed in there like sweaty sardines- I think there was a serious maximum capacity violation there.
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LIVE IRISH MUSIC ON SUNDAY NIGHTS!
I see that this place is literally hated by other Yelpers, but can't help give it a 5-star. It's more of a "gastro-pub" than a gritty one-star establishment, so maybe that's the issue the others have with this wonderful little gem. So, if you want a blue collar pub with greasy floors, don't come here. Ventura has plenty of dark bars with motorcycles parked outside that smell like last night's vomit right down the street.
Dargan's carries great Irish whiskey and plenty of beers on tap, including of course, Guinness. The food is more upscale (again, it's a gastro-pub, if you don't know what that is, look it up!). It's nothing but classy here, the service was attentive and it's definitely a KEEPER. There are certainly lots of gastro pubs popping up in the UK and this place likely emulates the nicer ones. The Irish music was certainly authentic and uber-enjoyable.
We had traditional brown soda bread and smoked salmon appetizer with capers and chopped egg. If that's too gentrified for you, you can get onion rings and that sort of stuff too... or again, go to the bar with slippery floors just down the street so you can rub elbows with construction workers and your new "undocumented" friends.
We had a lot of fun here and thoroughly enjoyed our food and drink. It was a nice escape from L.A.
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UPDATE: Having just received "hate mail" from another Dargan's reviewer (what the "feck"?), I think this review is due an update. Check out all photos of Dargan's and see if you (like me) suspect "foul play" in some of the very low reviews given this charming upscale gastro pub. If you notice, in the photos I posted, the chairs at Dargan's are high-backed stools and actually square. But, if you check out the chairs in the photos with the sexy-busty chicks that have been posted to discredit this restaurant and portray it as a pickup joint, you'll notice short, round chairs. Again, what the feck? Makes you wonder if the photos of the slutty-busty girls were really taken at Dargan's at all...
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Note to "Irish" pubs:
Just because you serve Guinness, corned beef and cabbage and have a few shamrocks laying about, does NOT mean you are an Irish pub.
People - you have NO idea how much this pisses me off. I go to Ireland every chance I get, that's where the old family is from. This place and places like it are an insult to Irish folks like me. How DARE you call yourslf an Irish pub serving a sandwich called the "O'Philly Steak Sandwich", and Irish Potato skins with DANISH CHEESE??!! Ireland is known for their incredible dairy products, at least use some IRISH CHEESE for fecks sake. Oh and you spelled Guinness wrong on your menu. (hmmmmph)
Ok, so I resign myself to the fact that this is NOT an Irish pub or restaurant, maybe I'll just enjoy the time I'm here, I'll give it a shot.
No such luck.
Crowd was a bit skanky - this place is more like a pick up joint. Not that I have anything against pick up joints, but real PUBS are not that kind of place. They are a place to relax, have a few pints, play darts, etc.. Not a place to wear your "I'm gonna get some tonight" outfit and get drunk. Trust me on this. I don't even mind a skanky crowd now and again, sometimes I even like it :) - but not when I'm in a pub.
I guess this might be a fun place if you're young, looking for a place to spend a ton of money to get wasted & see drunk chicks in short skirts. If that's the case, I'd have given it 5 stars (but I'm not into drunk chicks in short skirts, so ...)
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I've only been to Dargan's Irish Pub & Restaurant once, but I had the best shepherd's pie I've ever had in my life at that restaurant. I don't know if I just really needed a hot meal on a freezing cold day, but that shepherd's pie really was fantastic!!! It was so well seasoned with garlic, rosemary and oregano, and it was filling without dragging me down.
Also, my boyfriend and I shared a delicious bottle of pinot noir, and there was a live Irish band playing that really warmed the spirit. Dargan's may not be exclusively Irish in menu offerings, but I have no complaints when my meal is satisfying. I would definitely hit Dargan's again on my next trip to Ventura.
This is not an Irish Pub. Ugh. But I suppose, if you need a place to have a drink, it'll suffice.
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Mediocre food, bland atmosphere, expensive drinks, lousy layout, inattentive service.
Other than that, it's okay.
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I still don't get why people go here. Atmosphere is not great at all. Layout doesn't flow which can make it hard to walk around when it's crowded. Entrance area is weird. Service was maybe ok at best?
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Not a terrible place to stop in for a burger, but they don't have much in terms of Irish food. Just some corned beef and cabbage and a few things that are decidedly more English: bangers and mash, shepard's pie. I think that's a slight insult to the Irish.
The drink prices are far to expensive. $7.00 for a sidecar!?! Were they trying to tack a tip onto that drink?
The service wasn't that good either, I was never given a refill of my water, and the atmosphere was a bit too cut and dry for my taste. It definately had the air of a chain restaurant.
They only get an extra star for the dart board by the bar. But I don't think anyone's ever used it.
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Go for lunch. It's a decent Irish pub with the usual, shipped in from Ireland chintzy decor. The food is good lunch fare and similar to many traditional Irish menus.
My food was good, as was my wife's.
Uninspired pub grub, not terribly comfortable and never, ever get a cocktail with more than two ingredients. Props for an attractive, mixed crowd.
this place is lol.
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