McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon

One of the most laughably skeezy places I've been to.

The back half of the club smelled like puke the two times I've been there.

Affliction shirts aplenty.

If anyone legitimately gave this place five stars, then they probably have an STD.

Excuse me, how are you guys still even open? The health department needs to visit this place. My lord!!! This gives us Irish people a bad name!!!

The bathrooms are the worse! Looks like something out of a nightmare. Stall door hanging off, poop all over the floor, toilet and wall. Paper everywhere....I am talking about both the men's and woman's bathrooms. My hubby and dad came out in horror as well as myself.

I needed a shower after going here! GROSS!!!

Apparently I am not the crowd that McFadden's caters to. That's ok, I'm fine with it. Anytime I hear someone say "Oh that's the place that DJ Pauly from Jersey Shore played" I know I shouldn't go. However, that fact wasn't relayed to me until I was already inside. Gah!

So I thought, judging from the name, this would be a chill yet festive Irish Pub. Nope.

Walk up, get in line, get carded, pay $$ for entrance. (Or skip line and just walk on in when it is packed - just sayin, that's what we did.)

Try and get drinks at bar. Fail because of the throngs of 21 year olds trying to get their shots in (and dance in front of the bar and generally not follow the code - get your drink and step away from the bar friend!)

Scream at friends "What do you want to do now?" Wonder why they are just mouthing at you and you can not hear them reply yet their lips are moving. Realize it is the blaring music (although, to be fair, I like 1998 rap booty shakers. Really, those are my JAM!). Eventually just nod at each other and motion to the door - everyone is thinking the same thing - Let's GO!

I don't know if it is that I am too old to get into the sweaty, overly packed, overly dark bar with dudes groping and grinding on you or if it is just that this particular place didn't make me feel like I wanted to join in. A couple of younguns were with us too and they wanted to leave as much as us. Soooo who knows.

I'll give it another try for sure, but only if I can reserve a section in front of the bartender to ensure I get good and drunk enough to enjoy this place. Maybe I need to try some happy hour action here instead?

We made the mistake of deciding to eat here on the Sunday night the Chicago Bears fans inundated Nashville after their big win over the Titans. We should have stuck it out at some of the nicer places that had an hour-long waiting list - that usually tells you the food is decent.

Don't be fooled by the Irish name of this place - it is not an Irish pub by any stretch of the imagination. The place is filthy, the food was lousy (cold potato soup and dry Philly steak sandwiches), and the service was terrible (no silverware delivered with our order. We finally got someone's attention and they brought us silverware wrapped in napkins, only to find knives and forks, but no spoons. I ended up eating my soup with my fork). We left most of our food on our plates, threw some money on the table, and got the hell out of there. Don't bother with this place.

I hope to never come here again. Actually, there's just no way that will happen.

I'm also amused that a large number of the super negative reviews come from women. Not surprising! When I was there, on a relatively slow Thursday night, the place was dude-fest galore. Meaty guys in plaid shirts watching football and pushing each other. And then pushing each other into women at the bar.

I'd like to write it off by saying I'm just too old for this college-centric bar, but these dudes were definitely my age (late twenties) which is actually even more gross because I think (unknowingly) it was an 18 and over night. Yuck.

So i am no sucker when it comes to tourist traps being i just moved from SF to Nashville.
I Wanted to avoid the whole 2nd Ave. scene as long as i could...
Did not last quite long enough.. The girlfriend had a coworker who won a happy hour at McFadden's so we decided to go hang out for a bit.

Even the thought of two buck beers would not be enough to lure me back to this place again.
It's an impressive building, the bar is huge, and that's where i will leave the positive note at.

We got here pretty early on a Friday night, the place was pretty empty which gave us a chance to check it out.. Problem was you cant talk here. Yelling is the only option, because even though there was maybe 20 people spread out in the bar at the time. The DJ decided it was only appropriate to have the music up to the highest level. I guess that's what the think gets people in the door???

Anyways the music selection was terrible. They had such a random mix of 1998 to 2004 that it was just downright confusing. This place has no identity what so ever. Next thing i know this place is packed, whatever they did it worked.
As what i am learning is a staple of Nashville bars, people end up on the bar, dancing, the problem with this is they let just about anything that is of the female gender up there to shake it loose... and that's just what happens.
So this is a frat boys wet dream come true... but definitely not for me...
I actually got signed up for a happy hour and won one for the following week which i had to kindly decline...

that's a sign in itself if you pass on free booze......

What was I thinking?!?

This is just a review from the food as I had it delivered and didn't have to set foot into this place (though in a previous life I have peeled my shoes from the sticky dance floor...).

Absolutely craving fish and chips (random, right?) and not wanting to drive, I decided to give this "Irish" restaurant a try. I'm not trying to knock catfish, my Grandmother makes the best in the world, but when one orders "fish and chips", cornmeal breaded curls of soggy catfish fillet are not usually expected...I only tried a couple bites of the fish, it was really foul. The fries were okay and the mac & cheese that was included (weird, I would've preferred coleslaw) was tasteless goo. Thankfully I had to order an extra side and dessert to meet the $15 minimum (at least they're cheap??) for delivery. The onion rings were on a par with Burger King--mashed up onion in ring shape.

I'm not certain, but I can't help but wonder if the few rank bites of catfish contributed to an overall feeling of malaise the rest of the weekend...

Well, I came here for new year's so this place was packed! It was really hard to move around, but I can't blame that on the bar itself.
What I really liked was the coat check by the front door. Most places don't have that and since it's winter right now, I'm definitely wearing one outside. However, I hate having to keep track of it inside, especially if I'm having a few too many drinks.
The dance area is not too big, but decent size. The DJ was good the night I went there, and definitely had the crowd going.
I will stop by again when I'm in Nashville.

Over the last month, I have been here several times using up gift certificates that I bought at EZ Deals. Here is what I have learned...

I have been here for Football on Sunday and in the evening during the week; both times this place was quiet. There have never been more than about 6-8 people in here at a time. This place is huge too.

I have had a variety of items of the menu:

1. The friend goodness from the appetizers. This includes mozzarella sticks, onion rings, fried pickles (we are in TN), and fried mushrooms. They give you a trio of sauces; BBQ, ranch, and marinara. This little diddy is cooked well and rocks out cause of all the sauces.

2. Burgers. On time, I ordered a burger and got a completely different burger. I have now had both the Fireman's and NashVegas. I think they were both good. I asked for the to be cooked medium and I got medium-well. The fries here are awesomely perfect. Nice crispiness and plenty of seasoning.

3. Sheppard's Pie. Alright, I have to admit, I'm not even a little Irish. At that point, I have had Sheppard's Pis a total of three times in my life. So, my review here should be taken with a grain of salt.

I got this to go. I was amazed at how full they filled the Styrofoam to go square. Very impressed. The only thing here is that there is substantially more mash potatoes topped over the meat with peas and carrots. However, the flavor is spot on. Not too salty and just the right balance of textures.

If you have a large group and want to get rowdy, this is definitely the spot. The staff are averagely attentive.

The decor is sparse and the bar has very high ceilings. For downtown Nash, you can bet to find a healthy mix of locals and out-of-towners whens its busy (bartender enlightened me on this).

Besides having the gift certs., I'll most likely be trying out other establishments next round.

Went on a Friday night. It was okay. DJ was decent. Played a good mixture of r&b, rock, hip hop, techno, country, etc... I think he went with the crowds flo. I didn't care for the establishment's norm of having a sleu of girls walk up on the bar. That's a bit disgusting to me. Especially because I didn't see not one person wipe it down afterwards. Bit unsanitary to me. And the drinks were a rip off. We had $2 special pricing for our VIP party of 20 and it was super watery or sour. You almost needed to order double ahot each time to get a taste of any liquor. It was ridiculous. It was better to just drink bottles of beer since they can't tweek it. Ordered a basket of hot wings. Nothing spectacular. Something I could have made at home better, but it served it's purpose at that moment.

Someone needs to double/triple check the health codes here.