The Marlay House
| Address: | 426 W Ponce de Leon Ave, Decatur, GA 30030, USA |
| Phone: | +1 404-270-9950 |
| Site: | themarlayhouse.com |
| Rating: | 4.5 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–12AM 11:30AM–12AM 11:30AM–12AM 11:30AM–12AM 11:30AM–2AM 10:30AM–2AM 10:30AM–12AM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 14
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Ryan Stewart
So basically this is the only Irishish pub in Atlanta. Yeah, I know others put that on their sign or website or whatever. They are all terrible. This place, not so much. Here is the deal, they have a few Irish inspired menu items and then the rest is, frankly, something completely different. And that is a good thing. Im Irish, people dont come to us for food. Do a shepherds pie justice and then braise/boil a few things in Guinness and be done with it. That is why this place works. They do those, they do them pretty well, but then they admit that Irish FOOD isnt the best and have a lot of great other options on the menu. It makes it REALLY group friendly. Young, old, vegan, stupid enough to think they are allergic to gluten, whatever. Everyone gets what they want. They have beer. Lots of beer. Not just Guinness. Patio is really, really nice. Its on the main road but it has high brick walls and a pergola so it feels more intimate, you dont feel like you have to make awkward eye contact with every person who walks by (but you should, by choice). I cant tell you much about the inside, I havent made it past the servers stand because the vast majority of my draw to this place is seeing a band or otherwise getting drunk on the patio. It looked kind of dark like every other "Irish Pub" in town.
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A Private User
We are lucky to have The Marlay House here in Decatur. The atmosphere is authentic, the menu and food are very high quality, the drinks are well poured and the service is consistently great. We like going here on a winter/fall afternoon to enjoy a guinness and the warm atmosphere, or on a hot day to cool off with a weistephan outside. The service, food, and drink selection are far better than The Angel ever was. The Marlay is one of Decaturs best kept secrets and our favorite neighborhood pub. We go at least once a week and have for months, this review is based on more than a dozen visits. I also recommend checking out their weekend brunch, which we were pleasantly surprised by how good it was. It was every bit as good of a breakfast as Rise & Dine over in Emory village, but with a welcome Irish authenticity, and perhaps some of the best pancakes Ive ever had.
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Richard W. Marsden
An overall good experience. Staff were attentive and didnt get in our way, helpful where necessary. Service and food were on time. We had fish n chips. The fish was surprisingly fresh. With Atlanta being reasonably distant from a coastline this can impact seafood freshness - as someone who once lived much closer to a British coast, and could have same-day fresh fish - this is a big plus. Heinz malt vinegar is too weak to be authentic. Plenty of good drinks, from staples to craft. Some vinyl seating and sickly green painted walls let down otherwise authentic looking environment. Certainly not a deal breaker, but not what youd expect. Recommended and somewhere well return to.
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Aaron Brown
One of our favorite places to eat. Used to love the limited time dish of bangers and mash with a some vegetables and gravy. I wish I could remember the name, it was amazing. The last time we went was the worst unfortunately. Service took forever (on a Sunday night), and the roast dinner my wife got was basically a big slab of fat. She got maybe 7 edible bites out of the beef, and the yorkshire pudding was a dark brown rock, instead of golden and fluffy. She only liked the blueberry bread pudding that was the included dessert. Sadly, it also took forever and kept our table of 9 from leaving, just waiting on this one dessert that took probably 15-20 minutes.
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A Private User
I love this place! An Irish pub owned by a family from Ireland. Now theres a place where I will eat the shepards pie. The menu is very traditional with great choices for everyone and the beer selection is....well....what an Irishman should find excellent. The whole place screams Ireland but you never have to leave Atlanta. We are lucky to have such a fine Pud in Decatur. This place should be on everyones St. Patricks Day Crawl. Hopefully, you dont have to wait that long. Its truely a great place to have a pint. Highly recommended!
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Hungry HeEby
The Marlay House is your quintessential Irish pub in Decatur. They have the rich wood, extensive bar, low light interior, all the standard Irish food fare done well. The outside eating area slightly protected from road noise is spacious and a great space for families, dogs, and only during comfy weather (not rain-proof roof). If you want the Irish pub feel and food and are in Decatur, come here. They have their own parking, a big plus.
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Ryan Ceciliani
Had a great early dinner after the beer festival here. The Shepards Pie was delicious and filling and the service was excellent. On top of that, I left my sun glasses at the table. The next day I went to retrieve them; it turns out they had separated them from the traditional lost and found bc they were valuable and locked them up. Very thoughtful, definately returning for some beer and chips, that blue cheese dip is no joke.
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Kenneth Gilbert
The food here is great. Its near the post office in Decatur. Sometimes parking at the post office is a good idea. Now that the weather is warmer the patio will be a great place to hang out. Everyone is welcome. I routinely run into friends here and meet new ones as well. I like that its centrally located and easy to reach.
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James Diedrick
Mac McGees has a more intimate, authentic Irish pub atmosphere (and a far better whiskey list), but the Marlay is less crowded, more spacious, and perfectly pleasant. Average pub food, good beer list, and a mighty fine Marlay Pimms Cup if you want to feel like youre watching tennis at Wimbledon.
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Amelia Morris
The Marlay House is a Great Britain style pub. The food is awesome and the servers and bartenders are very laid back and friendly. The hand-cut "chips" are the best around. My fish was tasty. The fry in it was a bit over, looked almost burned, but tasted very good. Excellent tartar sauce.
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Aisha Bee
Its a nice, typical bar, well, without the smoking. We went on a rainy Saturday night, so it wasnt crowded at all. Im not sure if its standard M.O. or if it was our bartender, but our drinks were REALLY strong. Just the way I like them. Will definitely go back when Im on that side of town.
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Vitali Mindel
Lovely neighborhood pub. Its well decorated inside with dark wood panels and a square bar in the middle, and the patio is wonderful for seating outside during good weather. The beer selection is good and the food, as far as I can tell, is great. I especially like their fish and chips.
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Johnny Squaw
Waited 45 minutes for fish and chips when restaurant was half full. Food was soggy, greasy and totally bland. An unidentifiable baby insect crawled up from underside of table while eating. Please dont waste your time and money. Much better fish and chips all over town.
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Spencer Morris
It was great. My wife had the fish and chips and they were spot on, and I had the Mixed Seafood Bowl and that was amazing. We only got food, so I cant speak for the drinks though it looked like they had a good selection. We will be going back.
