Ballydoyle

Reviews 6

AL

Alexis Lewis

Went to a work Christmas party there was 12 of us , arrived around 7:35 had to pay an 8$ cover charge for som band Semple or something like that, the band didnt even play till 10. So basically I was being charged to eat at their establishment, on top of the already expensive prices for food and drink. Our waiter took forever which I guess you cant blame him when they are obviously short staffed (it took 25+ minutes to get our tabs closed after asking twice). I went up to the manager because I couldnt understand why I was being charged to eat there when I defiantly wasnt staying around till ten to see the band the manager told me getting my money back wasnt going to be a problem just tell the people taking cover that the manager (Jason or Kevin was his name) in the green shirt said to refund us, so leaving before ten we try to get back our money and they wont reimburse all our girls because even though there are a ton of people coming in and out the door the lady taking money pretends she remembers everyone who has been in the restaurant and been charged, all our girls clearly have stamps on their hands showing they have been charged and she refuses money has an attitude is yelling at us,at one point runs off with the cash box and the manager (same guy I talked to earlier) comes out and takes her side, we are paying costumer we easily spent a nice chunk of money there and are given no respect, I get that the band isnt their band but everyone you have play at your establishment is a reflection of you and by charging 3hours in advance to "see" a band play that isnt even playing is a poor . Basically I was charged a 8$ cover fee to eat cold fries, drink a 9$ "alcoholic", not see a band play, and be disrespected. I wont be wasting my money here again.

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A

A Private User

I went there with a group of friends on a Tuesday night. We walked in to an extremely quiet but full restaurant/bar with a guy on stage asking a trivia question. As we were sitting down, we shouted out the answer and were NICELY warned that the answers are to be written down and turned in. After about 15 minutes of sitting around a waitress finally came up to the table and started quizing us about a couple using the same bathroom. She provided us with two rules "number one, no shouting out answers and number two no cross gender bathroom use." Then she asked if we had been already drinking. All of this questioning was done in a very rude tone of voice, it appeared to me that she was nervous about confronting us and wanted to spit everything out, and then run away! Anyway, she walked away without taking an order. We sat around for another 5 minutes and left! We ended up spending out money in Naperville. I guess its important to note that we are a group or 24 year olds, all students or professionals, very respectful and nice. I imagine she assumed we were a rowdy college group, which is sort of understandable, but her approach with us was very disrespectful. Being an Aurora resident myself, I felt a little embarrassed as I have told many good things about this place! I still like the bar and will most likely go back as I want my money to be spent on businesses in Aurora, but MAN, our Ballydoyle management needs to invest in some comptent wait staff!

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A

A Private User

This place needs a serious change... Ive grown to be highly disappointed in Ballydoyle over the years... The Aurora location is no exception. My problem is usually with the tab and the food. The food is just ok. It has gone downhill significantly over the years. The prices went up and the quality went way down! Id really rather spend my money somewhere else for better quality food. Youre entire party can just order sandwiches and youll be amazed at how much youll be paying! The food tends to be on the greasy / bland side as well. There are definitely other places to go if youre looking for quality Irish food at a reasonable price!There is always a mass of people there in the evenings... A rush coming in from the Casino more than likely. If you want a seat on St. Patricks Day, you best get there early... I mean EARLY! And plan to stalk people for a seat. They have a cover charge starting early in the day (as they do for some bands in the evenings throughout the year). Though this may be the only time of the year that youll get to see some really good Celtic bands!

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Leon King

We are visiting from New Mexico (one of the 50 states). After reading a few good reviews, we decided to pop in for burgers and drinks. Upon entering the establishment, we stood there for a couple of minutes. The bar tender and wait staff stood at the other end of the bar, talking. They could clearly see us, as it wasnt very busy and there were only a few patrons sitting there. I finally had to get the bar tenders attention by waving him over. We wanted to sit by the windows, so we could enjoy the river, while we lunched. We were abruptly told the section was closed for a private party, although said party were dining out on the patio! We seated ourselves at another window, facing the street. We sat there for a good 5 minutes (I was timing them) and finally was approached by a waitress. She wasnt too friendly, provided extremely slow service and came back to check on us only twice! The food wasnt to great either! We went out if our way to eat here, but went away very disappointed. If Gillersons Grubbery was open, we would have gone there instead.

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SA

Sarah Freeh

Bally Doyle is located in a neat old building in downtown Aurora near the river. Nothing special about the beer or cocktail selections, half of the beers we went to order they were out of. Service was terrible, I was never once able to get service and had to send several people in my group up to finally get drinks. Live music was not great. Lots of seating. I have tried the food once before at an event which was good and I would certainly order something to go in the future so I could skip the poor service. *Follow up* I was with my neighbors and they insisted we stop in- group of 6. This experience was just as bad as far as customer service was concerned, cocktails were extremely overpriced, small, tasted awful. I was ready to go after the first sip of my "Moscow mule". I ended up getting a chunk of the lime in my mouth towards the end and it tasted rancid, likely why the drink tasted so bad.

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AD

Adam Mullen

Im a local and was interested in the place merely because Id like to see more real restaurants open up down town - Walter Paytons is nice, but it gets old after 3 years (plus, their menu seems to be deteriorating as they try to control costs in the current economy). I decided to give it a go, and my wife and I went for dinner on 3-Mar-09 at 8:00pm. When we showed up, we were carded and asked to pay a $5 cover each. At this point, we walked out and just went to Heaven on Seven in Naperville. I didnt even get in the door to actually try it out, but if the place is looking for a cover charge on a tuesday night, theyre probably trying to position themselves more as a bar (which down town doesnt need) than a decent sit down restaurant (which it desperately *does* need). Please feel free to comment on this if you *have* been there, as Im interested in what theyre going to do with the place.

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