McGilvra's Bar & Restaurant

Love McGilvras. Great food, great service. Just had the salmon sandwich. Perfect.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The servers here are very nice and work hard. The location is great. Food quality however is. It acceptable.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 2

Service: 5

This place has always been a favorite of mine, and I have to give credit where it’s due—the staff are consistently excellent, and the drinks never disappoint. On my last visit, I had a salad that was fresh and delicious, which made me look forward to trying something new this time around.

Unfortunately, the shrimp special fell short of expectations, especially considering its price of $23. While the shrimp itself was cooked well, the sides left a lot to be desired. The mashed potatoes tasted like they came straight from a box, and the vegetables were clearly frozen, lacking both freshness and flavor. Together, they made the dish feel underwhelming compared to the quality I’ve come to expect here.

That said, I won’t write McGilvra’s off. I’ll certainly be back for the atmosphere, service, and drinks, but I’ll be more selective with what I order next time.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 3

Service: 5

Great place right by the water. We enjoyed our meals - fish sandwich, wings, Florentine Benedict and clam chowder. Hugo cocktail was a little heavy on the syrup and the clam chowder was too watery for my liking. I found the service to be friendly and good, however, the amount of times the server asked us if we were doing ok, bordered on annoying.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Monday is happy all day. Service is attentive. Food was fresh and tasty. Menu has some vegetarian items but there could be more.

Extremely rude waitress. We got up and left when she took such issue with us asking to sit at a table closer to the sidewalk. She could have easily said “no” if we weren’t able to sit at that table but decided instead to look so deeply personally offended and then remark “go ahead” as if we had just killed somebody. No thank you.

Service was top notch.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Extremely friendly staff and a menu larger and more varies than you'd expect from this sort of restaurant. Breakfast is served late on weekends but the rest of the menu is also available. I had a breakfast burrito that was very tasty and my brother said the fish and chips he had were among the best in Seattle.

The atmosphere is your typical bar and lounge, wood everywhere and very casual, but also very clean and inviting. It was obvious that the staff know their regulars well, but I felt every bit as welcome although I can't even remember what year I last ate at McGilvra's.

There are a lot of great places to eat in Madison Park but I think this may be my new favorite.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The Cubano is really good.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We’ve come here many times and have always had the same server who was nothing but amazing. We had someone else tonight, and before I start, im a server, i know how it is. Our server took our drink order got our food and got me another drink while dropping it off and then never spoke to us again and sat on her phone and ate right next to our table (we were also the only table in the dining room) My girlfriend wanted another drink and was just gonna wait but then after 40 minutes of her on her phone and eating and having my girlfriend push her dirty dishes to the edge so she’d notice we were ready to head out, we watched her say goodnight to the bartender and leave. Never communicated she was transferring her table or if we needed anything else. We waited another 10 minutes but I wanted to leave so i made my partner go up and ask the bartender to get our bill. If he had the table transferred to him all he had to do was just check and see if we were still doing okay and we just would’ve said we needed a box and our check. I understand if you’re busy and i’d never be upset about that but as a server it takes 20 seconds to ask if we’re doing okay. Super disappointing because we’ve never had a bad experience since tonight.):

Food: 3

Service: 1

Bar Staff was rude as hell told me it cost a dollar to fill up my water got a dollar to get the water then refused to fill up my water

I love coming here. The food is delicious and the service is always great. We were caught in a bit of a downpour walking through the Arboretum so we came in to McGilvra's and they so kindly sat us near the fireplace and turned it on for us. In May. Things were nice and toasty as we enjoyed our drinks and food.

Great food and service.

What a nice little place. The weather was perfect to sit outside and enjoy the view of the lake. The staff was very attentive and friendly. The food was very good!

Been going to this spot for years for some evening relaxation. Really solid HH options, and check those specials when you can. Meatloaf sandwich is really tasty, burger is a great portion, and the draft selection is perfect.