I'm never coming here again. I have given Duggan's too many chances (yesterday was my third visit staggered over several months); I want it to be awesome, but it always leaves me unsatisfied and slightly angry.
The good:
- Everything here has always been "okay" but I have never had anything really good (or even medium good).
- It's huge so there is usually a table
- They're lucky/strategic in that there is nothing else around this area
- It is very clean and the bathrooms are always clean even when it's busy
The bad:
- See Vivek's review for the lowdown on our crazy cokeface waiter night from earlier in the year - this was one of the weirdest service experiences I have ever had in my life... looking back on it, we probably should have complained on our way out, but I think we were all too stunned
- Yesterday, other patrons whispered to me upon exiting "don't get the corned beef" and I was like... shit, I just ordered that... but they hated it so much they wanted to tell me about it
- The corned beef is not corned; it's just a roast beef sandwich. it was actually an okay roast beef sandwich, but it was not what the menu advertised. I was less offended than the other party (but it's still not even close to corned beef).
- We seemed to remember the beer here being cheap, but then when we got our bill, it was not. It was $6.68 a pint.
- The food was also not cheap. Sandwiches are between $12-$15. Our bill for lunch yesterday was $45 (before tip) for two sandwiches ad two beers. If the food had been awesome I wouldn't have minded spending that much, but the food was mediocre and I get a better roast beef sandwich at Bonjour Brioche or Brick Street Bakery for $8.
- This is personal taste, but I have never loved my beer here. I like number 9 on draught at other places, but I always try something else when I am here because I can get 9 anywhere... and whatever I get is always okay but it has never been special or made me HAVE to come back to have it again.
- Mike and I quickly did the math on their growlers and they aren't really a great deal, and you can't refill them.
Overall, I will probably forget how much I am unsatisfied and underwhelmed by Duggan's in a few months and I'm sure I will end up here again, and I'm sure it will be crappy because it always is. I don't recommend that you go here at all, but it is a lot better than 1 star... I might give it 3 stars if it wasn't so expensive.