Kitty O’Shea’s

Went in the evening on a wednesday.
Was nice and calm, good food, and cheaper than some of the other places I’ve seen around Boston.
Except for this really annoying drunk guy sittin near us… but can’t blame that on the bar.

This infamously known spot attributes to the dangerous perception of Faneuil Hall night life.
Covers are steep and unreasonable, lines are unbearable, clientele is trashy, and worst of all, the place just isn’t safe. Avoid this establishment like the plague or else you might get caught in the crossfire of a left hook.

Went by this on ¹¹⁄₁₆ and it appears to be closed for good.
Confirmed on their Facebook page:

A great place to visit if you are in the area. I am not sure if they still have the specials on food and drinks from 2−4pm, but it is definitely worth the visit, considering the super high places of other establishments in the area.

We really liked visiting this place while in Boston. Mainly because they would run a special in the middle of the day, which was from 2 – 4. You could a a burger and some different apps for $ 3 and the portions were worth the money, not just a slider or skimpy appetizers. Not sure if they are still running this special anymore, but this place is still worth the visit.

An average bar in the financial district downtown. Service was attentive and friendly. No food was ordered and part of the USC game was watched on the tube. That’s about it. A group of 20+ showed up for a birthday party as we were leaving, shot the noise level up to fraternity party levels. (no effect on this rating, just stating the facts) This bar gets a solid ³⁄₅.

We like going here from time to time on our way to the waterfront, the drinks are good and decently priced and the food is great! Get thee fried macaroni balls.

Here, Kitty, Kitty!!!
Just like Helia, my review was ALSO loooong overdue! I am a Nor Car girl who had the pleasure of being in Boston for St. Patrick’s Day. My friends and I initially landed at Kitty O’Shea’s, being that it was the kick-​off for our weekend long pub crawl. With that said, we walked in the doors a little after 7 pm and stumbled out well into the wee hours of the morning. The people were amazing. The bar and wait staff were attentive and personable. Kitty’s has a lot of charm and charisma!
My friends and I went with the sampler platter to chase our Jameson and pickle juice shots (YUM). Fried Mac n’ cheese bites?! Um, YES PLEASE! The wings were also good. Let’s be real, people: it’s a bar! Where bar munchies are concerned, Kitty O’Shea’s served up some tasty ‘eats’. Don’t go in expecting award-​wining culinary creations. Go to Kitty’s to drink, eat, and be marry!
The hilarity of the situation is this: considering we were doing a pub crawl, in actuality we went to and parked at 3-​out-​of MANY bars on our list. Kitty’s hands-​down was the best! I cannot wait until NEXT St. Patrick’s Day. We’ll be back! An amazing night was had by all…

Worst breakfast ever. Everything was cold, eggs were raw. No soap in the bathroom. Slow service. Sent the uncooked food back 3 times still wasn’t good. Coffee bad also and cold.
The second star is due to the fact that they apparently have never served breakfast before and that the manager gave the table a round of Jameson’s.

This review is long overdue!
As a So Cal girl, I was stoked to be spending St. Patty’s Day in Boston, but was over the lines and the crowds. We ended up here and stayed the entire day. It was amazing! Nice bouncers, great music and a good mix of people. The best part though were the two female bartenders who were upstairs — they were very attentive and super nice! And Pamela is a great manager too! I promised I’d write you guys a review and here it is. I definitely had a blast and am looking forward to the next time I’m out there.

Friendly staff, old building its in has some charm.
Pretty standard pub fare on the menu. I went with a group and wasn’t terribly hungry, so I just had the buffalo wing appetizer and a bowl of clam chowder. Both were good.

This place is always packed and not a bad start of the night bar. They do serve buffet early in the night but Its not very good, but then again its free so how much can you complain. The problem is this bar is so packed on ground level and there are too many tables in chairs in such a small place its hard to get around or order a drink.
If you venture upstairs you are in for a Cancun style strobe lights where the «DJ» put whatever crappy Rihanna song is popular on repeat and bangs whatever sloppy mess he can pull up into the DJ tower. If your lucky enough to get a bar tender upstairs be prepared to get whatever new girl in training they have who doesn’t know rum from vodka (when your expecting a captain and coke and get vodka and coke you’re in for a surprise) and yes all your drinks will be served in clear plastic cups so your $ 8 pint downstairs will be in an 6 once plastic tumbler upstairs.
All the bartenders/​waitresses are women because the owner either thinks he can get lucky or is going for a hooters vibe, most likely both. All the girls are unfortunately just on this side being able to tell her that her «cute mid-​drift» is actually just muffin top and that she needs a bigger spandex shirt. Meanwhile every guy in the place thinks hes going to get lucky as the beer goggles descend and the whole night the girls only serve, whatever, directionless «businessman» she let stick it to her the night before, so good luck getting a drink once it gets crowded and if you’re a woman just forget it you are the competition.
If you have to go to the bathroom in this place just give up they are in the basement and you can guarantee two things about them. First they will always be dive-​bar-​tastic dirty with 2 inches of urine and/​or doodoo on the floor with the walls never having been cleaned since the building was built. Secondly there will be someone having sex in the bathroom with out fail just hope that its not one of the bartenders… hope.
If you decide to go to this bar get in early and get out and move on for the night.

I’ve been here a few times now, once on a pub crawl and another because one of my friends apparently has no taste and thought this would be a good place to go. During the pub crawl our waitress decided to seat us next to a family with small children trying to enjoy a meal together. I’m not sure if she had no idea what a bunch of drunk people look like or if she’s just not very bright, but it was definitely a poor decision. Even though we tried to be respectful and courteous, there’s only so much a group of drunk people can do to stay contained. Needless to say, I’m sure we ruined their lunch.
The second time was slightly worse, the entire bar was freezing cold, smelled like someone’s butthole, and all the drinks I was given were in plastic cups. I was also hit on by a series of unfortunate men, which was not the bars fault persay, but speaks volumes of the types of people this bar attracts.
I’ll continue to try to avoid this bar to the best of my ability, the only advantageous thing this bar has going for them is that they still have pumpkinhead on tap… but that also leads me to believe they probably don’t change out their kegs very frequently. Ew.

I’ve been here a few times and didn’t think anything special about it but also didn’t hate it but after coming here with an event associated with a pubcrawl, I am not happy. First of all, they were the host of the after party but they also had a private event going on in the bar, so many of the people with the after party, weren’t even allowed in. Secondly, the staff were beyond rude. (bouncers, bartenders, cleaners. everyone!) And to top it off… they ran out of several beers, including Bud Light, before 9pm. To run out of one of the most popular beers at this time, when you were well informed of a huge crowd coming in, is insane to me.
I will not be returning.

relaxed atmosphere with great service. when first walking, the smell of bleach hits you. but that is not all bad, at least the place should be clean. you wal into a side area of the bar, past a couple smaller social rooms. the wood floor looks great, perfectly worn and complimentary to the green walls and dark wood accents. the room closer to the bar is all wood with a wood/​glass cabinet that contain irish whiskey bottles for décor.
the entire place isn’t that big. the bottom of the L-​shaped bar is closer to the door. a few stools, a clock, and a tap. wooden bar top with no rail. after the corner are another 5 – 7 stools. beyond the bar are lower eating tables and windows that overlook state st. decorated with white lights for Christmas. not overdone, but nice. rock music over the speakers.
good beer selection served up by capable, friendly bartenders. they also have a special reserver jameson for the same price as the standard.
overall low-​kay, relaxed bar with a mix of patrons that melds well together.

The bathroom smells like chlorine. Like a pool. William McCarthy the bartender/​manager is awesome.
We stopped in here after a few other local joints and this was easily my favorite of the places. The bartender actually paid attention to us and we had a great conversation with him, which really impacts my opinion of a place. I can’t say much about the prices because I was pretty drunk when I left so I don’t exactly remember what I paid, but if I remember anything it’s that we got a lot of drinks for a very low price. Not sure if that’s because of the prices or if there were buybacks. Either way, I would absolutely make it a point to stop in here if I am ever in the area again.
My bar chair was terrifyingly loose and rickety.
And if William McCarthy reads this, you will get your cupcakes that we promised you!

I’m giving this place a 4 star based on a 4pm happy hour drop in. After seeing a tragic «we are closed today» sign at the Harpoon Brewery, we were trying to make our way over to McCormicks but decided to go to Kitty because it was on the way and it looked cheaper.
They have GREAT appetizer deals. $ 3 for appetizers? YES PELASE!
Their draft beers were pretty fresh, definitely not stale. We ordered wings and broccoli poppers that were stuffed with cheddar and bacon. Wings were actually really good! The broccoli poppers. at $ 3 a dish I could legit eat 10. SO GOOD!
I mean it was a 4pm on a Monday so we def received more than enough attention and everything was fresh. For those who had a poor experience at night, I’d suggest coming back during the day and ordering some food.

Dirty. Not Durty, just plain old dirty. This place seriously needs a good scrubbing (as did most of the clientele). I went there during the day — maybe it looks better when it’s dark.
Sour service, flat beer, overpriced. Pass

I am giving a 1 Star rating after a McFadden’s Happy Hour. Wow, this place must really be that bad.
Here is the breakdown…
Good
–beer was not stale
–i didn’t wind up in the hospital after eating that food
–location which is probably the only reason they are sustainable
Now onto the bad
Bad
— Urinal in mens room was overflowing and practically took over the entire bathroom
–Stall was unable to be used
–Nobody fixed either issue for over 20 minutes
–Burnt chicken quesadilla
–Frozen guac served with quesadilla
— Mozzarella sticks and chicken fingers were greasiest I have ever seen at a bar in boston
— Waitress dropped a check on our table half way through eating
–Nobody came by to ask how things were going
–Waitress left crap all over our table and picked up a few glasses at the end
–Had to ask another waitress for drinks at one point while ours was socializing
Go to Black Rose or Sissy K’s instead of this place

Went here to watch the Celtics get shellacked by LA in Game 6. There were lines at most of the other bars in the area, but we walked right in here.
Plenty of TVs, and a projector screen (probably only in place for games). They do have Smithwicks on tap, and the ever-​inexpensive Brubaker bottles (these two add up to the third star).
The crowd seemed to be straight out of a Jersey Shore Reunion. We saw a guy braiding his girlfriend’s hair !?!
There are better options in the area, such as Sissy K’s.