Malarkey’s Grill & One Hell of an Irish Bar

Marissa is the best. She’s always very attentive & friendly. The best breakfast in town, we love coming here. It’s clean with the best waterfront view.

Great place to watch sports and the food was awesome! Irish Stew, Irish Cup Cake (meatloaf) and yummy bread pudding made for a great meal! The salads are really good too! Drinks were good and made properly which makes this ideal for all occasions. The bands are really good and the crowd is very casual, yet friendly. The view is so relaxing and peaceful. Wait staff is prompt and friendly even on a busy Saturday night! Overall I would make this a «go to» restaurant.

Marissa was our server and she was awesome!!! We had the fish n chips and pulled pork sandwich and all of us loved our meals. I can’t wait to go back with my husband! Thank you!

What an awesome place. The view was so amazing, with a beautiful view of the bay! Great place to watch the games, listen to live music and enjoy a great meal! The bloody Mary was stellar, and the Chinese chicken salad was to die for! A great evening was had by all, I will be returning to Malarkey’s frequently! !

Went there for my daughters birthday.
Great location! We sat facing the ocean, was a beautiful view.
The waiters were very nice and welcoming.
We ordered a lot of sea food, which was scrumptious and prepared as we requested.
The only issue I had was with the bar. We went as a family seeking a family dining experience. The bar was full and loud, that affected our relaxing evening.
But over all I enjoyed the experience and would recommended to others.

A truly great place to listen to quality, live music. Great food (try the black and blue burger!), very fair prices, and attentive service — even in a very busy Friday night!

went there to try the happy hour drinks and they were pretty great! Strong and just what I needed… The bartender was friendly and fast. The only thing that would not make me come back is the fact that the place is pretty dark and not very welcoming… there were mostly regulars in there and the place was huge… I wish they would make the ambience a little bit more welcoming.

We held a retirement party in the bar area and had them cater with their sandwich/​meat buffet. The staff was outstanding, the food was delicious and everyone made the event a very special night for our retiree! Fantastic prices — food and drink both! I would highly recommend anyone planning an event to call and set up your party with Patrick. He was extremely helpful! I will definitely return!

Try to help the management understand that the policy and inconsistent communications withstaff and volunteers for the blues bands playing today created serious problem 15 $ 20 cover charge when we’re there for hours before and they still tried to charge a cover charge while we were there as a restaurant patron. As a former restaurant manager with over 10 years experience and as a business owner myself for over 30 years, I tried to warn management of the potential negative consequences that we’re being exhibited right before his very eyes. Any employee who argues with a customer like that or even a volunteer could s be educated and a system would be in place so that the people and the policies work together not opposing your customers and ruining your customers experience. Christina was our waitress she was phenomenal.
As a crewing and concerned business owner I did in fact forewarn management However they chose to be reactive instead of proactive

From the moment we walked in our waiter Gilberto gave us the royal treatment. Suggested a great cold draft beer and a smooth wine for my wife. We couldn’t see the bay at night so he lowers the lights just for us.
The food was incredible. Great calamari for appetizers and awesome burgers, fish and chips. Service was immediate and brought with smiles. Lots of sports tvs in the bar or romantic setting where we were at. Love this place.

food = bland
service = smiley but incompetent
ambiance = outside is what it is, but bars along the wall to see outside could use some steam cleaning
overall ambiance = divey
no need to visit again

Best view of the harbor with a window booth. We had to wait about 20 minutes to get a booth by the window, but well worth the wait. Come a little early if you desire a window booth. The corned beef tacos blew me away. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with them, but I want more. I split a plate of those and a plate of the Reuben sandwich and I really liked the tacos better, but I gave a bite of each to my husband and he preferred the sandwich. I got the homemade potato chips as my side and couldn’t be happier. They were browned and crisped to perfection, not oily at all. We got a coupon for the cheese fries to start us out, sharing with four people, and they were almost gone by the time our food got to us. My husband had the sheppard’s pie, which was delicious. And another person at our table ordered the scrambled egg hash, which looked delicious. The waitress forgot his toast that came with it until he was almost done with his dish. We all left feeling very satisfied. It was a lot of food.
The biggest disappointment was the iced tea. Yuk. I’m spoiled by the great iced tea you can get everywhere now. Even McDonald’s has great iced tea, and for only $ 1.00. Why anyone would have bad iced tea when it’s such a popular drink is beyond me.
I purchased a Groupon, which brought us here, but couldn’t use it because we missed the fine print about not being able to use it on a holiday and we were there on Labor Day. I’m happy to go back again, though, maybe for the live Reggae next time.

We had a great experience with Malarky today! We stormed in with our party of 15… and made our demands!!! They bent over backward to make our stay at Malarky memorable!!!
The fried calamari was definitely 4 star… The Irish Nachos were good but nothing special… Solid 3! I ordered the crab stuffed salmon. Nice plating but okay. The pulled pork sandwich was really good! Another 4 star! Couple of other notables… BBQ chicken pizza, Irish Stew were the standouts! With a party of our size, the dinner service was a bit slow but not anything to be worried about. Our server Leilani was attentive, friendly and informative. We will definitely come back… and soon!

The fries were great.
Worth 4s. The pulled beef tacos weren’t great.
My grandma had the clam chowder she said that was worth about 2s.
The atmosphere was great. Low lighting. Large windows with a great view of the Alamitos Bay.
The service was okay but nothing too spectacular.

Purchased a $ 25 Groupon to give this place a try when I was visiting Long Beach.
Came here on a Tuesday night. The place really filled up once the Happy Hour patrons began to arrive. Can get loud.
Food was good, I ordered the grilled chicken breast sandwich with advocado and aioli. I really enjoyed the gorgonzola garlic bread they used. My boyfriend ordered a hamburger and added an egg, bacon, and cheese. We sat in a booth next to the window and enjoyed sunset views of the Marina during dinner.
I took advantage of the Happy Hour prices and tried a long beach iced tea, which seemed appropriate given I was visiting Long Beach. This beverage is infused with 7-​up and cranberry juice, I discovered that I am definitely not a fan. In the future I will stick to plain old Long Islands.
Food server Lucia V. was friendly, food arrived promptly.

I am happy to say that they changed their recipe for the CBH and it is 100% better. They used real corned beef, and big chunks of onion and potato. Not the canned stuff.

We passed by Malarkey’s after a painful workout on our hydrobikes (still, it’s a must!). At around 3:45, we asked a hostess if they had a happy hour. She said «at 4 pm.» We took our time walking around the small plaza. When we got inside, the place was packed but we were able to snag a booth overlooking the sea – beautiful view.
We asked about the happy hour menu and the waitress gave us the food and drink menus. We ordered the potato skins (which are just chunks of potato loaded with cheese, bacon bits, and green onion – nothing fancy and wouldn’t recommend) and the free order of fries with check-​in. She wasn’t sure if the check-​in applied so that’s why we were stuck with potato overload (nothing else on the HH menu looked appetizing).
My date and I had a chill time munching on food and drinks. Around 5:30, our check rolls around and she charges us full price for food and drink. She neglected to tell us that happy hour ENDED at 4 pm. Not sure why she gave us the menus in the first place…
If it weren’t for my great date, I would’ve been even more irritated.
Tons of great pubs around Long Beach, Malarkey’s unfortunately isn’t one of them.

Oh Malarkey’s, how I really wanted to like you more. I have actually had this place bookmarked for awhile; pretty much since they took over Busters Beach House (which I never got to try), so when our Unilocal friend Ryan P. wanted to meet up for lunch and give this place I try we were in.
The parking is free with validation or across in the Aqualink lot and the outside of the place is beautifully done and really give you a good feeling walking through the doors. The inside décor is nicely done and a bit unique with the fire pole and electric bikes but nice nonetheless. We were seated very quickly right near the windows overlooking the harbor which is very nice. The drink orders were taken and brought out relatively quickly as well.
For an appetizer the girls opted for the Asparagus fries which were lightly breaded and fried. They seemed to think they were OK but nothing great, and I personally did not try them as I am not a fan of asparagus at all and they did little in the looks department to make me want to rethink that stance. Our Unilocal buddy opted to customize her own pizza and although it was a good size really seemed to lack in the sauce and overall flavor. The fact that this did not go home with them says something too and probably would not be ordered again. My wife seemed to enjoy her meal a bit more but still did not seem blown away.
I opted to go with a wedge salad and an order of buffalo wings for my meal as opposed to a full sized entrée so that I could try more items off the menu. The wings were large and full of flavor and actually quite good compared to other establishments similar to this but the wedge salad was flavorless and honestly one of the worst I have ever had. The salad was a decent size but lacked dressing and the extra blue cheese they brought me was watered down and flavorless. The iceberg lettuce was far to watery as well and the overall lack of flavor made me want to throw in the towel a few bites in but I powered through to the end. I am glad we came and gave the place a try and thanks to Ryan P. for her generosity and the invite and for sharing her Groupon deal with us.
Although the place was beautiful and the setting was nice I probably would not return unless a great deal presented itself. The food was simply mediocre and for the price I can find better options out there.
Décor ****
Food **
Service ***
Cost ***
Overall ***

It’s a bunch of MALARKEY
This places used to be BOMB when it was Buster’s Beach House. I would come here all the time. Part of the GREATNESS was the scenery which is about the ONLY thing that hasn’t changed! It is STILL AWESOME to look out on to the water and watch the boats, hydro-​bikes, sea doos, kayaks, etc. pass by! If you’re lucky you’ll see a seal popping its head out of the water.
I was here because I was getting together with some fellow Unilocal’ers to partake in a meal. I had a Groupon for this place since it changed ownership, décor and the name and wanted to try it out. Since none of us had been there before we set a date for lunch!
I got there a little early to walk around because it is so beautiful and peaceful over there. I noticed a menu as I passed by the MALARKEY’S and checked it out. They had several NEW items on the menu and some old ones and it seemed like they had it together. I have to admit I was a little nervous because when the place was in transition the food changed along with the décor. I remember emailing the new owner/​manager and asking if the chef also changed because my last two experiences did not go well. He said they still had the same chef as before which did not instill confidence in me going back but I figure at some point I would give it a try.
So we all arrive and we are greeted as we walk in and seated right away. Thus far we are off to a GOOD START. We got a seat near the window so we didn’t have to worry about any big-​headed, hat wearing or puffy haired group of people blocking our view of the bay.
I went for different because I REALLY wanted to see if this place had what it takes to stay on my radar. We ordered an appetizer of jumbo asparagus fries which are cornmeal covered and fried and served with a diablo dipping sauce. Shawna C. were both a little nervous when we heard the word «Diablo» because nothing that starts with that word is remotely edible for us but this stuff wasn’t at all hot or spicy! It was rather good and we got a side of ranch sauce just in case. Mixed together we had a tasty treat. They were not all that but they were light and NOT GREASY which was GOOD!
I decided to make my own pizza because they didn’t have anything that was veggie except for the Tomato Basil and well I HATE tomatoes and I wanted a little more than sauce and leaves to eat. So created a Ryan not so original pizza with feta, ‘shrooms and spinach. My fellow Unilocal’ers Shawna C and Steve C. got the Wedge salad with bieu cheese crumbles, red onion tomato and blue cheese dressing, the Buffalo wings served with ranch, and the grilled chicken breast sand with avocado, Swiss cheese, lettuce, chipotle and crispy onion strings on Gorgonzola garlic bread.
Both fellow Unilocal’ers seemed to like what they ordered but were NOT blown away! I liked my pizza but it was WAY TOO DRY because it didn’t have ENOUGH sauce on it! Papa Smurf always says pizza is just bread and sauce but NOT this pizza. I got a side of BBQ to help it out and give it some moisture but by that time the thrill was gone! The spinach on my pizza was too crispy because it didn’t have enough sauce to it baked dry in the oven! Bottom line we all thought it was JUST ‘A-​OK’ but nothing special.
I didn’t even want to finish my food! I knew the mom-​n-​ator was either going to be at my house when I got there or would pop up like a Jack in the box later so I was going to grab something for her but since my meal was OVERWHELMINGLY MEHHH I stopped at the HABIT on the way home which she loves. About an hour later my suspicions materialized in the form of the mom-​n-​ator bearing snickdoodle treats since she and Papa Smurf had just come from lunch.
The service was ok! Nothing special but the server was NICE and NOT pushy or overbearing! I will probably go back for the scenery but its NO LONGER seems my go to place in the bay for a GOOD meal!
I’m REALLY sad about that! Buster’s used to be my second home and now it just seems like a whole bunch of MALARKEY!

We had been wanting to hang out with a fellow Unilocaler for some time now, and we finally found a weekend to do it. She had a Groupon for this place and it was actually one that none of us had been to, so we went for it.
It seems that this is an A-​OK place for most people, and it was for us as well. Luckily it worked out with it not being busy due to the holiday weekend.
We started out with the asparagus fries that the waitress recommended. Not bad… but not much flavor either. The ranch sauce helped give it flavor, as well as their «diablo» sauce. We asked for a side of ranch due to the name «diablo» sauce and being told that it was quite spicy. I tried it. Not spicy at all! Now if I say not spicy at all… it isn’t AT ALL. I think many things are spicy. I would consider this a chipotle sauce if anything, and non spicy. So the sauces made a nice flavor to go with it but the asparagus itself didn’t have much flavor.
I went with the grilled chicken sandwich as it had things that popped out to me such as avocado as always, and it seemed healthier with the tomato, lettuce, cucumber, etc. It also had some fried onion strings. It came on Gorgonzola garlic bread, but I never tasted that. I went with homemade potato chips with my side instead of fries. Those chips were pretty tasty in my opinion. Sandwich was not bad, but not great.
My husband went with the buffalo wings that were not hot to him, as well as the wedge salad. He thought the wings were quite delicious, but said his wedge salad was one of the worst ones he had. The wedge was pretty dry so he got an extra side of bleu cheese, which ended up tasting pretty watery.
Our Unilocal friend Ryan had a build your own pizza. It looked delicious and the portion was a pretty good size. (I would hope for $ 14). However it looked kind of dry in regards to sauce and she said that it was. She got a side of BBQ sauce to dip it in and was still disappointed. When she sent almost half of it back with no desire for a «to go» box, I knew that they failed on this one.
Food is a little pricey for what you get out of it on most of the items, but I found the service to be nice. The waitress answered any questions and was great at checking in on our drink refills and attending to any needs we had, including our million side sauce requests.
I would come here again if friends met up here, but I don’t see myself going out of my way to come back. I did have a blast hanging out with our friend though and we will be sure to more often!