JP Dempsey’s

I love JP Dempsey’s. It is very nostalgic for me. I haven’t been there in a few years but they made a fried mozzarella with pesto sauce that was out of this world. The Buffalo wings are pretty good too. I remember eating an early dinner or lunch on the street side patio, with a tasty cocktail or tap beer along side my friends. It was always a great experience. I look forward to going back.

Came here for happy hour with a few coworkers to celebrate a birthday. A couple of folks in our party love this spot and I heard a lot beforehand about the peanuts and shells on the floor. People really seem to like this concept, admittedly I got a kick out of it too.
The food menu is what you would expect from an American style pub — burgers, fries, sandwiches, chicken tenders/​wings. My coworkers were happy with their food. I wasn’t thrilled with my burger though, as I asked for it medium and it way was overdone. Their happy hour menu is really just the regular menu with a promotion of $ 1 off well drinks and $ 2 off beers Monday through Friday. For me the best attribute of this place was that it accommodated our large party well, yet still felt intimate.
Shout out to our server, she was a real sweetheart.

Fantastic! New Haven’s version of Cheers. The bartenders. Waitstaff, n hosts make you feel welcome n right @ home! The variety of food pleased every palate. Try the specials they’re always spectacular! The pasta fagioli is delicious !

Awesome atmosphere. Very relaxed staff and feel to the restaurant/​pub. Great food, awesome drinks and specials. Love the peanuts shells on the floor. We made the rookie mistake of ordering apps & dinner. Definitely coming back for drinks and apps.

The east rock dive bar of your dreams. I go here to crush beers and free peanuts. Don’t make eye contact and don’t use the bathroom. This place is always a good time (or at least the parts you remember)

I have always liked this little friendly neighborhood bar and I occasionally stop in when I am in the area. It is the eclectic crowd that is the real draw for me, a wonderful mix of young and old; make no mistake this place pretty much serves the locals but for me it is a destination stop with an excellent vibe. Nigel, the bartender can thrown down a very good martini and a terrific scotch and soda, there are a considerable number of IPA’s and craft beers on tap as well as an excellent selection of bottle beers. I have never had their pub grub so I can’t speak to that, that’s not why I go there anyway. The service at the bar was top notch, JP Dempsey’s delivers a very comfortable down to earth slice of unvarnished authentic local life… you’ll find no pretense there, just the way I like it!

Fried mozzarella is delicious. Waitress was very friendly and helpful. They serve complimentary peanuts and you can throw the shells right on the floor.

The food and the service were purely tragic. I really wanted to like this place, they have a good location and atmosphere. But don’t go here to eat. It’s a bar. Go to drink. That is what they are here for, bar service.

One of those places that serve peanuts at every table and shells are thrown on the floor. Good food, not just bar food and the burners (boneless wings) is what keeps us going back. Beer selection is a little weak but what they have is good. Its nice to sit outside and people watch while sipping on a beer and grabbing a casual dinner.

Traditional American bar, I suppose. Your typical bar food plus some salads and pastas. Place is a little pricey for the offerings IMO. Had to wait 30 minutes on a grilled chicken salad which was mediocre. I didn’t mind the char on the chicken at all, but the chicken was extremely dry. Not horrible but definitely not worth a return visit.

We have always loved this place and hence decided to go back again. Sadly, did not have the most pleasant experience. Bartender was not friendly and made some unpleasant comments. Giving 3-​stars (and not less) because our previous experiences were good at this place and the Owner of Dempseys responded quickly after reading our comments and took immediate action!

I always had a decent time at this place, except for the last time.
In my last visit here, I had a horrible experience. The locals present there along with the bartender tried to make us as uncomfortable as possible. The bartender kept shouting and occasionally making fun of our entire group. Well, it’s fine if the locals did it, but it was really disappointing that the bartender (or restaurants owner) was in full support of them. Someone should tell teach them how to behave and treat their customers.
Well giving two stars, as experience had been better on previous occasions.

This is a divey bar, with lots of character and generally a good place to hang out in with your friends. It always seems to be busy whenever we go in. There’s seating at both the bar and at tables and we’ve always lucked in and managed to find seating. The staff are very accommodating for larger groups and don’t mind if you push tables together. The place has sit down service, the staff are attentive and frequently check in to see if you are in need of anything. One of the times we went in and the waitress even remembered the drink I had the previous time.
And of course like many, many of the previous reviews have pointed out before me, one of the highlights are the complimentary peanuts they have at the tables for customers to munch on. The shells get thrown on the floor adding to the charm of the place.
If sports your thing then there are several screens for your viewing pleasure.
We have ordered food from here but only the once. It was bar food and nothing special, I think our expectations weren’t all that high to begin with, so we weren’t all that disappointed.
Overall, I’d say definitely go for drinks but if foods what you’re after then it’s probably best to try somewhere else!

Stopped in on a Friday night for a couple drinks. There’s a fairly large fenced-​off seating area on the sidewalk with large tables as well as a bar and a number of tables inside.
When I entered a number of people were munching on baskets of peanuts, which seems to be a highlight of this place. Bar tender was very friendly, but draught list was a little disappointing. I ended up with a harpoon ipa for $ 4.
Nothing particularly special about this bar but everyone there (customers and staff alike) was friendly and beer prices were reasonable. The outdoor seating was very nice to have. Would definitely stop in for drinks again.

This place switched owners in ²⁰¹¹⁄₁₂ and hasn’t been the same since the transition.
It used to be a staple of New Haven’s state street but I suggest skipping this place.
Food is eh, service is eh, and environment is nonexistent aside from peanuts on the floor.

Peanuts galore, peanuts galore.
I guess you can hear it from the peanut gallery. It’s a good place for people who are nutty.
It’s definitely your Irish pub feel. You can eat out the barrels for peanuts.

My adventures brought me back here last night and my experience was a bit better — well crowd wise at least. The place was much more packed — and we met some pretty cool people to chat with.
The drinks kept coming, and they were strong. Service was good this time as well, I really am thinking I may have hit them on am just a poor service night or going out night? I didn’t notice last time but they have one of those cool juke boxes that books up to the internet so there is basically every song ever for you to enjoy while hanging out.
The place is really dirty though, like to the point that it really bothered me. I’m not talking peanuts on the floor I am talking growing mold on the bathroom cabinets, and just dirty. I know it’s divey but I don’t think I should have to get mold spores in my lungs just for a drink. I hope the kitchen sinks don’t match the bathrooms.

Dempsey’s is more deserving of a 2.5, but closer to a 2 than a 3. Anyway. I don’t «get» this place. I want to like it, and I think that’s why I come back every so often. I want it to be a friendly neighborhood divey bar where you can have some drinks, eat some wings, and throw peanut shells on the ground. Every time I come here, I’m reminded why I don’t like it.
One night a couple of years ago a friend and I came in for a couple of beers, harmless enough. However the entire meal we got harassed by a homeless man that was loitering inside the bar. He was trying to sell us (and everyone else) used chapstick, condoms that we’d «definitely need for later,» and other nonsense. He was harmless, but it was annoying and the staff did nothing about this even though they very clearly saw what was going on.
Last summer we came here and the staff continued serving a girl that was visibly beyond belligerent drunk. Eventually she fell, hit her head on our table, and finally got carried home by her friends. That was also the first time I tried their food and it was so terrible that we sent it back twice in exchange for something else. I’ve never had an inedible salad until I came here, but the pesto chicken in their mixed green salad was horrific.
You see where this is going, there’s always some sort of a spectacle here and if the food, drinks, or service were spectacular, I’d probably be able to look past that. But everything is below average, and their boneless wings are gross. They cook them with the skin on, which is something I think should be noted on the menu. It threw me off and I didn’t love them.
It’s like they have all the tools to make this place awesome, but they fail miserably in their execution. The building has lots of character, but the set up is poor. Service is slow, we’re almost always charged incorrectly, and food is generally inedible. Drinks are decent enough, but not worth the trouble of the strange occurrences (homeless people harassing you, a girl smashing her head into your table, the bill being far higher than it should be, etc). The two stars are for the peanuts and decent drinks.

Seriously, amaze-​balls. Best staff, food, beer, ambiance… listen to me and not those 2 or 3 star negative Nancy’s. Its not fancy, its the real deal, the bees knees! Salads are especially tasty!
Update: that review was a while ago… They could be doing a little better lately in general, but I’ve still had some decent eats (cheeseburger, fish sandwich) but please guys, get some better tasting dressings, pleaseeeeee !

Local, casual neighborhood joint. A little tight for any group larger that 4 to sit comfortably. Crowd was a little older than I remember from my previous visit, although could have been just a coincidence. I always enjoy some peanuts as a little munchie with drinks. (Although it still feels very wrong to just dump the shells on the floor even though that’s the standard here!)
Many different bottled and tap beers to choose from. I am a cider fan and was excited to hear that they carry the new-​ish Stella Cider… they were unfortunately out on the night of my visit, but they did have Magner’s.
Food was decent. I had the buffalo chicken sandwich served on a hard roll with fries. Chicken was thin, breaded nicely, was tender and flavorful. Fries were sort of mushy… next time I will ask for extra crispy! I had a Living Social deal worth $ 20 and my 2 ciders and sandwich totaled $ 20.08…talk about close! So I essentially had an 8 cent tab not including tip.