Duffy’s Tavern

Nice atmosphere and good drink selection, but I had the blackened cod for dinner (it was on special) and it was not good. The servers were very friendly though. I would go again and try something else.

Burger was excellent! Fried cod was off the chart awesome! If you like fried mushrooms, follow everyone else’s recommendation and order them here! They are humongous! Unless you have a large crowd, a ½ order is probably going to be enough. Server couldn’t have been nicer!

Let me start with we have been coming here for over 17 years. Almost every visit to Starved Rock. the service has always been slow but the food is always good. Today, however, was a totally different experience. 45 min wait to be seated. 35 mins to place the order. Another 30+ mins to get our food. Then the food comes out 2 baskets at a time making a child and one adult wait for food… Two people in our party could not get what they ordered because they were out and the food was still frozen. 2 hours later we were ready to pay our bill and they added 18% tip to the bill which is NOW AGAINST IRS RULES AS OF 1÷1÷14 and they «didn’t know». The owner was very rude and yelling/​arguing with one member of our party. We have never had this experience but in afraid after 17 years we will not return. And it’s a shame because the food is awesome.

I’ve been going to Duffy’s since I was knee high to my dad. This place has the same character I remember but the bathrooms really need an upgrade! I had the Ruben which was great, my oldest son hand bacon cheeseburger he said it was good, our youngest son had hot beef seemed like packaged but was good and my wife had chill and a salad both good. Overall I was pleasantly surprised by our visit. Oh and our waitress Mandi she was great Mack sure you as for here you won’t regret it!!!

With three places so close to eachother, there is competition for good food. I’d pick either of the other two places. Chicken breading needed flavor, parm crusted cod had little crust and an unusual flavor I didn’t care for. Ask for your sauce on the side of the ribs, it was sweet and not spicy, too much for us on the meat.
HOWEVER: the mixed appetizer is wonderful, big cuts of veggies with a crunchy crust. Had to ask for catsup. Our server was just ok — could be more personable.
Fun to look at the decorations. Get the appetizer and a beer, then go across the street for wonderful chicken.

If you go anywhere near Utica this place is a must visit! They always have a surprisingly good tap list for only 15 drafts. There food is also very good! I would strongly recommend the hot corned beef sandwich that is basically the tastiest corned beef ever!

We came here after a day at Starved Rock.
We were seated promptly. Food was good, served hot, adequate portions. Prices fair. I think my Angry Orchard was in the freezer too long, as it was flat. The husband’s Guinness was not right either. Fairly alarming for an establishment that has Guinness flags and décor everywhere.
Service pleasant.

Really good Rueben fried pickles and fries, great service, just what you want when a burger/​reuben and beer are in order.

My family and I went to lunch here on Sunday. We ordered the nachos for appetizer, very tasty and it came in a timely manner. My husband ordered a bloody mary. I am not usually one to order a drink at lunch, however after tasting his, I had to! Just the right amount of spice and not too strong. Our lunch was burgers, very good! Fries are good. Atmosphere was a quaint Irish pub in a nice, old building. We will be returning!

Just ate here. The food is soooooo terrible. We had burgers. It took 40 minutes to get our food. Our waitress was super sweet but it definitely didn’t make up for how terrible the experience was. It’s a shame because we hike here all fall and there is no where good to eat. We also sat in the dirty back room. Play it safe and only have beer at the bar.

My husband and I were in town for our anniversary and Duffys became the first, and only, place we ate at. We’ve been here several times already this weekend and haven’t been disappointed yet. Their burgers are absolutely amazing! We loved the atmosphere there and everyone there was very friendly. We’ll definitely make this our go-​to place every time we visit the area.

The best corn beef and cabbage Ive ever had in my life! Potatoes and carrots are cooked very well without falling apart; until you have a bite, you’ll never guess how well done they are. Everything we ordered was excellent!

Loved it all and the staff was great! We will be back! The pub burger was really good and the fried mushrooms were flipping huge!

Absolutely LOVE this place. What a great accidental find. My husband and I have been going to Starved Rock in January for around 5 years now. We make sure to make it to Duffy’s every time! The fried chicken is amazing. Shepherd pie is wonderful and the corned beef sandwich is an absolute home run! They have so many terrific menu items it is hard to choose sometimes. The beer list is decent — nothing that will knock your socks off but they have great prices and often even have specials. The staff is all very friendly and helpful. Definitely a hometown bar.

Great staff and great food! Get the fried veggie assortment… fantastic! Can be a bit busy but worth the wait! Has daily specials… try the fried chicken also!

Wow can’t believe they’re open on Easter. Great burger good service decent prices. Started out with the chili. Had the pub burger. Half-​pound excellent.

We live in the area and have eaten here several times. The servers are always friendly and bartenders very knowledgeable.
Today we went for lunch. I had the Corned Beef and Cabbage and my wife had the Reuben sandwich. This place has the absolute best Corned Beef anywhere. It’s moist and flavorful. They also have real horseradish with a kick! Many places serve horseradish lacking in flavor. Not here! Clears the sinuses right up!
I’m not a cooked cabbage person, but I eat most of it here. It’s not boiled flavorless and still had some crunch.
Other reviews feature the burgers, which are very good as well. However if you like corned beef, you have to try to Reuben or the full corned beef and cabbage platter. You won’t be disappointed!

We stopped in for lunch after visiting Starved Rock, we were seated promptly and wait service arrived soon after sitting. We have been here a few times, I have never been disappointed. I had the mushroom and Swiss burger, it was cooked perfect and tasted delicious. They are know for there burgers and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you do order a burger.
The place haven’t changed since I’ve been coming here, always the same great service and food.

Duffy’s Tavern is a regular stop for us whenever we’re in Utica. They’re located in a historic triangular-​shaped building with a distinctive dome on the roof right on the corner of Mill and Grove Streets in the business district of Utica.
I don’t know if the owners are actually of Irish heritage or not, but the pub itself is decorated with tons of Irish memorabilia; they serve Irish dishes such as corned beef, fish n’ chips, and Shepherd’s Pie; they have live Celtic music acts; and of course they serve Irish beers such as Harp, Killian’s, Smithwicks, and Guinness. (They even have a «Black List» on the wall that lists all of the drinks they make with Guinness, such as an Irish Black & Tan, a Half & Half, and Utica Mud, which is made with Guinness and their own dark lager.)
Their food is good, especially the Rueben’s sandwich and the burgers, and portions are huge. Service is OK — it’s never been spectacular but never terrible either. Definitely worth a visit the next time you’re in Utica.

We came in for fried chicken. Very doughy dough didn’t stick to chicken. So you either had to eat this sweet dough or juicy chicken but not together. Somehow dough was away from chicken.
Garlic mashed potatoes were most disgusting I’ve ever had. They had terrible aftertaste, my husband said it was too much butter. I never had that much butter in my life since I never knew it tasted so bad. Must’ve been butter with potatoes. Dinner also came with a bowl of individually wrapped butter wedged between butter mash potatoes and chicken in case you didn’t have enough butter in your food. There was no bread served to put butter on.
Iceberg Lettuce salad was wilted and brown.
We ordered Medium done burger but it was served very Well done. Dry.
Waitress never checked on us.