Fionn MacCool’s

I remember eating here when they first opened and being really impressed. Now I just send the food back, I couldn’t believe the bad service I’d gotten when nobody else was in the restaurant.

The food here was overall not very good. The onion soup was too salty, the cabbage & corned beef had a very strong mustard taste to it, & the buttermilk chicken was dry. The sides — mashed potatoes, salad, & coleslaw were good. The only thing that they did right was the seafood chowder.
The overall ambiance is good, the live bands were terrible & kept playing loud country music. The table server was excellent!
Will not come back!

Worst Finn McCools in the GTA. Kitchen staff forgot to make pastries for pies. I’ve been to many other of these restaurants and they were all far superior to this one. None of the food tasted like I’ve had at the other restaurants. The chowder was tasteless, what I received as the mushroom and steak pie tasted like congealed leftovers from last night.

Nice atmosphere — Sarah is very good behind the bar — fantastic bacon cheddar burger and the gravy for my fries is better than moms when she has a roast to work with
Nice place to bring visiting clients!

I’ve had the lamb pie twice and it is so good. The warm mushroom salad too.
The menu is really decent. Lots to choose from, but I already know what I’m coming back for besides the draft. Ya, lamb pie!

New to Ajax I tried out Fionns and was pleasantly surprised. Good food and such lovely bartenders and servers, very friendly and attentive.

Food has always been awesome here! The blarney chips are delicious, however all the apps are delicious. Have been here numerous times, and only one time was disappointed with my dish because there was only a few pieces of chicken in my salad, but they were great about it.
Would definitely recommend!

We go here all the time. They have a great patio weather its dinner or a drink. The staff have always been great for us. They have a new menu and they are making everything in house. A few gliches here and there but for the most part fabulous! Fish and chips are great!

Heard great recommendations about this place so I decided to try it with my kids. I ordered hot wings, the kids had mac and cheese and pizza.
Nothing was impressive. The wings were flavourless and were more sour than hot. The wings were $ 24 for two pounds and you have a choice of four flavours: Mild, medium, hot, and tandoori.
If you can’t do a simple thing like wings right, then sorry, I will be hesitant to try anything else.

Great Pub food. not huge portions like other irish pubs, but decent. Check for the daily deal before ordering. Pies are good but small. I like Irish pubs when they give you tons of food! the salad is great here and the service is great. not that busy!

My review is based on two, back-​to-​back visits to Fionn MacCool’s. Our first night was stellar. We had terrific service and had such a hard time deciding on what to eat! We settled on a small order of poutine, a bowl of seafood chowder and a beet salad — all to share. I have to say that seafood chowder was probably the best I’ve ever had. Rich, creamy, packed full of sweet seafood — yummy to the last drop. It was so good, we had to go back the second night for a re-​match. We opted to not only chow down on the chowder but also sample the seafood pie. This is where it all went downhill. The chowder was okay, but the seafood pie was not at all what I expected. The seafood was bland; the sauce was liquid and runny with no flavor at all and the pastry was tough. I sent it back and while the management comped the meal, I was really surprised that no one — the server or the manager — asked if they could bring me something else! I thought that strange. And I was a little tiffed, too, because I was hungry. So I guess my final decision on MacCool’s is it’s just okay. You may get lucky with what you order or you may end up leaving hungry like I did. Have a pint of Guinness, though, and it won’t bug you as much.

We randomly went here tonight and were glad we did. The staff here are amazing and attentive and I’m sure are a big reason this place is usually packed. They have two sections one for a more private vibe and then a open area that has a good pub Atmosphere. Both are great just depends on whether youre on a date or want to get wasted in a fun pub setting. Really good beer selection for a good price and they’re icey coldies. I can’t stand cool temp beer. The steak and fries was surprisingly good, the steak was well seasoned and tender. Not a typical pub steak. We also had the Reuben which was decent, great toppings but some pieces of beef were a little tough.
Tonight they had live music which we usually can’t stand but the band they had were really good and played some memorable songs. Overall this is a great place, whoever runs it knows what they’re doing.

When I lived in Cambridge, I would drive by Fionn MacCool’s in Kitchener and wondered what it was. I assumed it was just a pub, but the outside looked so classy with rich colours and clean lines, I wasn’t really sure what to expect.
I’ve long since moved back to Durham, so I set my eyes on the Ajax location. We headed over for lunch on a Saturday. The sun was shining and the patio was calling us!
After a look at the menus, we were delighted to see that they had brunch until 3pm! That sealed the deal. My man ordered Our Original Benny and I chose Brekky Pie. Even though we hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, we couldn’t resist ordering a pint. The been menu was impressive and diverse. I tried Shock Top and he tried Red Stripe.
He LOVED the eggs benedict. He used all of his homefries to eat ALL of the sauce. His plate was clean in record time… and then he started eating MY homefries. GRR! My Brekky Pie was delicious. The pastry was flaky and tasty. The scrambled egg inside was full of fresh veggies an Guinness bratwurst… holy crap. I’d like to try those brats alone, because they were DAMN good.
The service was great and did not hesitate to offer suggestions when we were unsure. I really liked this place. It had a great vibe. I’d like to try more of their food and beer selection!
It’s nice to see that pub food doesn’t only consist of nachos and wings!

Came in Saturday night on St. Patty’s day weekend. The place had an energetic vibe from the time we entered. The pub is split into two sections the dining room and bar side. Definitely sit on the bar side as that’s where all the action is.
We were lucky enough to snag the last available table in a cozy corner against a comfy leather banquet infront of a high table with the Leafs game playing on all the flat screen tvs.
Our cheery waitress comes over to greet us and gives us time to go over the menus. She comes back to take our drink orders. Fionn is one of the few pubs that carry the only beer I drink so I felt the need to indulge.
Fruli — Strawberry flavoured beer is served up cold in the bottle and is fruity & refreshing
For Appetizer we decide to go with something a little different
Buffalo Chicken Meatball Skewers — Chicken meatballs tossed in our medium wing sauce, blue cheese drizzle. Served with celery sticks, medium wing sauce for dipping
Three plump tender meatballs with a distinct chicken flavour not quite as juicy as a beef meatball but I loved the wing sauce. Just the right amount of heat and tang I couldn’t help but dip every morsel in it.
For main I decided to keep it Irish
Corned Beef & Cabbage
Lester’s legendary corned beef, Montréal’s favourite since 1931, cabbage, mustard,
buttermilk mashed potatoes
Huge portion, Tender corned beef, on a mountain chunky homemade buttermilk mashed potatoes. Great flavour, a true to stick to your ribs hearty meal!
As soon as I saw the dessert menu I knew what I had to have!
Red Velvet Donuts — Icing sugar, white chocolate sauce.
This is a MUST have! These warm & plump sweet little donuts were simply heavenly! I’d take them over tiny tom donuts any day!
*Don’t forget to add some french vanilla ice cream for the ultimate hot & cold luscious finish to a fab meal
Overall excellent service, wonderful food, Live band with great music after 10pm, and a fun atmosphere with a good crowd, Fionn definitely is a welcome gem in the Ajax area!

Clean, warm and inviting atmosphere. Generally when I visit a restaurant, aside from the menu, I watch the staff and how they are when NOT serving customers. The Staff seemed very content at this location.
Our order was complete with appetizers (we skipped dessert) entrees and drinks. The food was delicious, fresh, and prepared quickly. We had a new server and she was fabulous. We went with a Boxtee and signature sandwich for our entrees, Blarney chips (or Irish Nachos) which were fabulous! The bill was under $ 60 with tip!
I am a sucker for their Irish motif and I love the overall feel of the establishment. The owner himself came by our table to check on us and I had the opportunity to tell him directly how fabulous his restaurant was. There is live music at this location, just not when we were in. It would be an excellent spot for a family to dine.
We would recommend this restaurant to our friends.

We had great service, although the food took a long time to arrive. I had a delicious Rosslare Lamb Shank. Fall-​off-​the-​bone goodness. And they made a proper layered Black & Tan. The band was extremely talented, too.

FACT: poutine is one of canada’s national food groups…
FACT: i am a new yorker…
FACT: i hate poutine…
but I do love fries, and i love things on my fries…
why on earth would i do that? for fries and stuff on my fries of course!!! BUT NOT GRAVY!!! i love the layout… it’s very wide open when you first walk in… they seemed to have enough room for private parties… my cousin that lives in the area suggested this place, and something has to be said about the comfort factor of this bar…
my dear Unilocalers, a five-​star burger experience is about the sides, the drinks, the service and the atmosphere… and Fionn MacCool’s delivered on all fronts!
this Irish pub (could you guess by the name) sits unassumingly on a quiet corner just in Ajax. i was worried about the quality of food, but was seemingly impressed!
once inside, you’re exposed to worn, strip-​hardwood floors, cozy little side-​rooms (good luck getting one after five or during lunch on a weekday) and a dining area that somehow manages a warm feel despite its sprawl across the rooms. the décor is classic Irish pub with nothing specific to write home about but overall is very homey…
the lamb was thick and juicy, and you could tell it was made in-house…it was best grilled medium-​rare, which left it pink in the middle, but didn’t have to deal with dripping blood as the ground beef kept all the juices in the meat, instead of on my plate. i asked for a pulled pork dish, and while visually I thought I had been shorted on the fromage, it turned out to be the perfect amount and lent a beautiful bite along with the hint of spices…
the service was prompt, charming and comfortable… it’s always nice to deal with someone who knows their menu…

On a street full of chain restaurants, Fionn MacCool’s has opened up in the massive Costco, Zellers, Superstore plaza in a location long occupied by Casey’s. I often stopped by Casey’s for a mid-​shopping beer break and maybe a burger. It was run down, had a number of barflies but I was always satisfied, especially by the veteran bartender who always made you feel welcome.
So I gave Fionn’s a shot. I know the downtown locations well enough, and wasn’t surprised by my experience. While they have maintained the old Casey’s layout, they have put some money into the conversion. For some odd reason there were no changes made in the washroom, save for a couple Irish-​themed pics.
Had the prime rib burger with salad. It was cooked med well with a touch of pink remaining. I enjoyed the seasoning on the burger, and the standard crispy onion straws are a great touch. Who enjoys those powerful raw onions anyways? The salad was cold, crisp and a perfect compliment.
The Guinness was cold and fresh, the service was great. They do the whole «What’s your name, Love?» thing so that the food runner calls you by name etc. I’m ok with that.
I was intrigued by their current Wednesday night promo: $ 19.99 gets you a Mini Keith’s keg at your table, about 6 pints worth. Not a bad deal.