United Irish Cultural Center

Excellent prime rib. Everyone was super friendly. I loved the relaxed vibe here. We will be back!

We hosted a group of 26 for a late dinner at the UICC. We were given a spacious private room and served cocktails which made it nice for everyone to mingle. When we sat down for dinner, our server, Eileen, was efficient and courteous. Our meals arrived quickly and were hot and delicious. Nothing but compliments from all our guests. Great evening. Thank you Eileen!

Let me start off by saying the host was super friendly and nice. He was super friendly and seated us right away. We had a party of 7 and order a few of their dishes. We got the corned beef and cabbage, breaded sole, prime rib, and my brother ordered a traditional stew? (I forgot the name of it. Sorry!) I got to try all of the meals and they were all equally delicious! My top picks were the corned beef or the prime rib. The corned beef wasn’t too salty and had the right amount of cabbage to compliment it. The prime rib was cooked medium rare and had mushroom and gravy to top it off. Overall such a delicious meal and great service. I’ll definitely be returning when I’m craving Irish food!

The Guinness roast beef was really delicious, very flavorful, and very tender. I also tasted the prime rib, which was tender as well. The soda bread that they provided was moist and soft. Overall, it was a tasty meal. The service was excellent and everyone was friendly. I would definitely like to come back and try the shepherd’s pie.

Excellent find of a neighborhood jewel!
Love the Irish atmosphere, the host was very accommodating and the prime rib was so tender! We also enjoyed their beer — many selections to choose from. I will be back! Real soon.

Had the breaded sole this time. It was fantastic. I try to eat here as often as I can.
The wait staff is no nonsense, efficient, & courteous.
There is an excellent selection of beverages. I love the Irish coffee. I don’t think you can get a better Irish coffee anywhere in the Bay Area!

This must be a San Franciscan hidden treasure because every time I come here for weekend brunch, it’s no more than 25% full. I don’t understand, there is parking, you can walk right in & get seated, super friendly service, good brunch food, reasonably priced and also kind of a cultural experience as you can see S.F.‘s Irish cultural center, (across the hall they have classes, lectures, .etc). A real Irish community center.
I only come here for the Full Irish Breakfast, which is the best in S.F. A slice of ham, eggs, grilled tomato, «black pudding» which is 2 inches of blood sausage, (I know, but the spices in it are so good that I find myself having uncontrollable cravings for this), «white pudding» and fresh baked soda bread slices. So what if I’m the only Asian in the whole restaurant of Irish customers who orders this. I have to have this every now & then. It’s so quiet and the environment is peaceful, old-​school dark wood Irish memorabilia, it’s really a relaxing experience. Such a contrast from our other S.F. super-​trendy brunch places.

I attended Trinity College one summer and traveled a lot through the country meeting a great many welcoming Irish people those months, so when I later found myself in San Francisco over Easter and alone, I thought it would be nice to chat with the local Irish and Irish Americans over the Irish Cultural Center’s well advertised Easter brunch. I made a reservation in advance. When I arrived in the huge and very well attended dining room, I was shocked to see just a few steps from the man at the entrance who was seating people, a tiny round decorator table with a tag bearing my name. I’ve been to dozens and dozens of large-​setting work, civic, church, and organizational meals and have never before seen the likes of that, a lone diner set off at a table for one like a leper in a fishbowl. In my experience, the single diners are almost always the most interesting and best conversationalists. I could have dropped to my knees and asked to be seated alongside my fellow humans, but I didn’t want to risk my holiday cheer on people with such a backward mindset, so I just left and had a delicious meal next door at Java Café at a fraction of the $ 30 I was supposed to pay the ICC. I then spent the rest of my Easter happily across the street with the animals at the zoo.

Went late St. Patrick’s day but missed the food cut off unfortunately. BUT the Irish coffee warmed my spirits back up. Fun place for families with live music and dancing.

The breakfast was okay but our waitress was horrible. She didn’t introduce herself to the table. She had dreads which are cool but are not hygienic when your serving food. I don’t think I’ll ever come back! Awful server, she took a half an hour to get our bill and was not kind at all.

Charming restaurant, but just a little dingy.
Delightful service.
Delicious St. Pat’s dinner after parade. Corned beef looked boring, but tasted so good, as did the cabbage and boiled potatoes. Asked for Dijon and they brought it. Very salty meal though. My friend and I said we would NEVER finish it all. And we did.
Irish coffee was great, but the whipped cream on top could have been a bit more firm.
All the ketchup and mustard bottles were brand new.
Lots of decoration for St. Patrick’s Day and live Irish music in the bar.

I came here with family. I had the prime rib which was very good. Service was good and waitress was very friendly. Warm apple pie a la mode was amazing.

I want to like this place given the sentimental value it holds for generations of Irish Americans. I actually thought the food was cooked perfectly (I had chicken Marsala and my cousin had steak). It was lacking seasoning. I know Irish tend not to like spice, but some salt could go a long way. Service is hit or miss. I ordered a Cosmo with kettel one, as did my cousin. Somehow she got a Cosmo with tanqueray, and mine had a cherry. All in all we had a great time, complete with traditonal caeli dancing.

This is an virtually undiscovered dining gem in this part of SF. II just had an excellent veal scallopine dinner here. Prices are cheap for SF. In addition, because it is not popular, you don’t have to wait for a table and can get instantly seated, even at a Saturday night at 7PM. Plenty of street parking.
Place feels kinda like funky high-​end. I should have taken a photo of their menu to post.
I am not sure if they do it anymore, but a year ago I came for dinner and hey had a great irish folk band playing.
Yes, some of the people who go here/​work here are not young anymore. Don’t go if you are offended by the presence of people over 30.
Check it out if you are looking for an alternative to standard SF sushi/​/​Chinese/​Thai/​/​Peruvian/​Mexican, etc.

I don’t know any reason to go here except some type of loyalty to this establishment.
Service: Our waitress was a bit surly giving us one word answers to questions and looking like she wanted to be anywhere but here. She tried to charge me for a bottle of wine instead of a glass. Whoops.
Ambiance: At one time this place must have been a treasure. It’s a relic in need of a refresh. The building is beautiful but inside it’s dark and drab and in need of a good cleaning.
Food: First off, this is an Irish restaurant right? Where’s the Shepherd’s Pie, Bangers and Mash, and stews? Instead they have Fettuccine Alfredo, Scampi and Chicken Parm. Is this the Italian Cultural Center too? We got a burger that was cooked into a sawdust-​like material with no flavor and remnants of french fries that must have been under a heat lamp for at least two days. Fettuccine Alfredo that was really just buttered noodles with no flavoring or cheese at ALL, not even salt (and at $ 20 too). When I asked why there was no cheese or cream our surly waitress said, «that’s the way the chef makes it.» Okay, I’ll just send it back then. Fillet of sole that was drowning in butter, again, no salt or pepper. Everything else was just boring and not flavorful. The only good thing was the pint of Guinness I had. This place is overpriced too.
With so many great restaurants to go to in San Francisco, I don’t know why anyone would suffer this horrible restaurant. It was an exceptionally bad experience. I truly hope this place can turn things around. They need to put passion back into their menu, service and establishment. Until then, stay away!

Not friendly! I attended a retirement party at the United Irish Cultural Center this evening, in the large upstairs ballroom, and both the bartenders and the servers were hostile. One server grumbled at us, «Jesus, will you people sit down» and nudged me «accidentally» on the butt as she passed by. Did she notice that I’m 6 months pregnant? Is it not okay to mingle? Or stand up? During the retirement speeches, it sounded like staff were breaking dishes in the kitchen and smelled like they were smoking cigarettes in the hallway. They charge $ 2 for a glass of soda water and $ 7 for a beer. Long story short, it’s not a great place to host your event.

Came here for dinner the other night, and was very pleasantly surprised! The center offers a very warm and inviting setting — everyone who worked there made me feel very welcome, and the dinner service was efficient and friendly.
As others have noted, the food is very good. I had the corned beef and cabbage. My plate was filled with tasty meat and very flavorful cabbage! The bread on the table tastes very fresh. And, in perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening, the coffee was very good! I generally find restaurant coffee to be «ok» — not flavorful, not strong… just something that does the job. I actually WANTED another cup.
Though perhaps not «Hipster Modern,» the interior is well kept up and very clean. It looks like an old-​style club in a very good sense of the term.
The restrooms are clean and brightly lit.
Parking is relatively easy. Found some on Sloat.

This is a lovely place to have a gathering of friends to go to for a wonderful luncheon.
There was thirteen of us who did a birthday celebration. The atmosphere was festive for the Christmas holidays. First of all our waitress, Orlaigh, was, attentive, kind, calm and patient, with our group. She made it a very pleasant experience.
The food was delicious, too. I had a cup of homemade potato leek soup with half ham sandwich with french fries. All delicious. The others in our group enjoyed their dishes, too. The basket of homemade Irish bread so yummy!
The portions were huge.
‘We all agreed we would come back here for other occasions.
Thank you to the Cultural center.

I love this place. I spend soooo much time here. I can’t believe I haven’t written a review!!!
Alright, I’m Irish. No, not native born (often get asked though, so my genes are prominently so!) but I am a member of this nice little establishment.
I like that when you get your membership you have a choice of where the money goes (scholarships, underprivileged, etc). Sure it’s kind of expensive, at $ 200 a year, but they will do the thing where they bill you $ 50 per quarter of the year. And you show your membership card for a discount. Oh and not to mention you get to park in the parking lot behind the facility — guaranteed parking in SF?! Freakin’ awesome!
Joining is an absolute must for the Irish or anyone Catholic. There is immense support for the community in San Francisco through this place.
While it’s no longer the largest Irish library in American, it can still tout it’s the first. Which means it often has duplicate books it sells at fractions of cost. Check that out!
And where else in SF can you get a shot of Jameson (thon) for less than 10 dollars?
The food is a bit hit and miss so you have to know what to order. The shrimp in any dish tend to change in taste, so just be on the know about that. Some days the shrimp is awesome, others — not so much. The steaks and anything potato is always wonderful. And while some of the fish dishes are a little overcooked they are always good (I do add a little salt). The bread is, well, sustenance, but I’m usually really hungry (or a bit drunk) so not caring for gourmet at that point. They do always offer butter, so it can be saved.
The point is, just know they do steak (order one level down from how you like it; if medium rare and in a large party order rare) and potatoes right! It’s the real Irish so what do you expect?! MMMmmmmm, they always make me crave their potatoes … mashed, fried, sautéed, baked … you name it, they do potatoes right. Add a little Irish bacon … heaven! I love MY potatoes. But I have to admit they do ‘em right as well!
The only thing they don’t do totally Irish is soup. It’s sort of an American style blend, as all the soup I had in Ireland was completely puréed. Here they leave chunks of potato and pieces of leak, in the leak and potato soup. It’s a good soup for when you feel under the weather. Not much spice but creamy. Yes, I admit it. I add salt and pepper to this one too. But it’s good with a steak!
The prices are moderate to cheap. The pints and company you meet, always wonderful. Bound to meet someone for an interesting conversation, and usually low key. Sometimes I even meet someone to speak Irish/​Gaeilge with.
I love the relaxing, (usually quiet during the day but ramped up on weekend nights) lounge type atmosphere of this place. And it’s a stone’s throw from the beach. Eat or dink too much you can go peruse the ocean. Well, or go to the zoo if it’s mid day!
On the weekend I believe they are only open for dinner at 5 pm. It’s a shame, I’d love them open for lunch. But if you do go there for an event and there’s no food scheduled mid day, the café around the corner has sandwiches, bagels, drinks (even beer on tap and wine), etc.
In a nutshell, if you want to go to a place that morphs regularly from a laid back atmosphere to a full swinging fun drinks, dinner, and music place — here you go! With a little Irish flare.

Strange days.
Strange things have been happening to me lately. Friends. Situations. People. Timing. I just don’t get it when it occurs and what I don’t appreciate, is the immature aspect of the silent treatment. WTF. Whatever happened to speaking up like an adult?
So saying, I like to chill out and calm down the frazzled nerves with a good breakfast, a good walk, and today was one of the days to stamp the thoughts of virtual BS running through my mind with a hot plate full of bacon and eggs.
We had just taken public transportation down 19^th and since it was such a nice warm day, decided to walk all the way down to 45^th. The United Irish Cultural Center is the social hub for locals and visitors by providing a large space for meetings, parties, and dining space.
I ordered the hash and eggs plate and the fellow opted for the Irish Breakfast. We’ve had breakfast at the Irish Bank and unfortunately, in terms of size, the Irish Breakfast looked hastily put together. My corned beef hash was ok, slightly lacking in salt/​flavor and the usual oomph that hits the taste buds. I did, however, enjoy the house potatoes. Scrambled eggs were overdone. The Irish Breakfast came with a tiny slice of pudding and the sausages were shriveled and shrimpy. The Irish Bank served two large and plump sausages :o (I was not too impressed but held back most of my opinions. The fellow was Irish himself and I was not going to ruin his morning either.
Overall, the experience was a good one. At least we gave it a try and might do so in the future for other dishes other than breakfast. There is nothing better, than walking out with a full stomach, taking in the sea breeze fresh off Ocean Beach and hopefully walk off most of my breakfast by the end of the day.
My negative situation? I’ve learned to suppress most of that too and fall easily back on the train of nonchalance. I’ve got way too many other things that call for my attention/​time and if one finds that lacking, there are lots of other people to BS in the world.