The Celtic Fox Irish Pub & Restaurant

The venues they put on are A+++.
The food is just Meh.

The patty melt was delicious but a lot of people in our part didn’t ever get their orders.

Not Irish pub theme at all. Bartender was wearing regular clothes not even a shirt to identify her. Waitresses wore Celtic fox shirts. Slow service and the kitchen kept ringing the bell excessively to annoy the waitress. Beef brisket was not good. Lots of people claim it’s amazing but I won’t order it again. I won’t return unless it’s the last resort when I’m in town.

A downtown staple for years and a great place to get away from the Topeka bar scene. No drunk Jersey Boys, orange bimbo. It’s a good chill spot.

This place is either a hit or a miss… usually a miss, but the nachos and mozzarella sticks are good. I have only gone twice for dinner. The first time we sat in the bar area and had no problems other than to get up and find someone to order more drinks. The second time, I had to seat myself, get my own menus, waited 10 minutes before getting up to ask for drinks, waited 15 minutes before getting up to ask for someone to take our order, (drink order was never put into the system, so we had to wait 15 minutes for those), waited 20 minutes before getting up to ask where our food was. Not once did our server apologize or tell us there was going to be a wait. The place was not packed. The servers were just standing around chatting. That was the one and only time I have never left a tip.
I work very close to Celtic Fox and started going a lot for lunch. Unfortunately, more times than not, my order is brought out incorrectly or differently than the last time I ordered it, or the meat on my sandwiches was very dry and the buns were stale. I tried ordering the fish and chips for a change, but was disappointed that the batter around the fish was soggy, instead of crispy. Sometimes I only see my server once or twice, and have to get up to ask for more water, or to actually pay my bill.
The place could also use a good cleaning. It’s probably time I venture out elsewhere for lunch, for a while.

Great selection of food, nice service, and right on the corner of the capitol building.

The food was good — I had the black bean salad with blackened chicken, if you like spicy food, I’d suggest it. The Guinness was tasty. Service was friendly and attentive. Sat on the patio on a beautiful day — love that they have this option. The only reason I didn’t give them the 5 stars is the choice of music that was being played. As I didn’t go inside, I’m not sure if it’s juke box or not. If it’s not, I’d suggest something other than old, hard rock. Throw in some Irish stuff, make it fun!

I like the Celtic Fox when they DON’T have a band performing.
Now that I’ve gotten that part out of the way… I just started going to this bar with my fiancé because there just aren’t many good bars for a more mature crowd in Topeka. I really like how they occasionally have a seasonal drink menu and usually try their tasty martinis. The bartenders and waitresses are always really nice and are usually great at staying attentive, even when things start to get busy.
I will say that I have yet to be impressed by their food. I’ve only ordered food one time and that was a burger. I thought the hamburger itself was extremely bland and that overpowered the entire thing. My mom seemed to really enjoy her reuben though.

Food was fine; not great, but not expensive, which is nice. I had the shepard’s pie, which was decent; someone else had the fish and chips, which had good fish and terrible chips.
The place was deserted, however, which gives one pause; this may be due to the live musician, who came in to add a great deal of fail to the otherwise not unpleasant atmosphere.

FIRST VISIT: Weekday lunch… There was a K-​State basketball game on, so we got stuck in the back room, which has no windows, no character, and apparently no service. It felt like we were constantly waiting on our server; and drinks were rarely refilled. I ordered an appetizer of fried pickle spears, which never arrived. Finally the food showed up; and there was hardly any meat on my Reuben sandwich; but it was pretty tasty. Again, we waited an eternity for the check. Don’t go here if they’re busy…
SECOND VISIT: Weekday lunch… No crowds or special circumstances this time; just your average work lunch; but same bad results. Service was still painfully slow; and at our table of 5, 3 orders were botched by (supposedly) the kitchen. I ordered a brisket platter, but was served and charged for a brisket sandwich. One coworker ordered a sandwich without cheese, but it was served with cheese. Another coworker ordered a sandwich with absolutely no veggies, which, of course, was served with veggies.
The menu and the Irish atmosphere make this place appealing, but the operations side of things kills any and all desire for me to return. Dine at your own risk…
UPDATE: Weekday lunch… Somehow I ended up here again, and I thought I would give the Celtic Fox some credit because nothing got screwed up this time; and the food was pretty good by all accounts. However, they still haven’t figured out how to time food. I got my appetizer with the entrees and we still had to wait a long time for almost everything.

Very bad service and the food was just okay. Not worth stopping.

Food is okay– service leaves something to be desired.
Nice atmosphere and love the outdoor seating!

Stopped by there on a family pub crawl this past Saturday, first time at this Topeka bar. Wood floors, tiered seating, and stage for live musicians. The bar was not crowded and has plenty of seating. Bartenders helpful and not rude; got our drinks quickly. Didn’t eat, just drank on this visit.
Note for the Irish: they have a large map of Ireland that you can find your family name in the different Irish counties. Good times trying to find your family!

Decent pub in downtown Topeka. Typical pub grub. Thought it was well done.

The food – standard pub fare, e.g. fish and chips, sandwiches – is OK. Not fabulous, but passable. The service, however, is completely hit and miss.
It’s not that the servers aren’t nice, but it seems like the place is just chronically understaffed at lunch time. The last time I ate here it took ten minutes just to get a menu, and that isn’t an isolated incident – not cool.
The saving grace? They are one of few restaurants in downtown Topeka with an outdoor eating area. So, if it’s a nice day, and you’re not in a hurry or expecting stellar food…

The Celtic Fox is a nice Irish pub in downtown Topeka with great bar food. Their fish and chips are a great choice. The Irish stew and the reuben both are also quite good. Worth the trip downtown if you’re in the mood for a beer and some quality bar food.