O'Neills

This is yet another venue for which it's necessary to recount a story of my stupidity in order to explain why I ended up in the place to begin with.

It was Euro 2008. England were on TV, so the other half and I decided to head down to Didsbury to watch the match. After walking past several places that were packed to the brim we came across O'Neills which we could see had a big screen showing the footy and it didn't look quite so full. It wasn't until 5 minutes later when we realised that we were watching Ireland playing, that we realised why. It is an Irish pub after all. We spent the rest of the evening sitting with a couple of other England fans watching the England match on a tiny screen in the corner. We saw the game, we drank beer and luckily England and Ireland both won, so it wasn't all bad.

I've been here a few times since. Each time there's been a good atmosphere and reasonably priced drinks. One time they were doing an offer on Caffrey's for £1.35 a pint (I think) and another time I ordered a pint of Guinness and the charming Irish barman declared his undying love for me. Well, he told me he loves girls who drink Guinness - it's probably a pretty commonly used line whilst working behind the bar in an Irish pub.

A good place to celebrate St Patrick's Day, if you can get in the door and don't mind being in a drunk person with Guinness hat on sandwich.

O'Neill's! I know we all know what they're like, as O'Neill's is basically the McDonald's of the Irish Pub. However, I cant help feeling that O'Neill's gets a hard time for this reason, which is unfair as it deserves to be recognised as a damn good pub with plenty of centripetal forces operating on the spot.

The plus points are numerous. Firstly, they do great classic Irish pub food such as stews and the like, as well as more British classics such as sausage and mash and burgers, all for well under a fiver. Its almost Wetherspoons prices but the quality is three or four times as good.

They also play up the Irishness by priding themselves on perfect pints of Guinness, often complete with a shamrock on top. Prices on beers are not as impressive as food, but its nonetheless still cheaper than most. On St. Patrick's Day O'Neill's is really worth a visit. In fact, it's the only place to be at that time of year. The Guinness hats are out and everything!
This O'Neill's, much like the other one in Bury, has classic authentic pub décor and I think anyone would find the quality of this pub a pleasant surprise.

This was the first time I have ever been to an Irish Pub 'chain'... and to be honest, everything kept screaming out mcdonalds to me. The staff were slow, bad at pouring a beer and it was bloody expensive. Then again, Irish Pubs usually are.

So let me go into the staff a bit more, we were left eating at the bar (which was unattended) for over 5 minuets before being served, with a very unwelcoming 'what do you want'... no hello? no how are you? alright then! Then we got 2 pints of a festive ale, which he miss poured and got the entire glass soaking wet. He didn't clean them up, just gave it straight to me. Not impressed!

What I will give this place credit for however is the decorations. They have a few items that I was told was unique to them, such as a hurling shirt from the New York Police Department & a San Francisco GAA shirt. Big plus!

Their was some great tunes on the speakers and we stuck around for a lot longer because of that. I might give it another try, but if I have to wait as long as I did for my beer... well I won't stick around again!

I do love this little pub. Its so quaint and really stands out along the Didsbusy strip.
Definatly a must go if you like your irish pubs or your out in Dids. Traditional yet Trendy!

This isn't my favourite pub in Didsbury, but it's a nice place to drop in for some booze and food. With it being an Irish pub, the drinks are much more interesting than most chain bars round here, with Smithwicks and a great range of weird Club soft drinks, which are fun for the non-boozers.
The food is also more exciting than standard pub grub you can pick up lovely colcannon and great all-day breakfasts with Irish soda bread!


Like most pubs round here, the staff are young, friendly and really helpful. There's a lovely atmosphere and some of the tables are huge too, so it's really nice place to go drinking with a big group. However, be warned! This is a big sport pub, particularly rugby and football. So if you're not a fan, you might want to steer clear when there's a game on it gets very, very busy!

What good things can I say about O'Neills in Dids? Well - it is open late. Erm, that's it. The bars/pubs along this little stretch of Wilslow Road are notorious for kicking off on Fri/Sat nights. Best to avoid at those, and all other times.

The previous reviewer was maybe a touch harsh on this one. It's by no means the greatest pub on earth, but it's not a bad place to go for a quiet pint or two on a weekday night, and is one of the few establishments in Manchester to serve Guinness Red.


It's also a great place to watch the rugby - I was there for the culmination of the Six Nations when it was packed to the rafters all afternoon with all nations represented (some better represented than others, it IS an Irish bar after all.) - there was a great atmosphere, no trouble and a good time had by all, win or lose.


I suspect any trouble this place does get is as a result of its position in the Didsbury Dozen pub crawl, which is attempted frequently (not by me though, yet.)


This place is better than the Hogshead and Varsity on the same stretch of road and cheaper than most of the trendier bars, it's definitely worth a look.

Trendy Irish bar with lots of life and jolly staff (many of which are Irish).


Nice, spacious booths and a good bar with every choice of drink (Guinness being the speciality of course).


O'Neills serves a great all day breakfast too with the full works - bacon, tomatoes, black pudding etc etc - and the prices are so cheap!


Usually have sporting events on wide screen when any are on which means that it gets crowded - this makes the atmosphere even better!!

One of the better boozers along this section of Didsbury ale strip (the degrade quickly once you hit the newish development containing the usual chain pubs/restaurants. At least O'Neills has character. I used to frequent here many years ago when I lived in the area, and always had fond memories. Yup, it was a bit rowdy at times but never to my knowledge aggressive like other places I can think of. They also had live bands on (they still do on sundays) which elevated above other 'piped cr*p' pubs nearby. Better in the week or daytime weekend if you want to imbibe it's fair charm (considering it's a theme chain its interior is pretty decent, with little alcoves to hide away from the world outside).
I've been back since and it hasn't really changed, the staff have always been on the ball here.
The Guinness is served as it should be (according to friends of mine), as to be honest I've never been a fan of the tarry stuffa Caffreys usually climbs over my tongue in this place.
Make this the last stop on your crawl and forget the new build bars further along Wilmslow Road.

The best thing about O' Neills really is the food. They do amazing irish breakfasts with soda bread and the colcannon mash is also lovely. They do a £3.50 menu so it makes it a cheap option for a pub lunch. It's also a good place to come and watch the football because the bar staff wander around during the game and take drinks orders so you don't need to keep getting up to go to the bar! Other than that I'm afraid its a fairly ordinary chain bar - although it does seem to have a bit more character than some of its Didsbury rivals.