Hennessey's Tavern

While staying in Carlsbad over the New Year's weekend we visited Hennessey's Tavern twice. Hennessey's is a regular stop for us when we're in Carlsbad.

Our first stop was Friday early evening for dinner, our second was Saturday afternoon for the Fiesta Bowl a couple of beers and a snack. Friday was a 2-star event, while Saturday was a solid 5-star experience.

Friday for dinner we sat in the dining room and Kelly was our server. Service was excellent. Kelly was cute, fun and a little sassy which we loved.
Service wasn't the issue. It was the food. Not up to the standard that we have grown accustomed to from Hennessey's.

Becky wasn't overly hungry and just wanted soup so she ordered a bowl of French Onion Soup. "Home made with sourdough crouton & melted Swiss cheese".
It was terrible. She said it was the worst French onion soup that she'd ever had. She said that the broth tasted like nothing more than heated water. The sourdough crouton on top was merely a soggy piece of bread. Certainly not a crouton as the menu states. She flipped it away, took two sips and was done. Ick.

I had the Burger of the Month. Typically the BOM is a bomb burger. This one sounded great, but execution was off. This burger missed the mark. It was the "Smash Burger". Two patties, American cheese, grilled onions, bacon, bacon aioli on a brioche bun. It was served with fries and a pickle.
It was okay. I asked for medium rare and it was clearly medium well. Gray all the way through. Zero pink in the center which resulted in relatively dry double patties. There wasn't nearly enough bacon aioli applied. I probably should've asked for some on the side. The fries were tasty and I do love that they include a pickle on the side.

Very disappointing.

As noted, service from Kelly on Friday was excellent.

On Saturday we sat at the back patio bar. Lauren was our bartender and she was as a good a bartender as she was hot! Lauren was so cool, cheery and fun. Her personality created a fun vibe in the bar.

We ordered drinks and wanted a snack so we had the Great Irish Nachos.
Thinly sliced potato planks, topped with jack & cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon & scallions, with sour cream.

Redemption for Friday's lackluster meal was ours - and Hennessey's!

We'd had the Great Irish Nachos a couple of times and they've never disappointed. Not really "nachos" in the traditional sense. They more resemble loaded potato skins. Honestly I like these more than I like potato skins and they are better than a lot of nachos that I've had.

The Great Irish Nachos are one of my favorite things to order from Hennessy's.

Friday's 2-star disaster coupled with Saturday's 5-star visit makes for a combined solid 4-star.

Worth mentioning again is the excellent service from both Kelly and Lauren.

We love Hennessey's in Carlsbad.

We plan our visits to Carlsbad around the Burger of the Month special depending on what it is.  I'm not even joking. 
Hennessy's knows how to make a burger.  The BOM is always a one-off, unique creation and it always satisfies.

We always sit at the bar because we love the bartender stylings of David.  The dude is so cool and so funny.  He is a superb bartender with an excellent bartender's personality. 

Only on occasion do Becky and I order breakfast and when we are at Hennessy's that doesn't change.  However, we've been with friends who do and they rave about the breakfast.

It should be noted that Hennessey's makes their own freshly squeezed orange juice.  Once while sitting at the bar, Bex and I watched David make gallons of fresh O.J.  They have a giant juicer on the bar and Dave was putting orange after orange into it extracting the fresh juice.  We thought that was pretty cool.

I'm disappointed. We didn't make it to Hennessy's in July and the BOM looked BOMB.

The Cheese Chipotle Burger.  A burger patty topped with Irish cheddar, grilled onions, cheese curds, chipotle sauce lettuce and tomato.  Always served with fries and a pickle wedge. 

Dahhhhhmmmit.

Let's see what they've got in line for August!  Make it a good one Hennessy's!

Hennessey's has turned a corner and has become an easy five stars!

We recently had lunch there with Yelper Carolyn A. and her hubby. What a great lunch it was.

I had the Burger of the Month and it was fantastic. April's burger was the Smokey Mushroom Burger. A thick patty topped with smoked cheddar fried onions and a "creamy mushroom mixture". For the bun they used Texas Toast, which I thought was awesome. Even if I did get the heel. It was one the best burgers I've ever had. Cooked to a perfect rare. Hennessey's is killin' it in the burger game!

Becky had her Hennessey's fave, the B.L.T. & AVO. Six full slices of bacon! Romaine, tomato and fresh avocado on toasted sourdough. She loved it of course.

C.A. Chose breakfast. She had two eggs scrambled with sausage, home fried potatoes and sourdough toast. She very much liked it. I tried some of her home fries and they were really good. Crispy exterior, really well seasoned. The sausage was very tasty as well.

C.A.'s hubby was the smartest of all of us. He opted to not order anything. He knew that he'd get half of Becky's sandwich, a 1/4 of my burger and a sizeable portion of C.A.'s breakfast. He was right and he enjoyed all of our food. He even saved us money as Bex and I picked up the tab! :-)

We sat on the patio where Michelle was our server. She was cute and bubbly. Super friendly and very attentive. We had a couple of odd-ball requests and Michelle had perfect execution of them. She doted on our dogs and made sure that they had plenty of water. She was great. You've got a good one there Hennessey's!

What do we do to beat the Santee heat? House sit for our friends in Carlsbad, that's what! We packed up the dogs and headed to the coast.
A trip to Carlsbad always necessitates a trip to Hennessy's - a short 5 minute walk from our friends' house.
Hennessy's is dog friendly and people friendly.

We found seats on the patio and we were ready for lunch.

I had the burger of the month. The Irish Bacon Whiskey Burger. A thick burger topped with Irish bacon (basically ham), Irish cheddar, Irish whiskey glaze, and French fried onions on a brioche bun. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare and was a really good burger. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Becky had the B.L.T & Avo Sandwich. Six slices of bacon, avocado, romaine lettuce and tomato on toasted sourdough. She loved it.

Try The Great Irish Nachos they are excellent also. Thinly sliced potato planks, topped with jack & cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon & scallions, with sour cream. I highly recommend them.

Outside of happy hour Hennessy's tends to get a little pricey. Especially for beer and cocktails. Look for HH hours and specials!

We've found that service can be inconsistent. We've been to Hennessy's seven or eight times. Sometimes we've gotten excellent service, other times it has been sluggish and indifferent. On our most recent visit service was excellent. My apologies to our server for not remembering her name. (A very pretty, pleasant young woman. She was great with our pups too. Friday, Sep. 4 around 3:00 - 4:00 pm front patio by the TV).

See you next time Hennessy's!

Visiting the Carlsbad Village? Feel like a beer or cocktail? Maybe a bite to eat? Go to Hennessey's Tavern. While all are good, Hennessey's does not have the best beer, the best cocktails or the best food. They're all really good, just not the best.
What Hennessey's does have is Lauren and Lauren is t h e best! She'll be waiting behind the bar for you to order that beer, cocktail or food.
Go see Lauren at Hennessey's!

While visiting friends in Carlsbad we leashed up our dogs and walked to Hennessey's. The patios, both front and rear are dog friendly. The service on this day was lackadaisical at best. Our server seemed disinterested. They did put the Padres game on the TV for me when I asked. When we walked in it was "Judge Judy" on the TV. WTF Hennessey's?!
We ordered our beers and cocktails and the calamari. The calamari was surprisingly good. It was served with three dipping sauces: sweet Thai chili, regular ol' tartar and a spice aioli. The aioli was by far the favorite of the table. The tartar went untouched. It was a sizeable portion, enough for the four of us. We'll definitely be back. Cool place.