The Bull & Finch

I've been here three times since they opened and have been impressed each time. I've had a pasta dish, the fish and chips, the truffle fries (I have DREAMS about these), and a salad (salad wasn't the best, but everything else has made up for it). The service is impeccable. Attentive and each time a manager has come by to check on the table. The atmosphere is awesome. Relaxing yet energetic at the same time? HIGHLY recommend this place. Great addition to Downtown Excelsior!

Wife and daughter had the Pea & Asparagus Bucatini with Chicken. Pasta was home made and the sauce creamy and delicious. I had the best Shepherds Pie I have ever had. Nice balance of chunky mash potatoes with beefy stew. Did I mention the bread? Like a wheat soda bread with a little sweet. Yum. The custardy Bread Pudding was the perfect ending. What are you waiting for?

I have great hopes for this place, but they need to get a few things ironed out, and hoping it is opening during COVID kinks that has caused it.

Service was friendly, but SLOOOW. I will attribute this to the kitchen.

Food on entrees were forgotten, wrong dressing on an entree salad, and my entree was cold. Overheard another guest having this issue with a burger (!). I had the Pork Belly entree, could’ve been good, but the sauce was baked onto the dish and mash was cold= to long in the expo window.

They eff’d up the “Basic A.F Mac and Cheese”. Hardly any cheese, too much bread crumb. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Onion Soup was cold.

Beet and Goat Cheese Arugula Salad with chicken. No Chicken. Got the chicken with the check. No blood orange vinaigrette, subbed olive oil w/o informing. arugula was 86’d....

Opinion... great concept, not worth the money (yet). I hope the kitchen gets their stuff together and they can get their timing worked out...

Happy to support a new local place. Food was average but we expected more as we heard there was supposed to be a big time chef here. Menu seemed fine, if limited. Assume due to covid. But the execution of the food wasn’t great. Steak was over cooked and overly fatty, even for a ribeye. The dim lighting made it hard to find the meat. S’mores for two looked like they stopped by the grocery store for the ingredients. Not sure what we should have expected, they are s’mores after all, but it wasn’t something we could have found in our pantry at home. Will give them some time but will try again. Launching during a pandemic can’t be easy.

So glad the Bull & Finch is open! We've been there twice, great service/food/atmosphere!

We had great service and the hamburgers were perfect and very, very good!

We left before our reservation because we had waited 20 minutes and still were not seated

Such a fun way to get back and socialize with friends! The food and service was great and as we were leaving they even gave us a gift bag to say thank for being customers. Such a great environment.

Fun festive feeling! They left Christmas up so we could enjoy the season. Fun was being had by all:)

Everyone enjoyed their meal. Great live Irish music on Thursday evening.

It was great to be back at indoor dining. Especially at the Bull and Finch which is a beautiful pub. Good pub food, excellent selection of local and distant brews and terrific wait staff. 'Nuf said.

I wanted to check this place out since our Covid lockdowns began. I’m so happy I finally got the chance! The truffle fries were FANTASTIC. Whatever the seasoning and white sauce that they drizzle over the top is...I love it. I also had the scallops and they were sweet and delicious. We went during happy hour- my meal was under $25 for the total and well worth it.

Great to have them open again! Great atmosphere and good food!!!

First day back from lockdown so I’ll cut them some slack but the food was very mediocre for the price. Truffle fries had no flavor, Onion soup was like stew broth. Fish and chips was very good though.

Fantastic service! Best experience since MN reopened restaurants, etc...

Wasn’t even open.

Server Mindy wonderful! Truffle Fries, dry rub wings, Cubano sandwich were yummy. Nice selection of Irish beer and whisky.

One of the best meals I have ever had! The supreme chicken was incredible

International flavor and ambiance in our local pub.

I like the ambiance, and our server was great. Our food was just okay. I got chicken with potatoes, and it was almost too salty to eat. Drinks were good, but weak

We stopped in for happy hour - had a couple of great appetizers and drinks! Great ambiance and staff.

First visit and we went for happy hour. Wonderful, beautiful and open space. Service was attentive and helpful. Happy hour menu had many selections available, we selected Irish Whiskey wings, truffle fries and corned beef croquette with glasses of house wine. Everything was awesome! Nice size portions easily shareable. Very nice manager came by to check on us and ask how everything us. Listened to our suggestions and let us know about Monday BOGO Fish and chips special. Will definitely be going back!

The staff were friendly and the restaurant was warm and welcoming! Prob the best fish and chips I’ve had in a long long long time. Highly
Recommend.

Always a great experience, great food, warm and inviting atmosphere, great service!

Nice reboot of Jake O'Connor's, under new ownership. Very little alterations to the space, which was already offered a classic pub feel. Small updates to the furniture keep it from seeming stale. A creative pub menu that offers something for most moods. We had the Pork Belly and a Braised Short Rib special; both were outstanding.

Great service & amazing dishes!! The pesto mashed potato’s are to die for!

Great Irish pub and the food is excellent. Amazing chef with some real unique dishes.

A really nice re-fresh to the former Jake O'Connors. Familiar, yet different. Food was really good and great service during COVID. Would recommend to all!

Birthday girl

We have actually gone there twice now - food is delicious, especially loved the shepherd pie and the scotch egg. Service was great.

The food and ambience are good, service needs a bit of polishing.

Food is excellent. I'm a little biased about the beer selection and cocktail menu, because my brother is the bar manager, but he has worked his butt of for years and the cocktails speak to his expertise. Overall, I couldn't ask for a better experience at an Irish Pub.

Stunning environment, with amazing food. Hats off to the chef!

Very slow service. Entrees were bad. Next time just try a burger.

Disappointed. The food options looked good, but the server/chef was unwilling to entertain even the most minor of substitutions, even for an up-charge. The pork belly comes with black pudding (blood sausage) mashed potatoes. We asked to sub the pesto mashed potatoes - the answer was no. We asked to sub the fries (up-charge would have been fine). Again, no. We purchased the "Sixer" at the bottom of the menu, which indicated it bought a round of beer for the kitchen. Essentially a thank you from us even before we'd eaten. We received no acknowledgment from anyone that this was even a nice gesture. Our server was fine but expected us to pass all of our used dishes to her when she was ready to pick them up (regardless of whether we were in the middle of eating or drinking something). It was also really hot, loud and stuffy. Not sure that this is the best place to be during a pandemic.

Love the live music every Thursday that includes traditional Irish songs. The fish & chips are great, as is the shepherd's pie. There are cozy nooks to give it that feeling you have stepped into Ireland for a wee bit.

Still loving the menu items and the atmosphere. We had the scotch eggs for a second time and tried the fish and chips. Delicious and there was a deal on Monday nights!!

Our second visit since they opened and still a few kinks to work out primarily regarding service.

Drink orders seem to take an inordinate amount of time before they arrive at the table and we feel need to order next drink when first is only 50% consumed to ensure we have one when meal arrives.

Sandwich was a bit heavy on the bread and light on the meat and salads arrived with no dressing.

Prices are a bit on high end but the BOGO Fish & Chips on Mondays is a great deal.

Would recommend to others with hope the management makes some improvements as they hear feedback.

The menu and food were not spectacular- not bad but would have expected more for the price. We appreciated the variety and uniqueness of the previous, very similar, establishment more. But it was ok and we would go back again, after the pandemic however, because:
We were also a bit surprised to see that the staff did not wear masks and it made us a little uncomfortable. Everyone did have face shields on but as the very wonderful server stood over us, any respiratory droplets coming from his mouth could easily fall out the bottom and on to us and the same with the runners that delivered the food to our table.

Everything was good overall. No major complaints. The food was on the pricier side for what we got (thin ribeye, seabass was mostly leeks and not much qinuoa at all). Service was fine, nothing notable. Great vibe though, cute place for a date night...the s’mores are a must for the experience though we got the chocolate fondant which was not too presentable but pretty tasty!