Michael was a very friendly bartender. The place has loads of TVs, and is a good place to watch sporting events. They have great craft beer selection but you have to effectively take a sobriety test to get to the downstairs bathroom. That said, i recommend this place unreservedly. read more

Rí Rá - Fiddlehead IPA on tap - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

A local recommended Rí Rá so we decided to try their cottage pie and beef stew that she recommended. The soda bread was a little inedible but both pie and stew were delicious. Like others mentioned, the service was a little slow but they were friendly and professional. We also received a 10% discount for wearing green so that was really nice. If you want warm and comfortable food & service, I recommend Rí Rá, a great place for Guiness and watching the game with actual servers from Ireland. How cool. Price: $$ Parking: Meter Parking Recommendations: Cottage pie read more

Rí Rá - Beef Irish Stew - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

See all

Great welcoming atmosphere, wonderfully friendly staff and the great food and drinks!

We were excited to see Burlington still had a Ri Ra, as most of the ones we have visited have closed over the last few years. Unfortunately, a lot of their Irish specialties, like Colcannon are no longer on the menu. We ordered the Irish dip sandwich with french fries, a side garden salad, a cup of tomato soup and a slice of Guinness chocolate cake. The Irish dip was a big hit. The fries were tasty, salad was fresh and the tomato soup tasted homemade. Service was quick and the atmosphere was a typical Irish pub vibe. The reason for the four stars was due to three reasons: parking, vegan options, and dessert. Parking in the area was tough. We were unable to secure street parking and ended up paying to park in a lot and walking in the rain. I initially ordered the veggie burger, which sounded delicious. I do not eat cheese, which they mix into the veggie patty - and there was not any other good options for vegetarians/vegans. That was disappointing. We ordered the chocolate cake for dessert, one of the two options they had. Presentation wise it looked great - but it was stale to the point where when you stuck your fork in - it crumbled into chocolate sawdust. They did promptly take it off our bill. We did enjoy the sandwich and soup and would return if in the area. read more

This is an authentic Irish Pub. It's the the Olympic Games and they opened early for rugby! If you want Irish beer and food this is the place. I'm from upstate New York or Central New York. Wings is the thing so when I rate wings it's gonna be serious. I rate their wings a B-. The food is a little on the high end. Great location in a great little city. read more

Rí Rá - Beer - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

See all

Place was pretty empty so waitress was super attentive and service was very quick. I love the Irish pub atmosphere. My food was delicious!!! We started with the buffalo chicken bites, so so good. For my meal I got the fried pub chicken sandwich and it was amazing. The fries were the perfect amount of salt and crisp. Definitely recommend. read more

Rí Rá - Pub chicken sandwich - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

I ordered the steak fries and what came out looked like a slab of steak just dropped on top of french fries. I was apparently supposed to cut the steak on a bed of fries, which made no sense. When I finally managed to cut into it, at least half of it was fat, a huge strip around the edge and even more running through the middle. The small parts that were actually edible were flavorless and tough. I took two bites and couldn't eat it. I've never sent food back in my life. I've worked in restaurants and know how that feels, but this was inedible. When the bill came, the full price was still on the check. My friend asked if they could do anything, and the server said she'd talk to the manager. The manager offered only 20% off. That's completely unacceptable. In every restaurant I've ever worked in even basic chains, you would never charge someone for a meal they couldn't eat. They didn't offer a replacement or even a comped dessert (which I would have declined, but it's the principle). Honestly, I should've walked out the moment I saw the bathroom. It looked like a crime scene meets gas station horror movie. Graffiti everywhere, dirty gloves perched on the changing table like a warning sign, one stall out of order, one missing a toilet entirely (??), and one with a toilet paper dispenser hanging on by a single screw. I actually texted my friend to come find me if I didn't reappear in two minutes. Between the horrifying bathroom, the awful food, and the lack of basic customer service, I'll never go back to RiRa's. read more

We stopped on a busy Sunday on Church Street. RiRa was not the first choice but we ended up waiting for our table. The service a beyond bad - 5 peoples our party, after asking we received 4 sets of silverware and three napkins. The food was OK - a fall salad with falafel got good reviews, the poached eggs were missing the fried fingerling potatoes, two burgers were good, French fries despite being fried to a crisp (triple fried) still soapy with oil. The Reuben was neither tasty not sufficiently sized. Beautiful day on Church Street. Just in a place that suffered from awful waiters and no kitchen oversight. Fingerling potatoes arrived after we asked when the meal was over. No apologies from the waiter. read more

Rí Rá - Silverware with water stains. - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

Love Irish bars so I stopped in for dinner. Was worried because it was virtually empty but ended up being a good experience. The bartender was quick to serve me and was very friendly. He engaged and was interested in me possibly because not too many people I ordered a cheeseburger which was actually very good. The fresh cut fries were perfectly cooked just a little hard. It's a typical Irish bar and looked like pubs I've visited in Ireland. Dark wood and great bar area. read more

Rí Rá - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

Delicious and friendly service. I got the bangers and mash. My husband got the Guinness stew. We both enjoyed our meals!

Awesome Irish pub and restaurant. Kid and family friendly, the food was incredible. Service was quick and attentive, and the ambiance was perfect. This place deserves a gold medal. read more

Rí Rá - Chicken sandwich with sweet potato fry's - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

See all

Best haddock I've ever had, better than Maine if that's even possible. My sister in law and I hung out at the bar last weekend and Pol was absolutely fantastic! read more

The food was good, but I was neither wowed nor disappointed. The fries were very good -- crispy, full of flavor, and just enough salt. I enjoyed the tall tables, both the look and how there is a bar across so you can rest your feet on it. Caters more towards the sport-bar-goers. I did not enjoy how the large screen television was blasting random shows while we were eating. read more

Rí Rá - Chicken Street Tacos - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

Went to see Kevin James at The Flynn, the show ended at 6:30pm, decided to go out for dinner with my befriend. Stopped at Ri Ra and was promptly seated outside. After over 25 minutes of being ignored, no waters, nothing, we decided to leave. No idea if the food would have been worth the wait, but didn't even get a chance to order. Restaurants can't blame downtown Burlington for the issues that they cause by just not being attentive. read more

Ri ra is a great spot in downtown Burlington. Someone in the area mentioned it to us, so we stopped in for a beverage and lunch. Many of the furnishing and bar were actually brought here from a pub in Ireland, so.it did feel very authentic. It felt like many other great Irish pubs, a little dark and earthy. Service was great and the.food was very good. Definitely worth a visit! read more

See all

Came here for lunch with a larger group of friends. Sat outside on a nice sunny weekend. In terms of menu items, it was typical bar food. I personally got an Espresso Martini ($13) to start, which was not as milky as I'd expect, but still strong. For entree, I got the Pub Burger ($17) medium with fries. Overall it was really good and filling. Service overall was okay. Pretty good at getting to us to take our orders without rushing us. Towards the end when we wanted to get our check, that took a bit longer. After giving our server our credit card, waiting around for the server to come back also took a bit of time. So get your check early if you're in a rush. read more

Rí Rá - Pub Burger - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

Cool little pub. We were travelling and love Irish bars we had a stop in while in Burlington. Everything was fine, but nothing special. So close to Canada, my girls wanted Poutine. It was decent, but have had better. My pint of Guiness seemed to be poured correctly (pour snob after going to Ireland) :) I had a salad with chicken on it, wife had a sandwich. I think this could be a fun lively spot with music. read more

I never give a bad review but I was really disappointed. Service was very good. The food was bad. It's hard to mess up Nachos. Well they did. It was burned with almost no cheese. The Irish stew was mostly mashed potatoes with few pieces of meat. read more

We waited forever for our drinks and then we left. There wasn't any other diners outside and the place was empty. There wasn't any reason for such poor service. On a Tuesday night apparently they think they don't have to compete with the plethora of restaurants on this plaza. read more

Good food , drinks , fun place to have a party for bdays . Fun bartender. Staff were friendly . I recommend

This is just the kinda of place you need when you want some good comfort food good drinks and friendly atmosphere. The service was quick and the staff is friendly. read more

I was very impressed by Ri Ra and the options they had, which I thought were great for an Irish Pub! There were many vegetarian options and a wide range of items. I ordered the Harvest Salad which was very good and had fresh ingredients; I loved the maple vinaigrette. I came in a large group and the waitresses were very accommodating and attentive. It was very cute inside, my one complaint is the bathroom was a bit rough and freezing to get there. I would definitely recommend stopping by if you are in the area with a big group! read more

See all

Comfortable, classic Irish Pub in a college downtown. The place was packed for a Friday lunch time. We got the last table available. Our sever Grace was amazing and super sweet! She was attentive and made honest suggestions when we asked questions about entrees and sides. The food was absolutely delicious! It was a cold slightly rainy day so we were looking forward to some warm comfort food and they did not disappoint! We got an order of poutine for the table. We've had poutine before but this was perfect! Crispy hot fries, rich flavorful gravy and warm melty cheese curds. Really hit the spot! Hubby enjoyed the Cottage Pie. He practically licked the bowl it was served in! Seasoning was balanced and overall a hearty serving of meat and veggies under a pillowy cloud of mashed potatoes. I enjoyed the Fish and Chips with a sub of pickled cabbage slaw for fries. The fish was a crispy but not heavy fillet of haddock. I ate part with a squeeze of lemon and tartar sauce. And the other half with malt vinegar. Both were great combos. The perfect compliment was the acidic pickled cabbage slaw. I love a good crunchy pickled veggie with fried food. I highly recommend it! My daughter enjoyed the kids pasta with butter and cheese and a salad. Both were hearty portions which she enjoyed. Again Grace our server was amazing with taking the time to listen to a 10yr old's requests. We really appreciated that! Our niece enjoyed the Pub Burger combo. After a morning of track practice she said she really enjoyed the meaty burger and fries! read more

See all

Just stopped in for a drink during a rain storm. Service, was great, drinks were good and the vibes seemed cool. Ran out of time to stop in again to get food, but would try again in the future. read more

I was here a couple of weeks ago en-route to Boston , the bar tender Shannon I met in the evening was very polite and hospitable , I am Irish living in Montreal and she was telling me about her recent trip to Dublin with her colleague who I met briefly, in terms of Local Vermont knowledge Shannon was amazing and she was on top of the bar service while remaining friendly and creating a positive ambiance in the building. In my 6 years in North America generally I have experienced poor service in bars but this bar is so lucky for Shannon and her team , I will at some stage come back here at a busier time , management really need to value the amazing staff here, really impacted me in a positive way . read more

Yes, it's another Irish themed bar. But, when you want a Guinness at a proper, dark bar at 2:00pm on a Saturday, there's nothing better. Food is reliable and straight forward. Smithwick's on tap is another bonus as well. Friendly staff that make good conversation if you're looking for that. They also know when to leave you be. I always say I should try more places but this is always good. read more

Stopped in for a few pints and some snacks. The Everything pretzel rods with the cheese were AMAZING, and also really enjoyed the poutine with our beers. Reminded me of some pubs in Ireland, and also appreciated the decor. Would be a great place to get some watch a "sports ball" game with others. Liked that some of the staff were Irish. read more

Let me start by saying there wasn't anything bad about Ri Ra, it just wasn't as advertised. It looks like an Irish pub and bills itself as an Irish pub, but isn't a traditional Irish pub. It's primarily a college kid hangout with a marginally Irish menu. It was filled with televisions, all of them playing random versions of ESPN, and the music was a constant Yacht Rock. The food was just ok and the service was lacking. Not sure I'd go there again. read more

Overpriced food and the seating isn't great either. Wouldn't recommend honestly. The burger was OK but way overpriced. The staffs fine but the foods just way too expensive. read more

Our server, Nate, was very kind, my grilled cheese with apples and fries was very good! They had the Olympics on so that was fun to watch! read more

Rí Rá - 802 Grilled Cheese** - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

Drinks: 8/10 Service: 7/10 Ambience: 9/10 Our group went here around 10pm on a Saturday. No food is served once it switches over to a dive bar. Paid $5 cover fee which is typical for busy nights. Drinks, very good menu for drinks. Good price too. Service, when really busy, can take a long time to flag down a bartender. Not a huge problem though. Ambience, when we went they had a spectacular DJ. Awesome music mixing and cueing. Had a blast dancing! read more

After traveling and exploring the town for most of the morning, Rí Rá was our first stop in Burlington. Looking at the menu, my husband had his eyes set on the nachos so it was an easy choice to stop here to eat. It was not very busy when we got there but we watched many people leave after realizing there was a longer wait. We both had some beers to start and ordered the nachos. The toppings were piled on top and I enjoyed the bbq sauce that was on them. For our meals, I had the big caeser salad and my husband had the pub burger. Both were just okay, nothing special to write about. There appeared to be not many waiters/waitresses working so our waitress didn't make many stops to check in on us. Definitely a cool atmosphere, but would recommend trying something different on the menu. read more

Rí Rá - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

See all

I had a meal that made me sick. Do not trust this shit hole. They have coach roaches in the kitchen and their food is horrible!

I loved Rí Rá Pub, I stopped by while visiting Burlington. Great Irish Pub! So many beers and drafts on tap and very traditional Irish food, their wings were delicious, great environment. Natalie and Michael were amazing bartenders. read more

See all

Nice friendly spot in downtown Burlington. Staff super accommodating and they allow dogs - yea! Had the chicken top chop salad which was fresh and tasty and a good size portion. Add a local Vermont beer and what a great meal. Enjoy! read more

Rí Rá - Top Chop salad. Yummy!! - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

Nice spot in downtown Burlington. We split the poutine and added brisket but it appears to be more corned beef(?) Nevertheless, I enjoyed it. We sat by the front near the windows, and the height of the chair in ratio to the height of the table was very off. Our legs were unable to go under the table and it was uncomfortable. I know that this is a random comment, but figured I would throw it in here. read more

Rí Rá - Brisket Poutine - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

Most interesting restaurant we've been to in a while. Started this experience at the host stand, where the host read out all of his thoughts and actions when provided with the question of wait time. He seemed very confused on how the wait list worked but after he talked at us for two minutes describing the people he had to text and get seated, he suddenly grabbed the menus and sat us immediately. Please note that this was after we witnessed him send two groups away due to wait time. We were immediately served water. We ordered a local lager and a raspberry sour but the our waitress told us the sour was out and then pointed out all the other inconsistencies on the drink menu. Ordered an IPA that was in stock. Also put in an order of the Jameson and ginger wings at that time. She took our menus from the table despite us saying we would *start* with the wings. Thankfully we were sitting outside and could see the menu on the sandwich board on the sidewalk. Drinks delivered with no description of which is which. Wings came out quickly but we didn't receive side plates to eat on. Haven't seen our waitress since the drinks were delivered; hoping she'll let us order more food. Finally she comes back to ask how the wings were and we put in an order of the Mac N Cheese and Caesar salad. Entrees came out; both were delivered in front of myself with my girlfriend receiving nothing despite us being equally accessible. Sitting outside was nice, being able to enjoy the fall air and watch church street. Plus, we got the listen to the host make people wait at the door for a table (despite having a text system) and actively tell people to go to other restaurants. Inside definitely seemed like a sports bar, with a projector displaying soccer occupying the whole back wall and a restaurant-wide cheer at one point. One issue was that church street is at a grade, meaning one of us felt like they were constantly leaning backwards and the table was slanted. Overall everyone was very nice and the food was well seasoned and fresh. Wings were crispy, Mac n cheese was gooey, salad was well-dressed, and drinks were cold. Seemed like staff could just use an extra 5 minutes of training. Bonus: the table behind us was ordering coffee and the waitress said, "We might have a milk issue" which we will now quote forever. read more

See all

Much less of a bar feel than expected - good, relatively loud place to go with small groups. The nachos and mac and cheese were amazing, and the wait staff was very kind and attentive. Note that vax card and ID are required! read more

Rí Rá - Pub Mac & Cheese - Irish Pub Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

See all

Service was fine but the place needs a good cleaning. Went to watch soccer. Funky smell. Food is an afterthought. Didn't have some items anymore that are still on menu. Avoid the sausage rolls. Disappointing. read more

We recently held a pre-wedding, private party, `meet & greet' at Ri Ra with100+ guests (babies to elderly) from 6 to 9 pm. Our guests had a wonderful time and we, as hosts, found it easy to work with Ri Ra management and staff through out the entire experience. We heard so many compliments from guests during and after the event about everything; the service, food, setting, drinks, and overall experience at Ri Ra. It was a fun, lively setting with big spaces to gather for those who like loud & raucous (younger adults & kids) to smaller, back-room areas for quieter chats (us older folks). The location was also wonderful since some folks wandered around Church Street first and others hung around after to continue socializing. The food was varied and delicious. We were able to accommodate an array of food preferences including gluten free, vegan, carnivores, etc. The drink selection was varied and plentiful; plenty to select from for folks who preferred alcohol and folks who didn't (including kids). The service was excellent. Everyone was so helpful, diligent, friendly, and attendant to us and our guests. Their staff was delightful! From a business stand point, it was easy to work with Ri Ra management before and during the event. The terms of the agreement were clear and communications were timely and thorough. We also thought the price was very reasonable for the event. Our initial thought was to hold this pre-wedding event at a waterfront venue but the high costs, limited availability, and catering restrictions were prohibitive so we looked elsewhere and found Ri Ra. We are so glad we did. I highly recommend it for a fun event! read more