The newest kid on the block in downtown McKinney, Dempsy's is a sports bar with a giant patio. It is the final restaurant before hwy 5 and is the third installment in this space while I've lived here.Entrance from the street is clearly marked. Once you get inside, good luck. I stood in the doorway looking for a "wait to be seated" or "seat yourself" sign.
Nothing.
There is a "employees only beyond this point" sign and the roped off area is about the size of an airplane bathroom. A waitress looked at me for a good minute till I asked if I should find a seat. She said yes so I did.
Another 5 minutes ish.
Same waitress comes to my table. "Do you want anything to drink? She asks.
No, I reply, I'll just swallow my spit.
Points off.
The menu was in some very funky colors and pretty hard to read. There are tvs everywhere and only 3 different channels playing. This is an ADHD nightmare.
The menu is basic pub fare. Burgers and dogs except for one burger that boasts a pineapple/mango chutney. I imagine this burger speaks with a British accent and looks down on the other items with woeful disdain. There is also an upcharge for cheese...restated on every line. Design, people, design.
I ordered a BBQ burger and paid the upcharge for onion rings.
Onion rings are hard to make. They need to be crispy but not burnt. The onion should be soft enough to tear easily but not slimy so you get the entire thing on the first bite and only tempura for the rest.
My waitress was about as friendly as a badger with hemorrhoids and would fill my drink occasionally then run back to the roped off area to chat. I got the distinct impression that my experience was about as important to her as classified documents are to Hillary Clinton.
My meal came and had a special sauce not mentioned on the menu. I hope there wasn't an upcharge.
The rings were a crispy dark brown and could have got a 16 wheeler halfway to Lubbock. The crunch on them was so loud it sounded like an one break in an 80's action flick.
The special sauce turned out to be mayo with chili pepper in it. Or thousand island with chili pepper. Either way, it was not pleasant. Too thick of a taste. It covered up the flavor of the rings... on second thought that might have been sheer brilliance.
The burger was lack luster. Other than the bun, the entire thing was about as exciting as Bill and Hillary's sex life. The tomato (1) was so thin I nearly missed it altogether. The shredded iceberg lettuce was pointless. Stop using this vegetable on burgers, people. Just stop. The burger was cooked to very well done. No chance for any diseases there. It could have been used in the Turkey Trot Marathon to patch shoes but at least there was no chance of anything living on it. The BBQ sauce was the star. And by star, I mean it was so sweet I expected the Koolaid guy to burst through the door and high 5 me. Well, he didn't and every bite of my sugar burger made me sadder. On a high note, the bun was very soft and not soggy. The mushrooms were fun when you got one. The sautéed onions were a good reminder that my onion rings secretly longed to be funyons.
My waitress took care of the check in record time.
Poor signage, inept waitress, bad design, odd menu, good buns. I give Dempsy's a 3 out of 10. If they are dog friendly, I'll raise that by 2 points. I'm not a complete Scrooge.
Happy eating, y'all.
