"clancy's tavern" by toby keith received mostly positive reviews from music critics. at metacritic, which assigns an averaged rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 79, based on 6 reviews. about.com's robert silva stated that "if you bought the deluxe edition of "clancy's tavern", it wasn't a complete waste of money", and affirmed that "this dude rocks. and i am very confused." allmusic's stephen thomas erlewine took note of that when compared to keith's previous album, "bullets in the gun" (released in 2010), "clancy's tavern" "pushes humor to the forefront and generally isn’t so insistent on driving the beat into arena country territory, letting the melodies and music relax." he continues by stating that keith is no longer at the height of his career and that "he’s now the guy he sang about being on “as good as i once was." however, toward the end of the review, erlewine commended keith for delivering one of his best albums in "many a moon." randy lewis of the "los angeles times" noted that "like the corner bar, this is familiar territory for keith and his fans, and he doesn’t seem to give a whit about stepping out of his comfort zone. that makes this an eminently dependable outing that’s strong on solidly crafted, confidently delivered songs but nearly devoid of surprises or revelations about his artistry." roughstock's matt bjorke found that "as almost all singers are, to entertain us, not to enlighten us but if something enlightening happens to come along, all the better but remember this: don’t expect too much from him and he wont’ let you down, which exactly what happens with "clancy’s tavern". it’s a strong collection of songs that may be his best album in years". slant magazine's jonathan keefe criticized ""clancy's tavern" is a fairly rote reiteration of the same album that toby keith has been re-recording once a year since 2005's "honkytonk university". while there's something to be said for his work ethic and relative dependability, a good-sized chunk of "clancy's tavern" feels phoned in, and keith is simply too big a personality and too dynamic a singer to get away with something lackadaisical. it's unfortunate that the couple of brighter moments on the album happen to be counterbalanced by some genuinely gross songs that play into the worst stereotypes about both keith and country music as a whole." taste of country's billy dukes found that "'clancy’s tavern' is as humble a toby keith album as one can remember. there isn’t a moment to be found where it feels like the singer is standing over you thumping his chest. this is a welcome change of pace from a man who at age 50 shows no signs of losing touch with what’s hot." brian mansfield of the "usa today" surmised that "other than the opening "made in america", keith seems to have worked through the ultra-patriotic anthems and macho declarations that have been staples of his recent albums. that leaves plenty of room to sing about bars and the people who haunt them. keith's got an affinity for the subject, whether it's a character sketch like the title track or a drinking ditty like "red solo cup"."