How many Irish Pubs does your city have?

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

what kind of bars are you patronizing that only have "shitty IPAs"?

since the craft revolution blew-up nationwide over a decade ago now, i can't recall the last time i was in a bar that didn't have multiple options for different styles of american craft beer available.

It was much better in Houston (which has a fantastic craft brew scene) but the Bay Area not so much and is over saturated with IPA's. It's often hard to find anything besides those or Bud/ Dos Equis/ Coors. I drove across the Bay to a brewery that had a wider selection.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by JManc

the Bay Area not so much and is over saturated with IPA's. It's often hard to find anything besides those or Bud/ Dos Equis/ Coors.

that's quite odd.

bars here in chicago always have craft selections way beyond just IPAs available.

all manner of ales, stouts, porters, lagers, sours, wheat beers, pilsners, kolcshes, etc.

[pj3000]

Have no idea how many Irish pubs there are in the Pittsburgh area, nor in western PA in general.

Bars with an Irish name and/or owned & operated by people of Irish ancestry? Tons.

Irish pubs in the traditional, looking-and-acting-like-an-authentic-Irish pub theme sense? A bunch.

Here are some of the better ones around here:

Pittsburgh

Monterey Pub (Mexican War Streets) - Founded 1975 Just a great bar tucked right into an 1840s/50s residential rowhouse neighborhood



Mullaney's Harp & Fiddle (Strip District) - Founded 1992 Good spot in the Strip for Irish beer, food, music, and soccer games




Erie

Sullivan's (Lower Downtown) - Founded 1905 Claims to be 7th oldest Irish pub in US; a bit worn down, but still an institution. Classic no-frills bar where you can get a good pull of Guinness and talk to priests from St. Patricks just down the street



Molly Brannigan's (Lower Downtown) - Founded 2002 by a more recent Irish immigrant, now owned by a local restaurant group

[Chisouthside]

Fibbar Magees was a fun one in Sunnyvale California. but that spot and a couple other irish pubs in SF were missing that faint smell of puke you often detect in Chicago pubs.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Pittsburgh is not the most Irish city in the country these days.

Incidentally, this post reminded me of something that might be a mere coincidence, but might be in line with what you mention - many of you are aware that most cities have a "Pittsburgh" bar, and the one in Athens, OH happens to be Lucky's:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3298...7i16384!8i8192

Making the situation more interesting(?), the bar directly across the street is the "Cleveland" bar, meaning there is always trouble when the Steelers play the Browns. There are bar fights every night on the Athens sidewalks, but the bottle-throwing and the number of women trading blows accelerates on game day.

Oddly, there has never been a Bengals bar in Athens, although that might change given the rise of Athens native Joe Burrow.

Athens used to have an Irish microbrewery from the 1990s, that survived that microbrewery era's bust, and still operates, but under a new name. It was called O'Hooley's, and some of the old guys in the area went a little overboard trying to out-Irish one-another with the playing of obscure folk music on obscure instruments, at least on the weeknights. The place changed its name to Jackie O's around 2008, partially burnt down in 2014, but started canning thereafter and is now a fairly prominent craft brewer in the region. https://jackieos.com/our-story/

The part of the bar that burnt down was formerly a place absurdly called "Skipper's", which still unironically served Monte Christo sandwiches up until The End, and had those gimmick table taps [https://twitter.com/tabletap] way back during the Clinton years, if not much earlier. I have no idea how they sourced them and brought them to rural Ohio back then, but it was reality. The place had a lot of horizontal brass railings as decorations as well as fake plants.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by 10023

that second dish, whatever it is, looks gross.

Looks like Shepard's Pie? Regardless, gross.

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

what kind of bars are you patronizing that only have "shitty IPAs"?

since the craft revolution blew-up nationwide over a decade ago now, i can't recall the last time i was in a bar that didn't have multiple options for different styles of american craft beer available.

I do have to say that at a lot of the bars I go to now something like 60% of the beer options are IPAs. Makes it hard if you aren't a hop head.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by JManc

It was much better in Houston (which has a fantastic craft brew scene) but the Bay Area not so much and is over saturated with IPA's. It's often hard to find anything besides those or Bud/ Dos Equis/ Coors. I drove across the Bay to a brewery that had a wider selection.

That's not my experience drinking in East Bay bars. Apparently, you're somehow managing to go to all the wrong places. Look for brew pubs.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by JManc

It was much better in Houston (which has a fantastic craft brew scene) but the Bay Area not so much and is over saturated with IPA's. It's often hard to find anything besides those or Bud/ Dos Equis/ Coors. I drove across the Bay to a brewery that had a wider selection.

i don't think i've been anywhere across america these days that doesn't have a 'fantastic' craft beer scene, at least as they would say.

and i sure am not complaining.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by craigs

That's not my experience drinking in East Bay bars. Apparently, you're somehow managing to go to all the wrong places. Look for brew pubs.

Found a good brewery in San Carlos (very few IPA's), a couple in SF and there's a brew pub here in Fremont that I want to check out.

[nito]

What’s wrong with Shepherd’s Pie? Easy to make, customisable, balanced meal and oh so tasty.

[muppet]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

I really like the look of those grim, unfashionable Irish pubs in London where you just go underground for ten years and develop cirrhosis in an ashtray.

Not so keen on this, where it looks like you'd end up playing Battleship with some guy from a startup called Plurp.ly.

Lol, avoid any pub in West London or by the river, or with a doggie bowl with water outside.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by nito

What’s wrong with Shepherd’s Pie? Easy to make, customisable, balanced meal and oh so tasty.

It's essentially the British version of a casserole.

I mean, more seriously though, if you took out all the raw ingredients and cooked them separately (a plate of protein, mashed potatoes, and loose boiled peas/carrots/corn)...it would still be a generic bland meal. Like the stereotype of what people ate in the 1950s.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

that's quite odd.

bars here in chicago always have craft selections way beyond just IPAs available.

all manner of ales, stouts, porters, lagers, sours, wheat beers, pilsners, kolcshes, etc.

Chicago is an outlier when it comes to craft beer and selection. Tons of amazing breweries and tons of options.

[Chisouthside]

Originally Posted by JManc

Chicago is an outlier when it comes to craft beer and selection. Tons of amazing breweries and tons of options.

From my experience Chicago breweries do lager way more than most of the breweries ive been to in the Bay as well. Jmanc, if youre ever in San Jose try el Camino brewing.

[muppet]

Originally Posted by eschaton

It's essentially the British version of a casserole.

I mean, more seriously though, if you took out all the raw ingredients and cooked them separately (a plate of protein, mashed potatoes, and loose boiled peas/carrots/corn)...it would still be a generic bland meal. Like the stereotype of what people ate in the 1950s.

oh how very dare you!

for starters no corn (unless you lack culture) - minimal carrots if any, and it should be about the quality of the lamb mince -soft yet crumbly, and soaked in umami. The mash on top should be piped/ patterned to get a crust with orange edges, yet soft underneath. Peas on the side for sweetness -add gravy if you want over everything.

It should all just melt in the mouth, but offset by the crunch of the crust.





Food of the gods, heathens!

[Crawford]

At best, shepherd's pie is just a super bland version of the Latin American picadillo.

[muppet]

Im telling the fucking queen on you lot

[sopas ej]

I just knew I had corned beef and cabbage not too long ago. Funny how going through that "What are you eating?" thread in the Skybar forums is kind of like going through my food diary.

My partner and I had corned beef and cabbage in April, with Irish ciders. I get in the mood for it occasionally, but honestly I don't think I'd want to eat it every day. If there's food I would eat every day, it would be tapas or mezze, or sushi. This Irish pub is actually in our town of South Pasadena, called Griffins of Kinsale. I think it's "authentic" enough that a new coworker of my partner's, an actual Irishman, likes to go to this pub... he even takes the bus to get there, as he's never learned how to drive.


Photo by me


Photo by me

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Crawford

At best, shepherd's pie is just a super bland version of the Latin American picadillo.

Kind of... ground meat (lamb vs. beef) and a starch... but that's about it. I think that they're somewhat analogous more because Shepherd's Pie is one of those simple, poor-man's meals... just like picadillo is.

People want to look down on both as unrefined and dirty dishes. Yet I don't know a single person who secretly doesn't love both.

And Shepherd's pie bland? Only if one wants it to be, I guess. Nothing with lots of butter, sauteed onions, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, thyme, parsley, S&P is going to be that bland, even without adding in some extras to jazz it up.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by JManc

It was much better in Houston (which has a fantastic craft brew scene) but the Bay Area not so much and is over saturated with IPA's. It's often hard to find anything besides those or Bud/ Dos Equis/ Coors. I drove across the Bay to a brewery that had a wider selection.

I'm not much of a beer person but just for my own knowledge, what's wrong with IPAs? Or is it just that you prefer a wider selection?