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Slate Article on "Faux Irish Pubs"


Al Dente

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A search on their site reveals that (shock!) all of the Fado's in the U.S. are pubs-from-a-kit, but surprisingly not Ri-Ra. I'm sure that there is a competing company responsible for those. The only other establishment that shows up for DC is Biddy Mulligan's.

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The only other establishment that shows up for DC is Biddy Mulligan's.

Its long been my contention that Biddy's succeeds at being the best Irish bar in Washington by not 'trying' to be an Irish bar. They usually have a high proportion of Irish staff, and the fact that aesthetically its like many hotel bars in Dublin is comforting.

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Its long been my contention that Biddy's succeeds at being the best Irish bar in Washington by not 'trying' to be an Irish bar. They usually have a high proportion of Irish staff, and the fact that aesthetically its like many hotel bars in Dublin is comforting.

I never even really thought of it as being an Irish bar, just a good hotel bar with an Irish slant. I get the same vibe at Mackey's. As an actual Irish bar I wouldn't put either in the same league as the Dubliner or Nanny's.

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I never even really thought of it as being an Irish bar, just a good hotel bar with an Irish slant.  I get the same vibe at Mackey's.  As an actual Irish bar I wouldn't put either in the same league as the Dubliner or Nanny's.

Or the Irish Times.

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I never even really thought of it as being an Irish bar, just a good hotel bar with an Irish slant.  I get the same vibe at Mackey's.  As an actual Irish bar I wouldn't put either in the same league as the Dubliner or Nanny's.

Nanny's (and the Irish Times for that matter) are nasty, scuzzy places, and bear little to no resemblance to any pubs in Dublin I've been in. Maybe they fit some American notion of what an Irish bar should be. The Dubliners ok.

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Nanny's (and the Irish Times for that matter) are nasty, scuzzy places, and bear little to no resemblance to any pubs in Dublin I've been in. Maybe they fit some American notion of what an Irish bar should be. The Dubliners ok.

Smelly they are; scuzzy they are not.

And, in bar scene increasingly full of $12-cocktail boutiques and mass produced authenticity, they are all-to-rare delights (though I would not go withing a block of either of them tonight). As to whether they are truly "Irish," I care not.

Different strokes & cetra.

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Its long been my contention that Biddy's succeeds at being the best Irish bar in Washington by not 'trying' to be an Irish bar. They usually have a high proportion of Irish staff, and the fact that aesthetically its like many hotel bars in Dublin is comforting.

Perhaps that's because the hotel is owned by an Irish company? <_<
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A well-traveled friend of mine once mentioned that in France, of all places, it seemed to him that Irish pubs were becoming ubiquitous.  I would never have guessed.

They're everywhere...they are one of the closest things I have seen to a 'sure thing' in in food and (mainly) beverage industry....all over Europe, Eastern Europe, the States, starting to sprout up in Asia....even 12 years ago when I lived in Germany (gawd I feel old) you could go to small towns and chances were they had at least 1, if not more, irish pubs.

Craic sells!

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A well-traveled friend of mine once mentioned that in France, of all places, it seemed to him that Irish pubs were becoming ubiquitous.  I would never have guessed.

10 years ago I was in Turkey-- there are Irish pubs there. Same with the Greek islands-- even on some of the more remote ones. I mean really, wtf? And who are these people who go to an Irish pub in , for example, Santorini?

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Nanny's (and the Irish Times for that matter) are nasty, scuzzy places, and bear little to no resemblance to any pubs in Dublin I've been in. Maybe they fit some American notion of what an Irish bar should be. The Dubliners ok.

There seems to be a great deal of bile about pubs and restaurants that are not truly "Irish," when in fact many of them are intended to be Irish-American--an entirely different, but wholly respectable subset of pubbery.

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There seems to be a great deal of bile about pubs and restaurants that are not truly "Irish," when in fact many of them are intended to be Irish-American--an entirely different, but wholly respectable subset of pubbery.

eh, bile....schmile - this website is all about opinions, which all of us freely dispense in copious quantities....its a conversation about Irish bars and its ok if my idea of an Irish bar is different than yours....

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eh, bile....schmile - this website is all about opinions, which all of us freely dispense in copious quantities....its a conversation about Irish bars and its ok if my idea of an Irish bar is different than yours....

I know! And I appreciate your opinions!

I just think that people often lose the fact that Irish and Irish-American are neither the same nor mutually exclusive, and that neither is right or wrong. You may not find Nanny's in Dublin, but you will find it all over South Chicago, frequented by Irish-Americans. That's all I'm sayin.

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A well-traveled friend of mine once mentioned that in France, of all places, it seemed to him that Irish pubs were becoming ubiquitous.  I would never have guessed.

There are a ton of them in Taipei as well. Last time I was there, I spent a (somewhat out of focus) evening in one wrapping myself around a few Guiness and listening to the sound of English being spoken rather strangely and then ending up in a rather bad part of town....but that's another story...
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Is O'Connell's, Old Town's new addition, one of these "kit" pubs?  Haven't sampled anything there yet except for the Guinness, but I'm impressed with the quality of design and construction.

[ear perk] O'Connell's? It's been quite some time since I've been further down King than Pitt Street. What's O'Connell's?

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[ear perk] O'Connell's?  It's been quite some time since I've been further down King than Pitt Street.  What's O'Connell's?

It's in the old Bullfeathers/Hats in the Belfry space, in the 100 block of King St.

I've wandered through the first floor (haven't checked out the upstairs yet), and it looks like a nice space. I suppose it should, given that the developer spent something in the neighborhood of $4-5 MILLION on it! They brought over most of an old church from Ireland (I believe) and have some interesting little nooks and crannies - 'confessionals' and booths, etc. There is also a lot of open bar space - I think there are 5 bars total. Irish lads are tending bar, beer is supposed to be reasonably priced, and they probably know how to pour a Guinness :)

The menu leaves much to be desired (at least based on reading it) - there are only a few items - something like 3 entrees, and they are in the upper $20- low $30 range. Pre-opening info had said it was going to be an "upscale" Irish dining destination. I can think of some other "Irish" cooking (or at least cooked by Irish ;) ) in the neighborhood that I'd much prefer to pay those prices for.

Could be a decent place to hang out - probably on a weeknight or weekend afternoon more than a weekend night. I'm sure the Bullfeathers 'kids' <_< will be packing it out on Friday/Saturday nights...

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3 hours ago, dcs said:

I also read that article.  Pretty interesting IMHO.  Amazing that entire packaged Irish bars have been so popular for so long and are sold all across the world.  My goodness drinking and Irish bars are a world wide phenomena. (as noted above).

Kudo's to the architectural group that came up with these designs and their long term sustainability.  As for me, I've always enjoyed the conviviality and drinks in such a bar....food quality has often been another matter-- ;)

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