Monday, April 03, 2006

When Irish Eyes Are Smilin'

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, They Must Have Just Come From McGuire's


As a traveling couple, the Traveler and I try to eat home cooked meals as much as possible. We have sort of reversed traditional roles. She works to bring home the bacon while I, the Chronicler, take care of the house and cooking and just about everything else.

My goal is to see to it that all she has to be responsible for is going to work for 8 hours. When we decided for her to take a travel assignment and me to stop truck driving, this was the agreement we came up with. And so far it works pretty well.
We mostly avoid the chain restaurants in favor of the unique in hope of a serendipitous experience.

One Saturday recently serendipity smiled on us with a wonderful eating experience at McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola.

But we eat out once, sometimes twice, a week - usually on the weekends. We have hit a few local restaurants here in Milton, FL that are pretty good. Usually, we try to find local restaurants in whatever city we happen to be living to try the cuisine.

The most amazing thing you notice when you walk into McGuire's is all the money hanging from the ceiling. The ceiling is thick with signed dollar bills stapled to the rafters like some sort of tempting carpet. The signatures carry some notables such as Janet Jackson and George Carlin to mention a couple.

The estimates of bills range from 250,000 to 500,000 dollars hanging from the ceiling. But keep your hands off! A news article stuck on the wall near our table told about a young man who decided to help himself to more than 20 of the dangling dollars and then tried to spend them at a nearby liquor store.

As I said, all the bills are signed - with a black magic marker. The liquor store owner recognized the signed bills and called the cops. That young man was soon singing the blues after stealing the green.

I couldn't help but be impressed with the pub's ambiance. Irish theme music was playing in the background. Loud enough to hear but low enough to allow conversation. You might be able to remain stoic when "Danny Boy" was played but you would just have to shed a tear when "Amazing Grace" came on played by bagpipes.

However, you'll cheer up when you hear "Clancy Lowers The Boom" or "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling." The place also has lots of dark wood and souvenirs scattered around the 20,000-square-foot restaurant.

But it doesn't feel large. The place is divided into a number of small, cozy rooms with dark wood tables placed around the walls and little cul-de-sacs. The friendly waitress was dressed in turn of the century style with a black dress that went to her ankles, a white blouse and a shamrock green vest.

As we have traveled about the country we sometimes encounter restaurants in the city we are in that tout themselves as being Irish or British. We usually try to stop and check out the cuisine. Mostly we are disappointed by tasteless, overpriced fare.

One menu item I have tried in several European themed restaurants is the shepherd's Pie. Until McGuire's, I have been disappointed.

Man! I don't know if I can describe it! A steaming boat shaped dish topped with at least an inch of lightly baked, fluffy potatoes. Underneath it was filled with ground beef, potatoes, corn and carrots in a savory seasoned gravy. Prior to the main course my wife and I ordered the 18 cent bean soup. Delicious. Yeah. Only 18 cents if you order a main course.

My wife ordered one of the 20 varieties of large gourmet, ground steak burgers. We traded bites. It, too, was tongue teasingly tasty, (if I'm not being too alliterative). Though I preferred my shepherd's Pie.

I also drank an light ale, which went down smoothly. They have a number of ales and wine. In fact, McGuire's offers ales, porters and stouts brewed on the premises in its traditional oak and copper brewery. Currently, the restaurant brews five regular beers on a rotating seasonal basis.

But McGuire's is particularly noted for its fine steaks and has won "One of America's Great Steakhouses Golden Spoon Award" seven different times since the restaurant's opening in 1977 as well as numerous other food awards and awards for fine wines.

In 1977, McGuire's was started as a turn of the century New York Irish saloon. As you enter the doorway from outside over the entrance is written "Cead Mile Failte" and is Gaelic for "One Hundred Thousand Welcomes."

When you leave McGuire's you'll be well fed and your eyes will be smilin' whether they are Irish or not and you might even hear the angels sing. Oh, by the way, if you sign a dollar bill to attach somewhere on the ceiling, you get to be an adopted Irishman or Irishwoman.

'Til next time, travelers.



No comments: