NVM Review

By Warren Rojas

A hand-written sign posted behind the bar at O’Faolain’s flips bigotry on its head by advertising for help with the announcement that “no English”—instead of the historically ostracized Irish—need apply.

The good-natured jab, however, does not preclude the rest of us from enjoying the hospitality at this modernized suburban pub.

Manager Bethany Durham said the neighborhood restaurant, owned by some folks from “just outside of Dublin,” has done well since first opening its doors in June 2004. The spacious bar area features polished hardwood floors, glossy shelving stacked with antique seltzer bottles and decorative brass pitchers, a hideaway dart room and jumbo prints of Irish-penned books commemorating authors James Joyce, Liam O’Flaherty, Samuel Beckett, Elizabeth Bowen, Patrick Kavanagh and C.S. Lewis proudly displayed along one pub wall. The separate, main dining room seems slightly more demure, although the colorful Celtic tapestries hoisted in several windows inject an added touch of mythic charm.

Seats at the marble-topped, reverse question mark-shaped bar are hard to come by once happy hour kicks in, proffering assorted drink and food specials, including half-price shepherd’s and chicken potpies on Thursday evenings. Most nights, the stools are claimed by groups of drinking buddies or Irish-born expats who stop in regularly for a taste of home.

Case in point: Sassy Irish barmaid Maggie Finnegan regularly disarms patrons with her beauty and wit. She also keeps the good cheer flowing by serving pints of Guinness, Boddingtons, Harp and Smithwick’s on draft, while fans of the harder stuff can get their fill of whiskeys including Jameson, original Bushmills and Black Bush, Powers, Midleton, Tullamore Dew and Redbreast, along with scotches like Glenlivet, MacAllan, Laphroiag, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie and Oban.

According to Durham, the owners are very committed to keeping Irish personnel on the payroll. “It’s a major priority,” she said, estimating that roughly 70 percent of her staff is Emerald Isle-born.

Not surprisingly, Durham said the traditional Irish menu items are clearly the most popular, listing the shepherd’s pie, Guinness casserole, fish and chips and corned beef and cabbage as her top sellers.

A portion of black and tan onion rings summons beer-battered hoops (tasty) escorted by an engaging herb cream sauce (though I prefer them with a dash of Lakeshore’s strong mustard). The artful boxty was aesthetically pleasing (pressed potato pancake covered in crispy onions straws and a creamy whiskey-leek sauce) but lean on promised corned beef (meager bits here and there).

A traditional Irish breakfast hits all the right notes and looks pretty doing it, revealing a proper spread of bangers (savory, but small), rashers (good salt), made-to-order eggs, black and white pudding, roasted tomato (excellent), baked beans and toast. The chicken potpie is even more impressive, delivering rosemary-spiked chicken and a vegetable-laden cream broth baked beneath a phenomenally flaky crust. The aforementioned Guinness casserole is quite filling (robust stew populated by roast beef and vegetables, all surrounded by mashed potatoes), but clearly lives in the shadow of the chicken potpie.

The popular porter is put to better use as part of a bread pudding dessert, which reveals a warm mass of raisin- and cinnamon-studded goodness backed by just a whisper of alcohol.