Crystal chandeliers and whiskey barrels — they’re an unlikely decor pairing. But at Irish Eyes Heavenly Pub, a restaurant and bar attempting an authentic re-enactment of a public house on the old sod, the decor is nearly as important as the Guinness, and the food. At least, it’s part of the reason John Keane, the restaurant’s executive chef (whose great grandparents hailed from the Emerald Isle) signed on. “I was on board,” Keane says, “when I found out it wasn’t about shamrocks and leprechauns.”
The interior accents are part of the fun at Irish Eyes, owned by Kyle Rahal (of Port Royal Cigars) and Stan Burton — it’s a pub done up in style, where whiskey barrels hold up table tops, while the chandeliers create an elegant contrast. Framed posters of Dublin doors or vintage Guinness ads hang from the walls, as big-screen TVs show images of sport.
Keane’s menu features creative uses for potatoes from beginning to end. “It’s Irish,” he says. “You can do anything with a potato.” To that end, he’s created everything from fried potato bites to potato nachos — even a chocolate potato cake based on an old World War II recipe he discovered. The non-potato dishes include traditional foods that he grew up with, like corned beef and cabbage or shepherd’s pie along with Keane-created combinations of Irish favorites, like the Guinness beer cheese soup. One of his most inventive dishes comes out of the fryer — Andes mints rolled in batter, inspired by the fried Oreos he says he prepared often during a stint at a restaurant in Pittsburgh.
Patrons will be served any one of Keane’s dishes by Joe, a gregarious server in an ochre-colored kilt. He has a few notes of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony tattooed on his left bicep, and when he sets the fish and chips on the table he says “here you go” with what sounds a little like an Irish brogue. The salty, battered fish, dipped in a secret sauce (Keane won’t give up his recipe), is delicious, and only $8. Nothing on the food menu costs more than $9 — even dishes with high-end ingredients like lamb stew and cabbage rolls stuffed with lamb are $8 and $7, respectively. A generous, indulgent dinner for two will cost about $30, including appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Those prices, combined with exceptionally good service from congenial men in kilts, is enough to leave anyone feeling a little lucky.
Irish Eyes Heavenly Pub, 3324 Secor Rd. (in the Home Depot Plaza). 419-531-2427. www.irisheyesheavenlypub.com. Open daily 11am-2am.
