& LetsGoDU Collaboration.
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Restaurant Review: Blarney Pub & Grill **** (out of 5).
In our continuing quest to lure readers from the Twin Cities, we begin the first in a series of restaurant reviews in WCHA cities.
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(Left) Copper bar tops, a spacious fireplace and several large leather couches adorn the interior of The Blarney Pub and Grill.
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DINKYTOWN, MN. - In 1981 as "young" 19-year-old students at St. Thomas University (who due to spending so much time in bars must not have gotten into Minnesota), Mike Mulrooney and Kevin O’Connor sat in Plums Bar and Grill on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul, they wondered what it would take to open an Irish pub for students. Only one problem with their business model, the drinking age was raised to 21. Twenty-three years, an undercover KMSP Fox 9 News expose and God only knows what else later, they are still wondering, but now as owners of the World-Famous Blarney Irish Pub on 14th Street in Dinkytown.
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“It’s like that Robert Frost poem,” Mulrooney said. “I think I took a path that was littered with empty beer bottles.”
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Blarney opened its doors to the public on Aug. 6, 2004 after taking over the space in February, replacing Dubs Pub and CD Warehouse. The reconstruction lasted until just days before opening, and owners are still honing some minor details, like where to stash the underage drinkers if the cops arrive."
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To create Blarney Pub, they knocked down a wall that separated the previous tenants and installed a false wall for the hockey players to discreetly enter.
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DINKYTOWN, MN. - In 1981 as "young" 19-year-old students at St. Thomas University (who due to spending so much time in bars must not have gotten into Minnesota), Mike Mulrooney and Kevin O’Connor sat in Plums Bar and Grill on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul, they wondered what it would take to open an Irish pub for students. Only one problem with their business model, the drinking age was raised to 21. Twenty-three years, an undercover KMSP Fox 9 News expose and God only knows what else later, they are still wondering, but now as owners of the World-Famous Blarney Irish Pub on 14th Street in Dinkytown.
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“It’s like that Robert Frost poem,” Mulrooney said. “I think I took a path that was littered with empty beer bottles.”
.
Blarney opened its doors to the public on Aug. 6, 2004 after taking over the space in February, replacing Dubs Pub and CD Warehouse. The reconstruction lasted until just days before opening, and owners are still honing some minor details, like where to stash the underage drinkers if the cops arrive."
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To create Blarney Pub, they knocked down a wall that separated the previous tenants and installed a false wall for the hockey players to discreetly enter..
(Left) Bartender Dave Buye, 24, pours a drink called a “Kessell Penalty Shot.".
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“Every hockey player who has come in here so far has said ‘Wow, this place looks great,’ ” server Kirsten Matuzak said.
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“Every hockey player who has come in here so far has said ‘Wow, this place looks great,’ ” server Kirsten Matuzak said.
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Mulrooney, 42, said time was also an element not entirely on the owner’s side. Most of the construction and interior was done without a general contractor, he said. Though it took longer than expected, he said they saved a lot of money by skirting local council rules & building ordinaces.
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The owners wanted to create a place where hockey players can have a great time at night. Mulrooney said they also envisioned a place where the Fox 9 Investigative News Team can have a meal in a clean and comfortable atmosphere with good lighting for their hidden cameras.
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Dave Heldt, day manager at the pub, said he was surprised at how smoothly things had been going since they opened. “But it’s a good thing we got going before the hockey team came back,” Heldt said. “Otherwise, I think we would have been in deep trouble with Coach Lucia.”
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Dave Heldt, day manager at the pub, said he was surprised at how smoothly things had been going since they opened. “But it’s a good thing we got going before the hockey team came back,” Heldt said. “Otherwise, I think we would have been in deep trouble with Coach Lucia.”
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Staff and management agreed that the opening weekend gave them the opportunity to work out kinks in the system before they were slammed by hockey players, hoochies & students.
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“We’re still figuring out procedures; working on some "bugs," like checking ID's and charging cover charges,” Heldt said.
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A copper-plated bar top and leather couches are among some features, but Matuzak said her favorite thing is the jukebox that downloads free songs that they steal from the Internet, allowing players to come in and load up their Ipods before road trips.
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Mulrooney said he isn’t the type to rest on his heels, even if Blarney should prove to be as successful as he and O’Connor hope it will be. “Things are going great so far,” he said. “Once we see how we end up we can think about opening a Blarney Pub in every WCHA city. Right now, we’re working on right now.”
Staff and management agreed that the opening weekend gave them the opportunity to work out kinks in the system before they were slammed by hockey players, hoochies & students.
.
“We’re still figuring out procedures; working on some "bugs," like checking ID's and charging cover charges,” Heldt said.
.
A copper-plated bar top and leather couches are among some features, but Matuzak said her favorite thing is the jukebox that downloads free songs that they steal from the Internet, allowing players to come in and load up their Ipods before road trips.
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Mulrooney said he isn’t the type to rest on his heels, even if Blarney should prove to be as successful as he and O’Connor hope it will be. “Things are going great so far,” he said. “Once we see how we end up we can think about opening a Blarney Pub in every WCHA city. Right now, we’re working on right now.”
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