614/885-0100
Claddagh
Irish Pub also has a location in the Brewery District (585 S. Front Street , Columbus ,
OH 43215 )
as well as 13 throughout the Midwest . Whereas I typically do not review chain
restaurants, I am exercising my editorial license to do so in this case.
Lori
and I visited this Polaris location back in mid-October. After standing at the host stand for too long
and not being seated, I stepped further into the restaurant looking for someone
to seat us. I was considering whether I
should walk back in to the kitchen to get someone’s attention when a rather
harried staffer came to seat us as well as the other patrons who had arrived
after us and began forming a short line.
Also, as we were eating, it was difficult to ignore the fact that one of
the TVs positioned in our direction was showing an infomercial! Nothing more compelling to show? I was tempted to write a critical
review, but I exercised some restraint and used my “I don’t review chain
restaurants” rule as a justification.
Flash
forward a couple of months… I needed to
identify a place to have dinner that was between my home in Powell and my
friend Ed’s home in Westerville . I decided to give Claddagh another try.
This
visit was much better. I was seated promptly
and Ed arrived shortly thereafter and was shown to our table. Turns out, we were seated next to what seemed
to be a semi-private dining space that was occupied by a number of painters who
had easels set up at their tables. We
learned that this was a Wine and Canvas (http://www.wineandcanvas.com)
event that is held frequently at Claddagh.
Looks like it might be a fun evening for $35.
Since
this visit was on a Tuesday evening, the special was $3 drafts all day. How could I visit an Irish pub and not have a
Harp (or three)?
I
chose the Egg BLT ($7.99) for my entrée.
As the name suggests, the sandwich consists of bacon, lettuce, tomato
and a fried egg on toasted sourdough bread with a mustard mayo and served with pub
chips, also known as steak fries or potato wedges.