Yes, I’m almost finished with our Impressions of Restaurants from our Michigan summer vacation. Lucky for you, I’ve only been taking one day per week to subject you to them!
Speaking of luck…
We found an Irish Pub in Gladwin! I can’t quite remember how we found it. Maybe we drove by. Maybe we read about it in local brochure. Or maybe it was just a suggestion my in-laws gave us. In any case, the four of us piled into a van after deciding to go out for lunch one hot summer afternoon in July.
Rob and I thought that this was new, but apparently it has been open since 2007. And we’ve been missing out!
Located about six miles east of downtown Gladwin, O’Sullivan’s Pub is another one of those Michigan restaurants where I’ve yet to find the menu online. I think I’ve learned my lesson: Take photos of the menus in Gladwin on our next visit, not only at this establishment, but also here and here! The menu at O’Sullivan’s was quite extensive for a little pub. There was so much we wanted to try!
As every Irish Pub should have, there is Guinness on tap. That’s tough to come by in these parts. There was no cider, which is a fave of ours when visiting Irish Pubs throughout the world. However, we were quite surprised by both their tap and bottled beer selection. Our server told us that they are striving for a focus on local beers. YES! When in Michigan… Right?
One particular beer on tap that we savored was:
Dark Horse Brewing Company is out of Marshall, Michigan, and I salivate over their Crooked Tree IPA. It’s a go-to beer of mine if it’s ever on tap. In fact, a restaurant-bar in our neighborhood no longer carries it. Thus, we no longer frequent that watering hole! So Dark Horse’s Raspberry Ale was a fine choice! However, I’ve had a few just plain bad raspberry ales in my day; so it was still a gamble.
It was perfect!
Can that be said about a beer? This beer was fruity without being overly sweet. It still had an ale flavor, too. Overall, I’d call it well-balanced. I may have had a second pint… at lunchtime. And I may have had a nap that afternoon, too. 😉
We ordered an appetizer for the table:
Reuben Sliders
This was some of the best corned beef I’ve had in a very long time! It was agreed at the table that these could be ordered as a satisfying meal all by themselves.
Three of us ordered the fish and chips. Can you guess who didn’t? 😉
I think that those of us who did had a choice of coleslaw or cottage cheese. Always needing a little extra protein in my diet, I went with the cottage cheese:
Uh, no description needed, right?
I thought it was a little strange that the cottage cheese came out first instead of on the side. Maybe they knew our food would take a little longer? I didn’t mind at all, though!
Fish and Chips
The fish and chips were okay – a little too greasy for my taste. But I was getting full anyway. It’s a little difficult for me to enjoy fish and chips to the fullest now that I’ve had them at The Anchor Fish & Chips. I will have to really pay attention to the fish and chips while in Ireland this fall to see how everything stacks up. My friend Jen and I ate them extensively while traveling in England and Ireland while on a backpacking trip through Europe after college. We didn’t have any complaints! Well, not until later in the trip when we were craving real vegetables.
Rob ordered:
Reuben Pizza
Ha! Good thing we ordered the Reuben sliders as an appetizer!
He really did enjoy this pizza! It was huge and the leftovers did not go to waste. However, Roasted Pear’s Reuben Pizza is still his favorite. {I have yet to write about that!} I asked him if he’d get the O’Sullivan’s Reuben Pizza again and he said that he probably wouldn’t; but only because there are so many other things on the menu he’d like to try.
The décor of this restaurant includes walls lined with Irish collectibles for that authentic pub vibe. However, some of the chairs don’t quite seem to fit. They look like they once belonged to Buffalo Wild Wings, with that hole carved in the back in the shape of a buffalo.
Upon entering the building, it smelled a little funky, kind of like a dirty dishrag. While that sounds like a complete turnoff, we only noticed it when we walked in, not while dining. I surely hope that it doesn’t smell that way everyday or they may be turning away customers with that first impression!
Finally, the women’s bathroom was just strange to me. It was just the one-person restroom, not the kind with stalls. It was very narrow, but had two toilets! I guess, ladies, if you are out at the pub drinking with friends, this is just plain efficient. 😉
But despite those little details, the corned beef and beer list alone make O’Sullivan’s Pub one little dive bar and restaurant where we’ll be back when we return to Michigan.
What’s your favorite dive bar and why do you love it?
Cheers~
Carrie
