Boruma - Irish by heritage, family by name

An oasis in the scorching Phoenix, Arizona desert is a rare sight. The locals love the heat and seem to prefer building strip malls to the nice indoor shopping malls you typically find in the cold weather. Discovering a good Irish pub is even more difficult with the Irish knowing which parts of the United States lack green hills. By my count, there is one (though I’m encouraging a second).

One of the considerations of paramount importance when evaluating the quality of an Irish pub is the interior architecture. Without evoking a historic pub of Ireland, you have nothing more than an “O’Bar” rather than a pub (or a “McBar” though I think McDonalds has that locked up for their new chain of establishments). An Irish pub is a warm, welcoming place where people socialize, sing, relax, tell stories, and gossip. A great experience, should you not be, yourself, from Ireland, is to discover there that the early Irish pubs usually operated by combining the pub with a grocery, hardware or other business. Many pubs in Ireland still resemble grocer’s shops, with the bar counter and rear shelving consuming majority of the space in the main bar area. That’s why those shelves line the walls in good Irish pubs found in the U.S!

But this isn’t about Irish pub history (we’ll do that later). Wisely, and not surprisingly, the founders of O’Donoghue’s Irish Restaurant & Pub modeled their concept after the historic pubs of Ireland. O’Donoghue’s Irish Restaurant & Pub is named after O’Donoghue’s Pub of Merrion Row in Dublin, Ireland. As it were, O’Donoghue’s (the one in Dublin) was a life-long stomping ground for the founding partners of O’Donoghue’s Irish Restaurant & Pub (the one in Phoenix). It was during a visit to this famous pub that they realized the need for a similar concept in their current hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz.

At O’Donoghue’s our focus is on great food, comfortable surrounding’s, warm hospitality and of course cold draught Guinness and other fine beers.

O’Donoghue’s Irish Restaurant & Pub frequently features great live music, positioning itself as a gathering place for locals. The restaurant is cozy with the appropriate flair adorning the walls. They not only designed the building with a company in Ireland but had them build all of the furniture and interiors ensuring true Irish ambiance instilled with hospitality, sociability and friendship.

You are going to find O’Donogue’s in Scottsdale at 20469 N. Hayden. You’ll also find that the staff is exceptional as must be the case. They chat, joke, and even debate if you’re up for it. Insider tip though, stay away from this guy on the left. He’s been known to open a bottle a whiskey if you aren’t enjoying yourself enough. On second thought, stay away from both if you know what’s good for you; there is a reason that photo is blurry.

They pour the mandatory labels: Guinness, Harp, Jameson, Bushmills and Bailey’s Irish Cream. The restaurant’s menu is equally exceptional and authentic with some familiar flavors mixed in.

Sign up for their newsletter to receive updates on events and specials. I left perhaps the most important question from the bulk of my post; rest assured, live music is decidedly Irish. Here’s their event calendar, though they keep it fairly simple:

• Happy Hour Monday through Friday
• Tuesday is Official Dart Day starting at 7:30 pm
• Live Music most Friday nights

Have a favorite in your town? Let us know

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