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| - Anyone who has read my reviews knows that I'm no stranger to an Irish pub. In fact, I'm a regular pub snob, as my husband is 100% born and raised in Ireland, and I've spent a good amount of my time in pubs. Some good, some bad, some mediocre. And I know it's a chain, but I LOVE this Ri Ra.
After a stressful week spent in meetings, the minute I got to Vegas all I wanted to do was unwind. My coworker knows I love a good pub, and was familiar with Ri Ra, so she suggested we go get a drink. I could still hug her for that! When I stepped in, Ri Ra felt like home. Irish staff and bartenders, dim lighting, lots of dark wood, and an all around great atmosphere. There's even a statue of St. Patrick holding a pint! Love it. (Oh, and this pub is HUGE, btw - if you don't like the area you're sitting in, go exploring into another room, and you're bound to find a space that makes you happy.)
So, we sat at the bar, I knocked back a couple of Jameson & Diet Cokes (not too overly expensive for Vegas, either), and we shared the curry chips, which were excellent. A huge portion (for a good price), and I don't know what they did with the curry, but I loved it, and I'm not normally a fan of curry. As my husband was due to arrive into Vegas later that night, I immediately made plans to bring him back in for drinks and dinner.
Flash forward a few hours, and he and I are sitting in the snug, dining on some awesome food (get the salmon...mmmm.) and listening to a decent "Irish" band. (They didn't just play trad Irish, but also threw a bit of everything in, from classic rock and beyond). We moved to the bar after dinner, and my husband strikes up a conversation with the bartender, who is (of course!) from my husband's home town.
This experience pretty much laid the foundation for our weekend in Vegas, as I think we managed to come back to Ri Ra at least 3 more times over the weekend, and each time was a lot of fun - full or empty, music or no music.
I already can't wait for my next trip back to Vegas in October, as I'll definitely be a repeat customer at Ri Ra. Just save me a seat at the bar, and have a menu and a Jameson ready for me.
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