Although I give the group of friends I was with Saturday night 5 enthusiastic stars, I have to say this was a very disappointing bar experience. Upon walking in, I immediately felt like the space looked exactly like every other brand new Irish pub - you know the ones pretending to look weathered and old ... and they all end up freakishly looking the same? This place is an exact replica of D'Arcy McGee's at Tempe Marketplace. Which isn't too bad, if you like the pre-packaged, generic Irish pub feel.
I ordered my usual favorite bevvy that I order at every fine Irish establishment - a Snakebite (basic term for a mixture of beer and hard cider) and I said "with Guinness." The bartender looks at me and snaps "that's called a black velvet - NOT a Snakebite" ... which, I did look up later, and in fact a black velvet was created in London, England, and a traditional Irish Snakebite is made with Guinness - I know this argument is neither here nor there but he was really quite rude about it!
Anyway, the band that was playing reminded me of a cross between Irish music and Kenny Loggins... so we decided to go to our first love.. Rula Bula. I did confess to the bartender at Rula Bula that I did in fact cheat on them "a little bit" ... but they said that after a little bit of counseling our relationship should be back to normal in no time. It was like I played "just the tip" (look up Old School if you don't know what I am talking about) and I definitely did not like how it feels.