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| - An Irish pub in the ground floor of an office tower in Independence, Ohio? I know what you're thinking, there's no way that could be good. Well, my friend, you are right. It's not. Our visit, our second to a Mavis Winkles (our last was about 6 years ago at their Twinsburg location) and our first to this location (we were here last when it was a Cooker) was on a Thursday around 6pm.
The atmosphere, where to begin. There's really nothing authentic about Mavis Winkles. It's just another wannabe pseudo-Irish bar/restaurant that comes off more like a rundown Applebee's than a neighborhood pub. The menu calls it a "gastrohouse" whatever the hell that means and, aside from some tchotchke hanging on the walls I'm more Irish than this place. The crowd was your typical after work groupies, clad in office apparel, drinking and commiserating. Not a bad vibe. We were greeted by the hostess when we entered and seated in the bar area. Great, we thought, bars tend to have better service. We were wrong.
We sat at our table (loose bench padding included) and after about 10 minutes the bartender came over. That's when the excuses started flowing like a sermon from the mouth of a greasy televangelist. "I apologize for the wait", "Everything's a mess tonight", "I came in tonight to a disaster", "It's usually not like this" complete with rolling eyes and shaking head, as if this made what was about to happen somewhat excusable. She took our drink order and we put in our appetizer. It couldn't possibly get worse, right?
We finished our salad and waited. And waited. And waited. The bar was buzzing at this point and we could clearly overhear the frustration spreading to the surrounding tables. Our server/bartender had retreated behind the bar again and we sat, empty salad plate and empty drinks, for nearly 20 minutes. It would have been longer had my wife not literally stood up and flagged down a server as she was scurrying past. The bartender eventually returned, complete with more apologies and the promise of a comped salad and drinks.
Look, I'm not a complete asshole. I understand that shit happens, especially in the service industry. People quit, they call off, there are scheduling conflicts, I get it. I just don't want to hear about it and I certainly don't want my experience to suffer because of it. The manager is to blame here. I saw him behind the bar a few times but not once did he come over to any of the tables to take responsibility for the shitstorm swirling around him. Anyway, enough about the service. It was abhorrent. Enough said.
The menu here is all over the map. They call themselves an Irish pub, a gastrohouse (cough) and a family restaurant. They have the obligatory Shepherd's Pie (made incorrectly with beef and not lamb like just about everyone else does) and fish and chips but tossed into the mix are things like fish tacos, pierogi, and chicken marsala. Saying this place has an identity crisis is like saying that Miley Cyrus has daddy issues. If you order chicken paprikash from this place you deserve what you get. We decided to keep it simple, soup and sandwiches:
Pear & Asiago Salad - The highlight of the meal and 90% of it was probably out of a bag. Mixed greens, sliced pear, raw walnuts, craisins, and shaved asiago cheese. The ingredients were decent enough, but the berry balsamic dressing was terrible - cloyingly sweet and overwhelming. It was like someone had mixed Smucker's strawberry jelly with balsamic vinegar and dosed it with corn syrup. It's only saving grace was that it was served on the side.
Potato Soup - Pretty basic offering that was forgettable and bland. Chunks of potato in a cream-base. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that this wasn't made in-house that day. It also had a strange sweetness to it that was off-putting.
Mad Reuben (turkey style) - The best part of this sandwich was the turkey. It was actually quite flavorful with a hint of smoke. The rest, including the greasy rye bread, sauerkraut with no personality and barely melted Swiss cheese, was just OK. The side of cole slaw was bland, lacking dressing and heavy-handed with the carroway seeds.
Turkey Club - According to the menu the turkey is "herbed and roasted in house". I thought it was a bit on the dry side and the rubbery vein I had to pull out didn't help matters. I did like the tomato chutney and the horseradish mustard was a nice spin but I couldn't really taste the bacon. The bread and cheese suffered the same fate as the Reuben. The side of thick-cut fries were greasy and unevenly cooked.
I don't know what else to say other than this was the perfect storm - terrible service, a menu that all three faces of Eve could appreciate, cheesy theme and forgettable bar food. Yet another one-night stand, I'm afraid.
BTW, remember the promise of the comped salad and drinks? I did get a free beer but we still got charged for the salad. I should have said something but I didn't want to wait another 20 minutes.
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