O'Flanagan's Irish Pub

O'Flanagan's Restaurant is a little piece of Ireland hiding out in New York City. Most of its staff has heavy Irish accents and it is family run. Located at 1215 1^st Avenue between 65^th and 66^th street, O'Flanagan's is a popular Irish pub with some American twists mixed in. Coming across this oddly empty restaurant on a Saturday night while on the senior class trip a couple weeks ago, I have to say I was very impressed.

At the time there was only what appeared to be a father and son duo and a few patrons at the bar, but as my roommate and I sat through dinner, the tables and bar stools filled in for the “disappointing” Yankee's game blaring on the three big screen televisions. We later found out that the bar/restaurant holds live music every Wednesday-Saturday night, which I wish we could have stayed for

Now I am not usually a big fan of pub-oriented food because of its grease factor, but once again, O'Flanagan's caught me by surprise. With menu items ranging from your typical soup and salad or burger and chicken fingers, to more Irish orientated favorites like Sheppard's pie, O'Flanagan's has a decent diverse selection of food that is reasonably priced. The average price for a large meal is between 13.95-15.95. The bill for two was only 36.00 dollars or so (plus tip of course) and I felt that was amazing considering we were in New York.

I have to say that they have the best fried shrimp and onion rings I have ever eaten. The onion rings appetizer was extremely large. The rings themselves were the size of baseballs, lightly breaded, and barely greasy. One could probably make a whole meal out the rings alone, but they are also good to share as a starter. I got the fried shrimp basket as my meal and it was extremely filling, there is no way I could have finished it. The shrimp had a light crispy beer battered coating with a tender inside. The grease was minimal and the pile of french fries seemed endless. Overall, if you are ever looking for a cheap, but classy place to eat with a little bit of culture, look no further than O'Flanagan's Irish Pub.