BarPalaver: Molly's Shebeen

Ten years ago or so on a wet November afternoon mysterywriter, Dubliner, and I ducked into the Union Square Barnes & Noble to get out of the rain and ended up frittering away a good three hours browsing books. (That was a record even for us.)  Afterward we wandered up Broadway and came upon a film shoot across from the Flatiron Building.  We waited an inordinately long time in the cold drizzle for what ended up being a disappointing payoff:  watching Vince Vaughn get into a limo and drive off (a scene, evidently, in "Return to Paradise").  Never linger at a film shoot with high hopes.

Fortunately, our dejected, aimless wandering afterward took us eastward to Third Avenue, where we happened upon Molly's Shebeen.  We couldn't see in and were dubious, but were so cold and wet that we figured we'd go in for a pint while we warmed up and figured out our dinner plans. Once in, we never wanted to leave (and didn't, for hours).  We found ourselves in a cozy, authentic, neighborhood Irish pub, with a fireplace, perfectly drawn Guinness, good Shepherd's pie, and an assortment of locals both behind and in front of the bar (including one patron with a little dog on his lap).  We've gone back many times.  One evening mysterywriter had to get up early for work the next day.  Every time the server came by and asked if we wanted another round mysterywriter would say "none for me, thanks," and the server would say, in her lovely, lilting accent, "how about a half pint?"  I don't remember how many half pints mw had that night.

I'm thinking of Molly's not just because it's St. Patrick's Day, but because it was featured in a New York Times article yesterday on Irish pubs in New York (including the photo above):

It is a place to have a pint by the fire or, even better, to have a meal in the back under the glow of warm orange lighting from chandelierlike fixtures, and walls with dusty memorabilia that the warm orange lighting doesn’t quite allow you to make out. Shepherd’s pie, fish and chips, chicken pot pie, lamb stew are all served in a homey style that even the most non-Irish person in the world (say, a Bangladeshi farmer) would recognize as comfort food.

Comments

[mysterywriter]

I haven't been here in a few years--we should go the next time you're up. If any of your readers go, they should make sure to order the potato salad. No one knows potatoes like the Irish.

[NorthernOutlaw]

I haven't been there in years either. The food is good and it's a fairly authentic experience of a New York Irish bar (unlike the pub-in-a-box Thady Conn's or the such).

They can pull a good pint of Guinness.