McCracken's Irish Pub. Leesburg, Florida

719 West Main Street

Guinness Tag: $6.00 | Overall Rating: 7.00

Today's Dedicated Pint: C.A. Dempsey & Gabe Lang

Leesburg, Florida is a rapidly growing city that sits just outside of Orlando. It's encircled by lakes Harris, Griffin, and Denham and it hosts the world's largest 3-day motorcycle & music event, "Bikefest." It has a tiny downtown area with nice shops as well as an annual Watermelon Festival. It's also home to the "seaside inspired" Irish Pub known to the locals as McCracken's. McCracken's is one of the closest Pubs to The Villages, Florida and it unequivocally delivers on a delicious deal of delicate dishes for any dining diner demanding nourishment. (Don't even think about judging my choice of wordplay there)

Unfortunately, it wasn't named after one of my favorite movie villains of all time, Ernie McCracken, a bowler played by Bill Murray. The name, McCracken, comes from county Tyrone, Ireland as well as a few parts out of Scotland. The Pub has only been around for a few years, but it's noticeably gaining more and more regulars by the month. It offers an inviting curb appeal alongside a small patio and a large parking lot. You're greeted by Kraken tentacles and nicely exposed brick upon entry. When you walk in, you'll notice a dining room to your left, and the bar area to your right. Despite being relatively new, it's definitely lacking on some wall hangings/decor/tchotchkes around the booths and dining tables. After stepping foot inside so many good (and bad) Irish Pubs over the years, I can't help but compare each one to the rest of them. The better Pubs are always the ones who fill their wall space with literally anything to keep patrons from staring at a boring slab of painted drywall. When you have a lot of exposed wall space, it gives off the feeling that the place isn't quite finished yet. Is it the end of the world? Of course not. Small potatoes to many, but it's stuff like that which often bakes my potato to a crisp.

I typically don't order food everywhere I go unless the place is highly known for a specific dish. I like to say that you don't need food in order to be a good Pub, although it certainly doesn't hurt if you do. We indulged on corned beef sliders and Shepherd's fries. Both of which were delightful. I think we stole a couple of barstools from a few of the regulars here, but they were nice about it. You have to appreciate the place when it's evident the Pub has its group of frequenters that sit in the same spot. Nothing beats a neighborhood Pub where you know who'll be there on what day and at what time talking about roughly the same thing each visit. Without that, then you're just a public bench without any tradition, character, or allure.

Our bartender was a friendly lady who gave me a few stickers, which was nice of her, which are now being displayed in The Drunken Mallard itself. The branding here is fantastic. I love the logo and all of the tentacles in random places.

They pour Guinness the right way and offer Smithwick's as well as a few impressive Irish-inspired cocktails. As you sit at the bar and place your noggin on a swivel, you will notice some fine ceiling tiles, a healthy amount of natural sunlight, comfortable barstools, and a nicely crafted countertop with a heavy dose of lacquer. I think this place would look great with some live greenery in here. A sunny afternoon at McCracken's, surrounded by greenery with some soft live music and a sipper of Paddy's? Yes, please.

There's a small shuffleboard table, plastic dart boards, and a dainty lounge area in the back as you head toward the toiletries. The bathrooms could use a little work. They feel like a workplace bathroom inside a cruddy warehouse. Most Irish Pubs have small, unappealing toiletries (maybe not the proper ones), but this one hits differently. It's too bright.

I'm confident that McCracken's will continue to get better as time goes on. The place will naturally grow patina and tradition, and I'd like to imagine the owners will slowly accumulate some fun wall decor. I'll happily admit that I love the little lounge area in between the bar and dart boards, it has a lot of charm. The Pub has some really great touches to it. Aside of a few cosmetics, it's a fun Pub and I'm sure the Craic comes alive when the place fills up with the afterwork crowd.

It seems like the further south you go, the harder it is to find a good Irish Pub. I know they exist (especially in New Orleans), but it's pretty easy to understand why you might find a lot better Pubs the closer you travel toward New England. I'm not saying McCracken's isn't a good Irish Pub, it is, but when you compare it to the best of them, it's just not in the same ballpark. I'm pretty confident I'll sip on another Guinness here before I die, and I look forward to the revisit!

Thanks, McCracken's. I hope you continue to pour pints for generations to come. Slainte!

The pillows have the tentacles. Attention to detail =)

Yikes.