The Dublin Village Tavern. Dublin, OH

27 S High Street #16

Price for a Guinness: $6.00 | Overall Rating: 8.35

Well, we did it... we finally traveled to Dublin. Dublin, Ohio that is! An elegant city northwest of The Ohio State University's home of Columbus, OH. Dublin is home to a couple of nice golf courses, AJ Hawk's mansion, and of course; The Dublin Village Tavern. If I'm going to hang out in the Columbus area than it's either going to be here or the German Village. Columbus is one of my least favorite "big cities" out there (so far).

The parking is awful and convenient at the same time... you'll just have to figure out what that exactly means once you get here. As you approach the front door you are greeted with old French windows, a clean patio, and botanicals. You enter through a proper foyer which takes you to the center of the restaurant which gives you the option to go left or right into either of the 2 dining rooms, or, keep walking toward the bar. As you could assume... we plopped our potatoes on a barstool.

The bartender was a friendly one who gave a warm welcome. She apologized for the long wait before handing us a menu. Mind you, we waited about 15 seconds to be greeted by her. She gave us an average pour of Guinness in a 16oz glass. If you know anything about The Drunken Mallard by now, it's that we hate being served Guinness in a 16oz glass. I know it's America and that American's started the whole "16oz pint" crap, but we're not at Applebee's; we're at an Irish Pub damn it. Be authentic. Be traditional. I digress.

You will have a hard time picking out a Gin or Whiskey because there are so many great options to choose from. An A+ rating on the liquor supply.

As you sit at the bar you are engulfed with a cozy atmosphere which includes exposed brick, authentic wall decor, seasonal decorations, worthy furniture, warm light fixtures, nice ceiling tiles, and a few TVs. The other patrons at the bar were in good spirits and were willing to include us in their conversation which was nice (sometimes a dying trend in today's society, however, I'm trying to bring it back. Cell phones are to blame for the decline. Feck those things.)

Their food is splendid. They offer a steep $17 Shepherd's Pie, a good Reuben, and tasty looking Fish n' Chips. The people serving the food are polite, although it's safe to say that you probably shouldn't expect a brogue at any time when inside the Village Tavern. We're in midland Columbus; not too many Irishmen immigrated over here (no reason to). Cincinnati and Cleveland stole most of the Irish immigrants within this beautiful buckeye state.

At the end of the day, The Dublin Village Tavern provides a warm and cozy atmosphere that allows you to kill a few hours in good fashion. There's more Craic in here than in most American Irish Pubs and the place caters well to the middle/upper class. The bathrooms are nice and tidy and the place as a whole is clean and proper. A few grievances would be the 16oz pour of Guinness, an oddly cramped bar counter, no dart board, and the fact that nothing seems to stand out in the staff's hospitality. Every great Irish Pub should have its patrons leaving with a notable memory that doesn't focus on the food or drink but rather the conversation that was had with the staff.

Not to say that this is an incredibly "proper" Pub, but even some of the most proper Pubs can be home to a Steel Tip Dartboard (definitely not plastic, those machines are tacky). Sometimes people can confuse darts with lower class, but I can assure you that people from all backgrounds like to enjoy a game of darts from time to time. If you ask me, nothing beats a really proper dartboard set up with greenery and a polished setting. Why can't darts be classy? I'll answer that for you; they totally can.

The Village Tavern receives a rightful recommendation out of me. Slainte.

Slainte!