Finding a bar that fits your taste and atmosphere preferences, with friendly bartenders who care you are there, is not always the easiest thing. It is, however, as significant as finding the right hair salon and stylist. (Ladies, you know what I mean.)
Although I enjoy a night of debauchery out at the clubs as much as the next twenty-something, as a person who lives in the land of couples a more low key scene is what I look for on the average weekend. After a long week at work, when it's just me and my guy, I like nothing more than a chill atmosphere, an attentive bartender and enough room to find a seat.
Because of this that my boyfriend and I routinely find ourselves sitting on barstools at Peggy O’Niell’s Irish Pub on West Hillsborough on Friday nights. And there are many reasons why we choose to spend our hard-earned dollars there more frequently than anywhere else.
The first reason is the drinks. Peggy’s has a full bar, but my lips rarely move from my poison of choice – vodka – and Peggy’s has plenty of it. One Wednesday evening, which is “$5 you call it shots” night, I had quite an enjoyable time with a can of Red Bull and Three Olive’s bubble-gum flavored vodka.
Besides $5 shots on hump day, Peggy O’Niell’s has happy hour from 11 a.m to 7 p.m. daily and other drink specials are “All day Sports Sundays,” with $10 Buckets of either Budweiser, Bud Lt., Miller Lt. or Coors Lt. and $12. Domestic Draft Pitchers and 10 Wings Combo; “Mondays for Men,” with $5 domestic drafts, $5 Jager bombs and 50 cent wings; “Two-for-One Tuesdays,” with two-for-one apps., well drinks, house wines and $1 drafts all day and “Ladies Night” on Thursdays when ladies drink wells, domestic drafts and house wines for a $1.
The second reason we are always at Peggy’s is the food. The place has some great homemade Mac ‘n Cheese as well as other comfort food classics like meatloaf, chicken pot pie and pot roast. I have been stuck on the wings lately though – and the sandwiches are good to. And, since the portions are huge, my leftovers are always a perfect night cap after a few cocktails.
This article appears in Jan 20-26, 2010.