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Friday, Nov. 28, 2008

If you’re craving Irish comfort, seek out Rí Rá

This column offers a sampling of dining experiences in the area. It is not intended as a review of the restaurant other than to provide the reader with one diner's experience. This week's restaurant is Rí Rá.

Rí Rá Irish Pub

Location: 208 N. Tryon St., Charlotte

Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight Mondays and Tuesdays, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays

Phone: 704-333-5554

Web site: rira.com

Ambiance: Full-fledged Irish pub

If you’re heading to uptown Charlotte to hear the sounds of Celtic legends The Boys of the Lough on Thursday night, why not start the night or top it off with a stop at Rí Rá Irish Pub on North Tryon Street, not far from the McGlohon Theater.

I think any time is a good time for trying to feel a bit of the Irish luck.

In uptown Charlotte, 11-year-old Rí Rá Irish Pub has become well known for its “real flavour of Ireland” with pints of thick Guinness stout (poured the correct way, slowly), food that has won accolades as one of the best places to eat in uptown, and decor and atmosphere that make you feel as though you stepped across the Atlantic to reach the Emerald Isle itself.

After a matinee show in uptown, my friend and I headed to Rí Rá. The bright, colored front window with double doors on the two-story brick building would be hard to miss. Entering the foyer, there’s no doubt you’ve entered an Irish pub from the signs and posters for Guinness and Jameson Whiskey, T-shirts with Irish themes, and a peek into the bar room with a bar stretching nearly the length of the room, plenty of tables and chairs wrapped around a welcoming stone fireplace. In fact, according to the Web site, Rí Rá pubs (there are eight) are unique in that they are all built from actual old pubs in Ireland. In Charlotte, the Victorian bar was built in the early 1800s as the officer’s mess in the Phoenix Park Barracks in Dublin. It’s a darker room with a cozy atmosphere. It’s a place that makes me feel like I want to be if it’s cold and rainy outside.

It was a busy afternoon, and our wait was less than 30 minutes. We were taken upstairs (there’s an elevator, too, if needed) to the nonsmoking (at least until 10 p.m.) dining and party room — a large, open room with rich, wood panel walls, high, nearly-matching brown leather booth seats lining each end wall, black and white photos of Irish folks, wood flooring, another bar, and even a small curtained stage. Just to the left is a door that leads to an outside terrace and a view of the courtyard near the Mint Museum Shop.

Rí Rá is the kind of place you go to relax and soak it all in. Despite the large space of the dining area, our conversation across the table was easily audible. Next to us, a family with two children were playing learning games while they ate.

The menu runs the gamut of usual bar food to, naturally, Irish staples. We started with the scrumptious spinach dip served with toasted baguettes ($8.95). Naturally, I ordered a pint of Guinness. It was served cool, not cold, but not room temperature either.

While my friend couldn’t pass up the bleu cheese burger with mushrooms ($9.59), I had to try one of their traditional Irish dishes — shepherds pie ($11.95). It was a hard decision between the six items listed under the Traditional Pub Fare including breakfast, beef ’n Guinness stew, corned beef and cabbage.

But I made the right one today. Digging into the mashed potato crust to get to the tasty minced beef, carrots, peas and onions, I thought about the simple genius of putting potatoes on top of the meal instead of on the side to keep the meal warm, and how such a simple, comfort meal also is so filling. Needless to say, between the stout and pie, I was filled to the gills.

However, since after most shows in Charlotte, typically at night, my friend and I have searched high and low for a place that serves bread pudding, we had to order a taste. Now we know where to come after an uptown show for bread pudding and a coffee, maybe with a drop of Bailey’s, too.

Rí Rá also offers live music and nightly pub events, brunch specials and private party facilities (the upstairs where we sat). It’s a place that with so many photos, signs to look and being built on so much history, stirs conversation and lends to a good time. Sláinte!