Restaurant: Kildare’s Irish Pub, Columbus, Ohio
It was one of those risks you take when you try out a new restaurant. You either get what you expect…or more…or it just falls short of everything you hoped it would be.
Being the Columbus, Ohio traveling fools we are (because…an awesome friend lives there…so travel has to happen), my roomie and I have pretty much pillaged every pub up that way. Including ones just outside of Columbus or in neighboring areas. But, it took a trip to the Dublin Irish Festival in Dublin, Ohio to discover Kildare’s Irish Pub, located in Columbus, Ohio. How we overlooked this one I’ll never know…but it was an oversight we sought to correct.
To be honest, the original plan was to drive up to Medina, Ohio to dine at Sully’s (only the best Irish pub this side of the pond!), but after a late night at the Irish Festival the night before…none of us were really feeling energetic or spry enough for the drive there and back. So, to keep the Irish theme alive, we decided to head to Kildare’s Irish Pub instead. This way my roomie still got her fish and chips…I could figure out what I could have…and Jenn…well, I never know what Jenn will order. She’s a sneaky one.
Anyway…finding Kildare’s wasn’t easy. In fact…we drove past it, despite having directions. The image on the internet showed a big red pub, reminiscent of Dublin Ireland’s very own Temple Bar. What we didn’t realize was that the side of the pub was painted red and the wall facing the road…was blue. But, we got there eventually, parked the car, and headed in.
In true pub fashion, you seat yourself. We opted for a table near the back, where we could get a good look at everything. Soon after settling in, the waitress came over to greet us, tell us a little about the pub, and see what we would like to drink. Of important note with Kildare’s…98% of the decor is from Ireland. Seriously. We played a game where we tried to decide what 2% wasn’t. Hey…you do these things while waiting on food. When the waitress returned with drinks (water for me and Magners for my friends), she asked if we had any questions. I told her I was a tricky one in that I was a gluten-free vegetarian…so I might need some menu guidance.
She told me that Kildare’s does fantastic with vegetarian…but not so much with gluten-free. Hey…she was honest! Anyway…with that in mind, she directed me toward the salad section. She even suggested the Kildare’s Salad, which would be safe…as long as I got it without croutons/flatbread. So…that’s what I got. The Kildare’s Salad with a safe balsamic vinaigrette ($5.99). My roommate, of course, ordered the fish and chips ($14.99) and Jenn went completely outside the box(ty)…and got the Philly Cheesesteak Boxty ($11.99). As everything is made fresh at Kildare’s…we settled in to watch some Olympics on the televisions and chat about anything and everything…as we often do.
When food arrived…I was actually surprised at the serving sizes. As my salad was only $5.99, I got a huge containing chopped Iceberg & Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions and julienne carrots. The dressing was kept to the side so I could add it myself (thank you!). It was a lot bigger than I imagined…but it looked fresh and delicious. And it was…but there was nothing that really set this salad apart from one that I could make at home. In fact…those are the usual suspects in a salad I make at home (minus the lettuce…as I’m a spinach girl). So…yeah…not so hugely impressed with the salad, but it was fresh, crisp, and edible. Nothing wrong with it…but…nothing that set it apart either.
My roommate got one plank of fish, which was slightly overdone on the tips. With it…a good serving of fries. Now, I’ve seen platters of fish and chips much larger than this one for the same price, but…it was actually in human portion sizes, so who is to complain about that, right? And as for Jenn’s Philly Cheesesteak Boxty (thin sliced roast beef, American cheese, and onions rolled in an Irish Potato Pancake then drizzled with Cheese Whiz)…well, my roommate tried a bite and said she liked it better than the fish and chips. So…there you have it. But this gluten-free vegetarian was pretty much…limited to salad.
But I’m used to that.
Overall, we decided that the food wasn’t bad…it just didn’t really blow us away. I love that in theory they try to keep things authentically Irish, giving a few meals an American twist (for those people who can’t step outside their food comfort zones). However, none of us walked out of there raving about what to have the next time we happened to be in town. In fact, we had already come up with the restaurant we want to eat at next time.
Good or bad…the staff is friendly, the atmosphere is straight out of Ireland, but the food…well…it was a bit of a letdown.
The Celiathlete 
I’m a menu-ninja. I would have the PCBoxty again…and hey, at least we know of a place that definitely has Magner’s on tap! =)