My husband says we came here together years ago, but I don't remember lol so I'm just going to say…read moreit's been over a decade since I've been (that I DO remember). It's located in a really little strip mall that used to have a Becker's at the end of it.
I had a couple of friends staying in the area, one who was home for a visit from England, and we wanted to have lunch somewhere low-key and cheap, so we chose little hole-in-the-wall O'Grady's. We all used to live in the area as kids, so it was cool for us all to be back in old 'hood.
We totally forgot it was St. Patty's Day. HA! New mom brain for two of us. Oops! I was a little nervous that an Irish bar on St. Patty's wouldn't be so low-key after all, especially since I hadn't dined in anywhere since August (WOW), and truthfully I was a bit nervous that it was going to be packed. I waited for my friends in the car for a bit, as it looked like there were people going in and out with what looked like music equipment and I didn't want to crowd the entrance.
My friends were late, so I decided to go in thinking I should grab a table, but there were a bunch free. It was also as dark in there as I remember haha. But it was such an amazing day out, sunny and about 10 degrees in mid-March, so when my friends got there, we took advantage of the small patio they have outside in front of the pub. It wasn't exactly scenic with the snowbank and kind of in the parking lot, but we gladly got some sun and warmth, no coats needed!
We each ordered a pint of Guinness while we waited decided what to order. There was only a limited St. Patty's menu available. I'm not a big fan of barbecue sauce on burgers, but I got the special Guinness BBQ burger and wings for the table.
The burger had an 8oz beef patty, cheddar cheese, bacon, sauteed onions, and Guinness barbecue sauce on a brioche bun, and I upgraded for an extra $3 to a side Caesar salad. The salad was good, not too saucy with crisp bacon, but it was quite small and I'm not sure it was worth the extra charge. The burger was super filling, but had too much sauce for my liking. I'm a slower eater, so it started getting soggy and I ended up just eating the fillings near the end lol. I did appreciate that the lettuce, big tomato slice, and raw red onions came on the side. I read some reviews online that the burger wasn't done enough, which I actually like (I like a mid-rare burger but I know places don't usually do this), but it was definitely cooked inside and not pink at all. Still moist enough, though, and not dry.
I got Cajun seasoning (dry) on the wings, with a side of afterburn and sweet and hot sauce. There were no modifications allowed this day, but the sauces were an additional 50 cents rather than a mod. Our server seemed a bit stressed when I ordered it, saying she wasn't able to put in the sauces, so I told her not to worry about it if it was too much trouble, but she found a way to enter them into their system. The wings were a nice size and portion, great breading, and fried perfectly, nice and crispy, even after I had my burger first. The Cajun seasoning made them a little saltier than I'd like, but that's okay, good flavour. The sweet and hot sauce was darker, kind of like a sweet and spicy barbecue. Their house-made afterburn hot sauce, which you can buy bottled, was tomato-based and pretty spicy, so I only dipped a bit, and wouldn't recommend getting your wings tossed in them unless you're really good with spicy food.
They have much better food here than I'm used to at your average local pub. Our server had a bunch of tables, but she was still very sweet and friendly, and we didn't notice a lag in service. We enjoyed our time and I much prefer this little pub over some of the others in the neighbourhood!
