Kirby's Irish Pub

A few years back, a bar opened on Kempton Street, a few blocks east of Rockdale Avenue. It was called the Irish Immigrant, and it was quite popular with college kids, firefighters, police, lawyers, and politicians. Darts and occasional quasi-Irish folk music were the entertainment. The beer selection was predictable. And the environs were dingy, with bathrooms bordering on unsanitary and about to cave through to the basement. And in the day's prior to the law against smoking in bars, it was one of the smokiest places in the city.

Flash ahead to the present: the Irish Immigrant is no more. In its' place is now a family-run establishment called Kirby's Irish Pub. And it is a vast improvement ...now smoke-free, freshly painted, and handsome in a publy way, with renovated bathrooms, Kirby's is still popular with college kids, firefighters, police, lawyers, and politicians.

On the night of the Barflies' visit, it was relatively quiet, until a pack of "suits" arrived, as if a busload of attorneys just arrived to stake a claim. And they looked and acted like regulars. The draft selection at Kirby's is better than most and Mr. Draft enjoyed a seasonal ale, and the vast majority of the others sipped on draft beers as well...save for Mr. Mix, who drank some awful cocktail that looked and tasted like a junior high chemistry experiment.

Kirby's is a comfortable neighborhood pub, with some pleasant diversions and distractions, an adequate bar staff, and a pleasant-enough ambiance that is far, far better (and less odorous) than its' predecessor. But it feels a bit too generic...and somehow, someway, Mr. Draft wished it felt a bit more unique. Kirby's rates a 7...and it could be an 8, if something juiced it up a bit.

Roll Call: Mr. Draft, Mr. Mix, Mr. Merlot, Mr. Cork, Mr. 3BOES, Mr. Whiskey, Mr. Brew-haha, Mr. Moonshine