Former KC Irish Pub Proprietor Opens OK Irish Pub
The shocking thing about being in Ireland is the conversations you have with people. They might have an MBA, but they work on a dairy farm. They’re not trying to get anywhere; they’re just comfortable with who they are. Americans are always trying to get somewhere
Kansas City may remember Sean Cummings who opened his first Irish pub 20 years ago in his hometown of KCMO. Now he’s opening another Irish pub, but this time in Oklahoma City where he’s lived for many years.
I’ve been reading about this Irish pub for a while. Cummings had a reportedly very successful upscale steak and seafood restaurant for almost 9 years, but now he’s turning it into an Irish pub serving cheaper food. Or as I’d call it, a themed restaurant where you can buy a beer.
At his former restaurant the average price per diner was about $50 but at this new Irish pub Cummings has said that diners will generally be able to get a meal and a Guinness or 2 for less than $20.
Cummings has described the new Irish pub as very different to the Irish pub he opened in Kansas City. Admitting he’d never been to Ireland then, Sean says he made many mistakes as a result:
As soon as I went to Ireland and spent a bunch of time with my relatives, I realized pubs aren’t about drinking. It’s about eating, hanging out with your friends. You’ll see kids in there having a soda. It isn’t what movies make them out to be. Now, I’m trying to get that atmosphere of a real, authentic small-town setting where the food’s great, the drink’s great, the people are great.
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I don’t live in a small town, but I do live in Ireland, and I get around. The last half dozen times I’ve been to a pub here - all of them Irish pubs by any definition - only in one venue have I seen anybody eat a meal or any kids present. Unless they’re on their holidays (vacation) the people I know (and they mostly have kids) go to pubs to drink.
Along with the usual Irish food, Cummings has live Irish music planned for twice a week and a trad session on Sundays, which is a lot further than most Irish pubs tend to go on launch. Sean Cummings’ Irish Restaurant & Pub is due to open later this week - in the same location as his former restaurant Boca Boca, at 9610 N. May Avenue.
A small pub seating about 40, it will join other Irish pubs in the Oke City metro area, including James E. McNellies Public House in Oklahoma City’s Midtown and Dan McGuinness Pub in Moore.
The Oklahoman has the full story, and the pub itself has an official website.
More on Irish Pubs
• History of a Pub, an Irish Pub
• The Closing of Kansas City Irish Pubs
• Chicken McBride’s
• KC Public House
• J Murphy’s Pub & Grille
• Raglan Road: A New Irish Pub for Kansas City
• Downtown Paddy O’Quigley’s Closes Quietly
• McFadden’s Sports Saloon Launches KC’s Entertainment District
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