2200 North Limestone Street
Guinness Tag: $6.50 | Overall Rating: 8.10
If you're ever driving through Ohio and stumble across Springfield then you might not think that there's a worthy Irish Pub sitting around. The streets are filled with some buildings that make you say "eek" and the demographics seem to be a bit all over the place. Believe it or not, Springfield once produced the most roses out of any city in the country back in the day, giving it a nickname of "The City of Roses". We always thought it was just the hometown of Homer Simpson.
O'Conner's originally opened up down the street in a smaller venue. After forming a good reputation and packing the place out every week they moved into the current building where their beautiful patio exists to this day. The patio is about the first thing you see when you pull into the parking lot and it does not disappoint. Aside from the nice greenery, the patio bar itself is everything you could want out of an Irish Pub's patio. High top tables, low top tables, a couple of TVs, ash trays, a full bar with Guinness and Paddy's, that hook/ring on a string game, music, and a little bit of craic gets your afternoon starting out just right.
By this time we still haven't even made it through the front door! You can tell that somebody put in a lot of thought in regards to their architecture and furniture. There's plenty of craftmanship going on throughout the building and the wall decor will keep a gazer busy for quite some time.
The bar itself is beautifully crafted and it holds a good 20 or so people. They have all of the classics on tap and their whiskey/bourbon selection is above average. They pour an average pint of Guinness and they offer a friendly smile upon the delivery. The service here gets the job done plus a little extra. O'Conner's surely puts any bad feedback to the Springfield name to rest when you're sitting under this roof.
The light fixtures throughout the place are worth pointing out; whoever chose those has good taste. The bathrooms are clean and tidy, but they do give you a weird commercial restaurant feel. Well, they actually have two separate bathrooms; one of them is much more proper than the other one. They have a jukebox for the music lovers, plastic darts and pool in the back, and plenty of spaces for larger/private gatherings. You'll find intimate booths in the middle of the restaurant and a Keno machine for all of you degenerates.
Sometimes when you'll find a gem in a place you'd least expect. Is O'Conner's worthy to be called a gem? Not really, no. However, it vastly exceeds expectations when you consider it's location. They'll whip up friendly hospitality, they'll pour you a cold pint of Guinness with an average head, and it appears that the food will satisfy any of your cravings. I don't recommend you visit Springfield, Ohio, but I do recommend that you visit O'Conner's (so how will you get there...? That's the million dollar question).
Slainte
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