Hennessy’s Irish Pub
885 Jefferson StreetIt’s usually a pretty good night when I get assigned to the work with the Co-Worker who is aware that I write this blog. She knows I like seeking out new restaurants, so we do our best to carve out time for some sort of dinner….which is a rarity in the business we work in.
This past week brought us to Muskegon. We had a couple hours between our assignments and actually had time to sit down and enjoy a good meal. Unfortunately, neither of us are really familiar with the restaurants in Muskegon and we needed to stay close to downtown, so I turned to Urbanspoon to help us out.
It wasn’t the first restaurant on the list, but it met our criteria of being close to downtown and having a large enough menu we could both find something to eat….the choice? Hennessy’s Irish Pub.
I’ve seen billboards around town for Hennessy’s, so I assumed it had to be pretty popular. The small Irish Pub sits on the north side of downtown Muskegon on Jefferson Street just off Seaway Drive. The building looks a little out of place with the updated facade in the style of a traditional Irish pub.
We walked in to find a hostess station right at the front door. The dining room is rather open with several tables spread around the large bar and a handfull of booths with high privacy backs along the wall.
We were offered the choice of either a booth or a table along the outside wall. C.W. chose the booth even though it put us close to a large, loud party that had pushed several tables together.
Seeing as how we were both working, we had to stick to pop to drink, but they do have a number of Michigan craft beers on tap as well as a pretty typical bottle selection.
After the drinks came, we were ready to order and passed on appetizers. C.W. said she was a little disappointed, but the lack of traditional Irish fare (yup, she’s Irish), but to me, the menu reflected what is typical of most Irish Pub’s I’ve been in outside an area with a lot of people of Irish descent.
I ordered the 1/2 lb. Irish Burger. The sandwich is a 1/2 lb of chopped steak topped with Irish Rasher Bacon and Kerrygold Cheese on a toasted sweet role. The burger had a perfect pink line going through the middle of it which left the meat really juicy. The big stand out was actually the toasted bun which gave the sandwich a little bit of a crunch. The Rasher Bacon is a little bit on the fatty side, so the extra crunch from the bun was a nice touch.
The sandwich came with fries for a $1 upcharge (chips are standard). They are skin on fries that had a garlic salt dusting to give them an interesting flavor.
C.W. ordered the Bruschetta con Farfalle. The dish is Roma tomatoes, basil, oregano, and garlic tossed in a white wine, balsamic vinegar, Parmesan cheese, and garlic olive oil. All of that is then tossed with farfalle pasta and served with toast points and a side (C.W. chose the side salad which came out first and was exactly what you’d expect it to be). For a coupe extra bucks, she added chicken to the dish which she said was delicious. She ate about half then boxed up the rest for a meal later.
The bill for the two of us was right around $30. Hennessy’s Irish Pub lived up to my expectations as a typical, small town Irish Pub. The food was delicious and, even with a big party right next to us, the service was quick enough to get us in and out before we took a full lunch break.
1/2 lb Irish Burger w/Fries
Bruschetta con Farfalle
SW Michigan Dining 