In a classic case of perfect timing, longtime restaurateur Eddie Neill has announced the return of the food and atmosphere that made The Dubliner, his former pub on Washington Avenue, so beloved.
In a Facebook post last week, Neill teased to “make your St. Patrick’s Week plans include The Dubliner POP-UP! We shall be opening next week.”
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To be precise, the Muddled Pig space in Maplewood, at 2733 Sutton, is reconcepting as a Dubliner-style bar and grill, which will reopen at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Since the announcement, Neill and several Muddled Pig staffers have been performing a quick makeover—cleaning, rearranging, hanging stored Dubliner tchotchkes—and assembling a limited interim menu. “Tweaking and antiquing will happen over time,” Neill says.
The first priority was to prepare for what he knows will be a busy weekend, “so a small menu—predominantly Dubliner favorites—was the only way to go,” he says.
Customary Guinness beer taps and lines are being installed, so “proper pints” will be part of the mix. Twenty-ounce “pints” of “plain” are $6, as are a few Guinness blends: Black & Red (made with Smithwicks), Poor Man’s Black Velvet (Guinness floated over Magners Cider), etc. The house shot—Dub Pub Shot (Guinness, Bailey’s, whiskey)—will set you back $8. A rotating selection of standard (16-ounce) pints and cans from local brewers is also available.
There are half a dozen Irish-leaning cocktails, the same number of pure Irish cocktails, and even a few with no alcohol, including the intriguing Burt’s Bailey’s (Bailey’s without the booze).
Neill closed the downtown location of The Dubliner in late 2015 after a fairly robust nine-year run. At the time, he reported that sales had been on the decline since Ballpark Village opened the previous year. Earlier in 2015, Neill rolled out admittedly “un-Irish” barbecue dishes that featured sous-vide cooking and besides the standard cole slaw and pit beans, several sides that were “dressed-down, unsweet, unsalty complements intended to pair with the meat, not compete with it,” he said. Parts of that menu have reemerged in Maplewood, like a two-inch thick pork steak, carrot salad, and a raw beet and orange salad.
Other Dubliner staples making a reappearance are fish and chips, bangers and mash, and “a simple roast chicken.” Nightly specials (chicken pot pie on Wednesday, Beef Tenderloin on Saturday, etc.) and a trio of sandwiches (a salmon reuben, a burger, cold corned beef) round out the inaugural menu.
In addition, Neill has recently been consulting with a group of regional grass- and-sprout-fed Angus and American Wagyu ranchers. Expect to see their products on the menu in the near future as well.
Neill says he liked Maplewood, especially the Sutton address, because of its vibrancy. “Elmwood has attracted a lot of new faces to the street,” he says, “but places like Saratoga Lanes and The Focal Point were already busy all the time.” Neill created a catering menu specifically for those businesses “and anyone else who’s interested.”
Neill’s roster of local restaurants conjures memories past and present: the storied Malmaison, Eddie’s Steak and Chop (Clayton), T. P. Neill’s (at the Galleria), and Café Provencal (Clayton and then Kirkwood). Last year, he operated the Bistro at St. Albans with Max Crask, who worked at The Dubliner prior to opening Ices Plain & Fancy. Neill and Crask had also just taken over the kitchen at the Macklind Avenue Deli, which not soon after was damaged in an early-morning fireworks fire.
The restaurant retained all interested personnel except the kitchen managers from The Muddled Pig. For the time being, he will operate (not own) the restaurant, but he intends to transition to an ownership role in the future.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated from a previous version.
