Irish Pub Grub on Twin Cities Live

Yesterday afternoon I was on Twin Cities Live talking about Cooper, the new St. Louis Park Irish pub by Kieran Folliard, owner of The Local, The Liffey, and of course Kieran’s—which is soon to relocate to the former Bellanotte space. TCL asked me to round up some of my other favorite local pubs; I picked Lola’s Lakehouse and Jake O’Connor’s, which are both owned by Dermot Mulrooney, who used to be a manager at The Local. Small, rivalrous world!

Backstage gossip: Mulrooney tells me he’s about to fully gut and renovate O’Donovan’s, the Irish pub across from First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, in preparation for the new Target Field Twins stadium opening. This is good news for foodies because he’ll be bringing in some of the greatest hits from Jake O’Connor’s and Lola’s—like these truly delicious balsamic pork chops and some of the best onion rings in the state.

More gossip: I hear that there are even more Kieran Foillard Irish pubs in the works. Is this why Kieran doesn’t want people to call his many pubs “A Pint-Siezed Empire”—because he doesn’t want to jinx his financing?

 Anyway, watch my appearance here (courtesy of TwinCitiesLive.com), if you missed it live: