(Dina Rudick/globe staff)
As a neighborhood goes, so go its pubs. It's certainly true of longtime Dorchester favorite the Blarney Stone. Just as a lot has changed in that increasingly gentrified area in the 35 years that the bar has been pulling pints of Guinness (the first bar in America to do so, in fact), so, too, has the Blarney Stone changed. In 2001, the place underwent a major reinvention from a "very old school, older gentlemen's bar," says manager David Cawley, to the modern restaurant and lounge of today.
As if to illustrate our point, a recent visit found heavy construction going on in the street outside the bar. Of course, plenty of 99-cent bargain stores and hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurants still line the street, but for how long? In many ways, the Blarney Stone, a space most certainly on the up-market side of the neighborhood divide, serves as a sort of metaphor for the area.
While bars of similarly imposing size often render intimacy unwieldy, there is a utilitarian charm at work here. Low communal tables with movable ottomans allowed our large group to mix and match our seating design. It also made sharing food easier. The mini cheeseburgers with caramelized onions, pickles, and Russian dressing ($9) and flatbread pizzas ($9-11) were particularly popular - and better than your standard pub grub. No big surprises from the cocktail list, although the Coffee Kick (vanilla vodka, Creme de Cacao, simple syrup, fresh ice coffee, milk, and caramel, $8.50) saves you the trouble of smuggling booze into
The video games, pool tables, and de rigueur flat screens provided ample opportunity for diversion, as did the striking prints on the wall. One, a bright red and gray overflowing pint of Guinness, brought the appeal of the Blarney Stone into focus: progressive and stylish, with a nod to its traditional Irish roots.
The Blarney Stone, 1505 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester. 617-436-8223. blarneystoneboston.com
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