O'Donoghue’s Irish Restaurant & Pub

Debuts with Historic Dublin Authenticity

The North Scottsdale Area will Enjoy Irish Comfort Classics and Updated Originals.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (November 13, 2007) – On November 23, O’Donoghue’s Irish Restaurant & Pub will bring a taste of “Ireland meets Arizona” to the patrons of North Scottsdale and the surrounding area.  The authentic Irish eatery is fondly named after the historic O’Donoghue’s Pub in Dublin –a frequent stomping ground for the people who bring the next best thing to Scottsdale.

"It was in the original O’Donoghue’s eight years ago that we decided to bring a similar concept to our own backyards," said Paul Diskin, general manager, partner and owner.  "No matter where they are in the world, authentic Irish pubs bring family-style comfort with soul to the neighborhood."

As a 6,800-square-foot venue located at Hayden Road and Thompson Peak Parkway, O'Donoghue’s will follow in the footsteps of its iconic model by featuring décor and design imported directly from Ireland.  The authentic bar, rustic farm furniture and interior fixtures such as aged wooden doors are all originally built in Ireland.  Images of literary icons and Dublin street scenes along with native “bric-a-brac” collected over the years will cover interior walls.

Crafted by Manship Builders, O'Donoghue’s will uniquely consist of smaller, intimate rooms.  A semi-private seating area, dubbed The Library, includes bookshelves with a cozy fireplace that accommodates diners and private parties of up to 60 people.  Three custom garage doors open to 800-square-feet of spacious patio seating during temperate Arizona weather.

Providing a true flavor of Ireland, O'Donoghue’s menu will feature distinctive Irish recipes with the best beers and Irish spirits available.  Traditional Irish fare menu items include an All Day Irish Breakfast, Cottage and Shepherd’s Pies, Corned Beef and Cabbage and Irish Beef Stew.  Dishes such as the Corned Beef Quesadilla, Cashel Blue Burger and Mini Bangers and Chips meld two cuisines to create a more unique variety. 

As the Irish drink of choice, Guinness will be proudly displayed throughout the restaurant and affectionately named the “perfect pint” of beer.  To compliment this stout, there will be approximately 16 beers on tap that will include Irish favorites in addition to niche local microbrews such as Four Peaks and Sonoran Amber. 

Lending a hand to the genuine experience, the Irish born and raised owners have deep-seeded heritage that can be found in their every decision when conceiving this restaurant.  A staff of more than 30 employees will be primarily Irish and/or European to give a flair of authenticity that transports guests to a friendlier, neighborly time and place.  Touring and local live Irish entertainment will be featured regularly throughout the year.

O’Donoghue’s Irish Restaurant & Pub prides itself on the high quality, authentic Irish experience that brings neighbors and friends together over soulful food and drink. O’Donoghue’s is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Friday and Sundays 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., serving lunch and dinner with bar service and appetizers until 1 a.m.  Beginning in January 2008, traditional Irish carving brunch is available on Sunday mornings from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  For more information or reservations, call 480-585-6329 or visit www.odsaz.com.

By Kathleen Sweeney

          O’Donoghue’s, the Valley’s newest Irish pub, opened in Scottsdale on November 23.  Its general manager, Paul Diskin, brings a wealth of experience to the enterprise.  Paul was born and raised in Dublin.  He worked in the food and beverage aspect of the Irish hotel industry at the Fitzpatrick Hotel before coming to America on October 6, 1989.  “I still recall that date so clearly that I even remember what I had for dinner that night,” he says.  “I was only supposed to be here for a year and half, but America has been so good to me that I’ve never left.”  He spent four years working in Chicago Irish pubs, including the famous Kitty O’Shea’s.  He then moved to New York and worked in the Fitzpatrick Hotel there for another two years.  In 1994, he moved to Los Angeles, where he owns O’Brien’s Irish pub as well as a nightclub.  “I was encouraged to come to Arizona because of the success of O’Brien’s,” he says.  The Irish musical group Gaelic Storm, which played the steerage band in the movie Titanic, was discovered at O’Brien’s.  Its members remain good friends of Paul’s, and they will be playing at O’Donoghue’s.

          Paul moved to Arizona this past summer.  One of his local partners in O’Donoghue’s, Bill Vale, also brings substantial experience to the venture because he has owned Harold’s Bar in Cave Creek for years.  Their extensive experience enabled them to design O’Donoghue’s in a way that would avoid problems that they have encountered in other establishments.  “We brought a list of ‘don’ts’ with us,” Paul says, “and we mapped out all of the little details based on our behind-the-bar experience.  We did run-throughs in which we role-played being waiters and customers.  We tried to anticipate staff and client needs so that we could make everything operate as smoothly as possible.”  One of the ways that they have done this is to create three separate sections behind the bar so that the bartenders can serve customers more quickly because they can work completely independently of one another.  They have also designed an employee uniform that is casual and comfortable, but attractive.  “We’ve hired some great staff,” Paul says, “and we want the place to be user-friendly for them as well as for our guests.”

          In addition to wanting the pub to run as smoothly as possible, Paul wanted it to have the look and feel of the Irish pubs of his childhood.  “The pubs were gathering places where families could go to eat together,” he recalls, “so children were welcome in them until a certain time at night.”  To ensure that O’Donoghue’s recaptured the ambience of those traditional pubs, Paul and his partners conducted research, which in part involved visiting about sixty pubs in Ireland.  “That was the fun part of the job,” he laughs, “but we also discovered some wonderful things.”

          To further ensure authenticity, Paul and his partners had most of the pub’s furnishings shipped to Arizona from specialty companies all over Ireland.  The u-shaped bar and its majestic backdrop are made of mahogany.  The backdrop features a Georgian clock, hand-painted stained glass, and mirrors.  Additional stained glass is found throughout the pub.  Although most of the pub’s floor is teak, the floor around the bar is covered in traditional black and amber tile.  The ceiling resembles the stamped copper ones found in the old pubs.  A Victorian fireplace surrounded by bookshelves and leather couches graces the pub’s VIP room.  Other furniture includes Dublin high-backed, two-seater benches and Guinness barrel tables.  The pub’s doors are also made of mahogany and teak.  Paul notes that the exterior stonework that the shopping center in which the pub is located requires compliments the rest of the pub’s decor.

          The pub features a large outdoor patio that will provide a view of Arizona’s beautiful sunsets.  The walls that adjoin the patio function like large shutters that can be rolled up into the ceiling to create an open, airy floor plan when the weather permits.  The VIP section, which is set off from the main dining room, can be rented for special occasions.  Paul describes it as “a great party room.”

          In keeping with their policy of sparing no expense, Paul and his partners had the chef of the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas design the pub’s enormous kitchen, which is full of state-of-the-art equipment.  The chef also helped them plan their menus.  Having made these investments, they decided to hire their own full-time chef, Robert Dowling, who is an Irish American from Philadelphia.  The pub’s adult menu features such a wide variety of selections that everyone should be able to find something to enjoy on it.  A children’s menu will also be available until nine o’clock at night.  Under the category of pub grub and soups, the adult menu features items such as cream of vegetable soup; potato and leek soup; smoked salmon and potato pancakes; chicken tenders; buffalo wings; onion rings; mini Irish “bangers” (sausages) and chips; jumbo shrimp with horseradish cocktail sauce; Irish nachos (crispy tortillas with melted cheese, baked beans, and herb sour cream); mini “sliders” (hamburgers) with horseradish jus, mango curry, and ranch dressing; corned beef and cabbage quesadillas; potato skins with cheddar cheese, scallions, and bacon; and an Irish farmhouse cheese board with imported cheeses, brown bread, nuts, and dried fruit.

          The featured sandwiches include eight-ounce prime hamburger with a choice of cheese, including Cashel blue cheese; grilled chicken breast with avocado, Dubliner cheese, and herb aioli; turkey club; chicken caesar wrap (roasted chicken breast, chopped romaine hearts, and parmesan caesar dressing in a spinach tortilla); shrimp wrap (bay shrimp, chopped romaine hearts, and dill dressing in a tomato tortilla); and vegetable caesar wrap (roasted vegetables, chopped romaine hearts, parmesan cheese balsamic vinaigrette, and herbs in a whole wheat tortilla).  The featured salads include caesar salad (to which chicken, steak strips, or smoked salmon can be added); cobb salad; grilled salmon and spinach salad; caprese salad; flat iron steak salad; seared ahi nicoise salad; and a house salad (mixed greens topped with goat cheese, toasted pine nuts, and balsamic vinaigrette).

          The traditional Irish pub fare includes Irish beef stew; shepherd’s pie; cottage pie (chicken breast and fresh vegetable chunks in creamy white wine sauce and a pastry crust); corned beef and cabbage; ale-battered fish and chips; an Irish reuben sandwich; and an Irish breakfast (two Irish sausages, two crispy rashers [Irish bacon], black and white puddings, two eggs, grilled tomato, Irish chips, baked beans, and brown bread and butter) that is available all day.  The entrees include herb-roasted half chicken with mashed potatoes, french beans, and demi glace; grilled flat iron steak frite; linguini in white clam sauce; ten-ounce prime New York steak with mashed potatoes, and the vegetable of the day; grilled Irish salmon with saffron sauce, mashed potatoes and the vegetable of the day; grilled herb-crusted lamb chop with roasted fingerling potatoes and fresh broccoli; baked mussels in a saffron broth; and the fish of the day.  Finally, the desserts include warm apple pie and vanilla ice cream; chocolate cheesecake; Bailey's Irish Cream cheesecake; fresh berries and cream; and assorted ice creams.

          The pub will present live music on the weekends on the stage at one end of the main dining area.  Through O’Brien’s, Paul has developed friendships with many Irish musicians in the Los Angeles area in addition to Gaelic Storm, and he will be inviting them to play at O’Donoghue’s.  His friends also include The Young Dubliners, who will be playing at the pub on New Year’s Eve.  “That will be an event for which people will make prepaid reservations,” he explains.  “The price will include dinner with wine, party favors, and entertainment.”  The pub will also feature local musicians, and Paul was scouting for some of them at the recent Arizona Irish Festival.  “I saw some fun bands there,” he reports.  Although the pub does not have a permanent dance floor, there is an area in front of the stage that can be turned into a dance floor by removing some of the tables.  In addition to presenting live music on the weekends, the pub will present live music on the seventeenth of each month, which it has designated “St. Practice Day.”

          For sports fans, the pub has eleven high-definition television screens.  Setanta Sports network, which will make the Gaelic Games as well as soccer available on tape delay, is available, as is the complete NFL package.  The entire pub also has full internet wi-fi (wireless fidelity) access with lots of plugs for laptops.

         “Designing this place really has been a labor of love,” Bill Vale explains.  “We think that the public has become jaded with plastic chain restaurants.  As we put each piece together, we thought about what would take the place to the next level.  We were looking for a magical mixture that would create a sense of place by capturing the Irish spirit of hospitality and genuineness.  We all live in this neighborhood, and we want the pub to have the multigenerational aspect of traditional Irish pubs.  We want all of our neighbors and their families to feel that this is a place where they are welcome to come, put their feet up, and enjoy a bit of respite from their busy lives.  We want it to have a sense of being part of the community like the bar in the Cheers television show--to be a place where ‘everyone knows your name.’”  Or, as O’Donoghue’s menu puts it, to be a place where one is greeted with “slainte agus saol agat!” (health and long life to you!).  O’Donoghue’s is located at 20469 N. Hayden Road in Scottsdale.  Its hours are 11 a.m. until 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. until 1 a.m. on Sunday.  Its menu is available from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m.  Its telephone number is (480) 585-6329, and its web site is arizonairishpub.com.