McElroy's Pub - Houston, Texas

Last night Part II....





As the Usual Suspects happy hour was breaking up last night and everyone was heading out the door, George and I stopped, turned to one another, shrugged and both agreed we were still a little thirsty. Knowing that there was another pub a stone's throw away, I suggested we go across the street to McElroy's Pub. George didn't put up much of a fight, so we were off.

McElroy's is in a funky little building that looks like it might have been in a small strip of business offices about 40 years ago. You step inside and realize... maybe its been a pub all that time.... and hasn't been updated since! You really catch a waft of cheesy old vinyl furniture. Smells like one of those seedy little dives that dirty, shady old men eye you from the corner in. But once your nose gets accustomed to the oder you find that its really not all that bad. On a previous visit I found they have a nice little partially covered patio area in back that seems to attract most of the less shady customers. If it weren't so nasty and cold out, we probably would have headed out there.

When we first arrived there were a whole 2 other customers there. Mind you this was at 9:30pm on a Friday night. More folks quickly filtered in though. Surprisingly these were mostly younger people in their mid to late 20's. I was kinda surprised by this considering the semi-seediness of the place. Granted these weren't the mid-town cool clone crowd. Lets just say they were a bit more 'individualistic'.

Cupcake and I saddled up at the bar. We remained the only ones at the bar as long as we were there. Our perch offered a bird's-eye view of the important stuff that the pub had to offer. It was a decent selection. Not great but not horrible. Maybe a dozen taps. But on the upside, only one tap was piss beer. So George and I got our Irish on. First a round of Smithwick's (that's Smit'ick's to the educated). Then a round of the black stuff. This gave us plenty of time to catch up on some random news and also do some brewing planning. ...and me some time to screw around with the camera.


While doing this we noted they have one or more dart boards (always a plus). They don't appear to have a kitchen. Oh well, I'd probably be concerned about anything that might come out of that kitchen anyway. The bartender was adequate.... served up the beers, was helpful but not intrusive.

That's really about all I can say about the place. Its certainly not a bar that I would make my primary destination on a night of drinking. Lucky for them they're close to the Stag's Head. Presumably there are others like us that like a little change of scenery occasionally while out beer hunting.

The Brew Card

Atmosphere: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Clientele: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Beer Selection: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Food: N/A
Service: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Prices: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Stuff to do: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Overall: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10