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> McGuire's Irish Pub |
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| Chef's Showcase |
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| A Turn-Of-The-Century, New York Irish Saloon In Florida
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General manager: Jim Martin
McGuire's open since: 1977
McGuire's concept: house-brewed beer, fine steaks, full menu and excellent wine in a traditional Irish pub setting
Number of seats: 600
Check average: $12-$13 days; $21-$22 evenings
Jim Martin's culinary experience: Pillsbury Restaurant Group; General Mills Corp.; graduate, The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.; Certified Executive Chef by the American Culinary Federation
Menu features: Senate bean soup, 18¢ as a side; Irish Fisherman's Bouillabaisse, $19.95; Rib-eye Steak, $21.95; Belfast Bar-B-Q Ribs, $19.95; Irish steak and mushroom pie, $16.95; Gourmet steak burgers, 25 kinds, $9.95
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What is some of the thinking behind McGuire's successful menu mix? - Questions & Answers
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Who are McGuire and Molly, the personalities behind the concept?
McGuire and Molly are real people - my dad and stepmother. They founded the original McGuire's, which was in a smaller location within a shopping center. Simple pub fare in a friendly environment was the concept. My dad cooked and tended bar, while Molly waited tables.
In 1982 McGuire's moved to its current spot, the original Pensacola Firehouse, dating from 1927. The theme is an authentic New York Irish pub from around 1900. The space is divided to include separate rooms with names like Pipers Den, Notre Dame Room, The Irish Links Room and the Ruprecht O'Tolf Wine Cellar.
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Has the food evolved over the years, too?
Oh, yes. The original menu was really just classic New York Irish pub fare, based on steam table sandwiches and draft beer. Now we are a multimillion- dollar, full-service restaurant.
McGuire's has become well known and has won awards for our USDA prime steaks: Premium Black Angus, corn-fed Midwest beef. We hand-cut each one and grind the trim for our steak burgers. We even smoke our own prime rib over hickory wood.
Chops are another part of the steak-house side of the menu. We make all our own sauces, such as the homemade applesauce alongside the pork chops. The pork ribs are also house-smoked and served with homemade baked beans.
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But it doesn't stop there. Let's talk about the seafood offerings.
Because we're in Florida, guests expect a large seafood selection, so we menu everything from fish and chips to lobster. The Irish fisherman bouillabaisse is one of our most popular items. It's based on the traditional French fish stew with shrimp, red snapper clams, mussels and oysters, simmered in a broth seasoned with white wine, garlic, saffron, fennel and tomatoes.
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What are some of the other sections featured in the extensive menu?
Irish pub fare remains a large part of it - items such as corned beef and cabbage with special sauce, rosemary-scented Irish lamb stew and Irish boxtys, which are traditional mashed potato pancakes that we serve the nontraditional way with salsa, guacamole and horseradish sour cream sauce. And of course we serve hand-dipped fish and chips.
There is also a selection of pizzas, pastas and sandwiches, as well as potato skins, pot stickers and nachos for appetizers. Desserts include Bushmills bread pudding and root beer floats.
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Did you develop McGuire's current recipes?
Some of them, yes; others are McGuire's originals. We have made a commitment to quality that applies to everything on the menu. If we're going to offer nachos, for example, then they've got to be the best nachos we can possibly make, different from all the other nachos available to our customers. The food then becomes an important point of distinction.
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What sort of things do you look for when you go to hire cooks and chefs?
Keeping a trained staff with qualified cooks is still a challenge, even in the slower economy where bars and restaurants still can do well.
Throughout our company we have about 20 different chefs, 30 kitchen employees in McGuire's Pensacola location alone. We try to recruit from the major culinary schools and local culinary programs. And we make sure the cooks are paid well. We spend more money on kitchen labor than anywhere else in the restaurant because it's so important. The result is that people tend to appreciate their jobs and stay longer. Some have been with us 15 to 20 years.
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What about training?
Everyone goes to the flagship restaurant in Pensacola for two weeks. That means cooks, waitresses, everyone. And even after they've been at another restaurant for a while, we bring staff back for retraining periodically to freshen up their skills.
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Please tell us about your approach to service.
There's a saying on the McGuire's menu, "…dedicated to warm and friendly service to our guests by employees who give a damn." That philosophy has been one of our successes. We believe in good people who work hard, and we try to take care of them and let them know how much we appreciate their contribution.
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What role does the beer play in the concept?
McGuire's is credited with being the first on-site restaurant brewery in Florida, back in 1983 before brewpubs were popular. We currently plow through about 50 kegs of beer a week, all sold on premises, available only in our restaurants.
We always offer McGuire's Light Ale, McGuire's Irish Red Ale, Wild Irish Raspberry Wheat, McGuire's Porter and McGuire's Irish Stout, plus a seasonal selection, such as Scotch Ale, Barleywine, Belgian Strong Ale, India Pale Ale, Hefeweizen, Extra Special Bitter, Altbier and Christmas Ale. We also make kegs of root beer.
The beer is incorporated into a few dishes - the beer-battered fried shrimp and fish and chips, for example, as well as the pot roast.
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And there's live entertainment as well. How does that work?
We feature Irish music from around the country, six days a week. I book the acts. There's sort of a network of traditional performers that we've tapped. At about 10 o'clock the restaurant patrons clear out and the bar crowd takes over and they party until we close at 2:00 a.m.
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There is also a lot of merchandise available for sale. Is that part of McGuire's overall marketing strategy?
Merchandise accounts for about 5 percent of total sales, and we have a wide selection of memorabilia. The McGuire's Cookbook is extremely popular. It's all a great way to promote the name. We spend a little on advertising but actually spend more on food and beverage promotions.
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