Best Bar in Greensboro? M'Coul's Pub....
by Liv | Published on June 28th, 2009, 5:01 pm | Food
I suppose when someone states it's the best bar in town, they should preface that their bar experiences of the last few years has been minuscule as their life revolves around happy meals, and the Cartoon network. It's been awhile. I remember clubbing in Greensboro back in the day, but this is the first time I've been to a bar in Greensboro in a longtime.... The last few times have been in Britain. So when the kids took off with the Grands for a week in Norris Dam, me and Shan took the opportunity to get over to M'Coul's Pub.
There's an obvious reason we chose M'Coul's Public House, as it's the only "Euro-themed" Irish bar that I'm aware of. Not knowing what to expect, or whether we'd leave the bar at 2am drunk in the arms of a 6'5" Irish man with a shaved head and tattoos.... like the last Irish drinking situation we went to during London's St. Paddy's Celebration... we decided to proceed cautiously.
So we drove down and parked, then tried to figure out exactly where the entrance is. We discovered going in through back was the answer, and was greeted by a wait-staff.... A wait-staff? Sure.... why not... So we went inside and discovered the interior looked typical of practically every Hollywood version of a European pub I've seen... -of course I've yet to see one in Europe that looks European (though they must exist).... We went up a flight of stairs and into a upstairs dining room where two very skinny waitresses whom I doubted had ever ate a single thing they served waited on us.... We sat down and immediately demanded two pints of Guinness. When it came, she had decorated it with a four-leaf-clover etched into the foam. Very hip. This is when I made my first discovery, -that a pint in American isn't the same pint in Europe. I later figured out when she offered us a 20oz what the difference is... Apparently saying "pint" in Britain defaults you to a 20 ounce.... despite the math.... either that, or every bartender we hit over there was just trying to get the American girls drunk. (maybe someone can explain this.)** (So yes they offer it, but they don't call it a pint)
So it's about this moment in time I realized they offer Guinness beer battered fish and chips. The moment could have only been improved by Greensboro's black gospel choir singing me a "praise the lord". This is when our drinking became a major nosh-up as Shan quickly smacked the waitress on the bum and said "Get thee to thy kitchen, wench.... and fry me some fish"... (no, not really)
While we waited; and absorbed our 16 oz pint of Guinness, we took in the upstairs artwork, the wood floors and outside balcony. M'coul's really is a neat place. It's exactly what you would expect of a "themed" restaurant or bar... for a moment, I could pretend I was in Shannon, Ireland (with Shannon?!?) drinking my beer... but before I could finish our food arrived.
OMG!!! It was beautiful, huge Haddock beer batter fish, seasoned chippies, with sides of tartar and ketchup. Our kind waitress brought us over some malt-vinegar, which happened to be Heinz, not Sarson's.... (Shan's only caveat.) As far as Fish and Chips... this is tops. The presentation was right on, service was amazing, and the ambiance.... well nothing short of airline tickets and a 7.5 hour flight come close.
This is where the whole thing gets fuzzy.... because, it's a really awesome pub/bar... but it's also an amazing place for dinner. What's more is there was groups of women, couples, and families with kids, this isn't the dirty corner bar.... and that's completely great news for me and Shannon since we will be going back, but unfortunately next time it might be with the kids.....
- M'Coul's Public House
110 W McGee St
Greensboro, NC
(336) 378-0204
**
You are wrong on 16 oz as a pint, 20 oz is the actual pint size. In America bars are ripping off Americans calling 16 oz a pint, it is has always 20 oz. The are laws in the United States that call 20 oz as a pint, it is just the bars that make it 16 oz to profit more, so you can buy two and tip another 12% tip.
Allover Western/Eastern Europe 20 oz is the standard glass, same with Canada, China, Brazil, Australia, Russia and etc. via
