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Mid Rivers Newsmagazine is St. Charles County's
exclusive direct-mailed community newspaper. |
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Mid Rivers Newsmagazine Restaurant Spotlight Archive |
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McGurk's Offers Homemade Food With American AccentBy Mary Ann O'Toole Holley
A true Irish restaurant is far from shamrocks, leprechauns and Guinness on tap. Just take one step into McGurk's Public House in Old Town O'Fallon, and you will know the feeling immediately. Deep oak woodwork, quaint booths and a comfortable rectangular wraparound bar brings McGurk's into the limelight of a fine restaurant sans the stuffy food fare. Talk to Chef David Sullivan and you will see the passion in his eyes as he begins his day reducing 5 gallons of stock into a 2-gallon supply of sauce filled with flavor to enhance the finest of veal. Ask him about the Yukon gold mashed potatoes and you can almost taste them as he talks. "We're the little brother to John D. McGurk's in Soulard and a cousin of King Louis' at 39th and Choteau, a high-end restaurant with approachable, familiar food," Sullivan says of the trio of restaurants owned by the same company. "People in St. Louis don't fall for fads. With the Public House, we tried to have a middle ground between John D. McGurk's and King Louis. It's like a country inn environment with good, homemade, handmade food." Irish food can get a bad rap, Sullivan says, but it is not all just cabbage and potatoes. "These days, Irish food is a nebulous idea," Sullivan said. "We've taken classic fare and given it an American accent. On the other hand, the Irish have taken influences from around the world - stews, seafood and more. We try to use the best ingredients and serve the best entrees." McGurk's is a great stop for lunch or dinner. Whether you are in the mood for a quiet drink, a dinner for two or a feast beneath a flowing fountain in their fabulous outdoor garden area, it is a choice you will not regret. For a starter, try their lager battered onion rings ($4.75) or their Irish cheddar potato wedges broiled with bacon and scallions ($6.95) Salads are plentiful with small dinner salads running at about $3.25 and large salads at $6.50. Dressings like raspberry vinaigrette, herb buttermilk and sweet ranch mustard, make any greenery choice a sound one. Soup is up at McGurk's as the cool fall weather approaches. Try Mrs. McAteer's Donegal Potato Soup with bacon and chives ($2.95 cup; $3.95 bowl), and of course there's Murphy's Irish Onion gratin, broiled with Swiss cheese ($4.50) With an extensive lunch menu of sandwiches and the like and a dinner menu that will fulfill the finest night out, McGurk's is definitely a place to stop if you are in the need for nurturing with competitive pricing. "People in the Midwest tend to be basic beefeaters," Sullivan said. "But, I work hard to create sauces that never get in the way of the flavor. Our rib eye steak. I cannot think of anything better. Our lamb shank is closest to my heart." Sullivan says some customers ask for lamb stew, but he says he likes to call the lamb shank "lamb stew on the bone." "Wine braised lamb shank is oven-braised and served with Yukon mashed potatoes," Sullivan said. "It's one of my favorites." McGurk's double thick Iowa pork chops are grilled, roasted and center cut. Served with asparagus, potato gratin, dried fruits and a Granny Smith apple reduction sauce, they are enough to make you a regular customer ($15.75). There are pub favorites, pastas and sandwiches like McGurk's burgers at $6.75, the Turkey Prosperity sandwich served open faced and broiled with artichoke-mozzarella, tomato and jack cheese; or the Dubliner, a roasted pork loin sandwich with white cheddar cheese, Guinness onions on toasted French bread ($7.95) "If I pinned down one way to describe the Irish approach, I'd say it's generously served food with generous hospitality," Sullivan said. "It's generosity and hospitality." Sullivan says customers have come from across the board - some who have been with them from day one since they opened in 1999. "We want first and foremost to be a family restaurant in a basic nurturing form," Sullivan said. Sullivan believes there is a place for haute cuisine, but he says if you ask anyone what he or she would like for his or her last meal on earth and they would likely say it was their mother's cooking. "I believe in being adventurous, but staying with the traditional," Sullivan said. "I love to cook. At age 41, I've been cooking for 25 years. Even as a kid, I'd mix catsup, mustard and relish and try to figure out a way to patent it. My mom worked and my dad died young. I was always cooking. I believe that when you cook, you have to have an innate talent. I believe in comfort food. I keep coming back to that generosity and hospitality."
McGurk's Public House, 108 South Main in O'Fallon's Old Town, serves lunch and dinner Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The bar is open after the kitchen closes. For more information, reservations or to schedule a private party call 636-978-9640 McGurk's is closed Sundays for private parties and closed Mondays.
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