A pub in decline

March, or Saint Paddy’s month depending on your perspective, in upon us so I decided that I really need to ramp up the contributions to my blog. After all, this is the time that people of Irish extract, and those who aren’t (poor, unlucky souls) zero in on all things Irish to celebrate the season. (I like that term extract to describe someone’s ethnic background. I just picture someone squeezing an old-fashioned wine press and holding the liquid up to the Sun for inspection. “Yep, that’s some top quality Irish extract there.” A bizarre and random thought, perhaps, but isn’t that part of the reason people start blogs? That reason and also because they can’t find a publisher or get a job as a journalist). Anyway, back to business. I was hoping to start the month off with a bang; chronicling a top-notch pub that I can give high marks to. However, I have to work with what I have, and what I have an Irish pub right around the corner from me that I feel obligated to address.

A Piece of Ireland (Newark, DE) is unlike some of the other pubs I’ve recently chronicled. Some places I go a little easier on because they have untapped potential, or their flaws are offset by their strong points. Unfortunately, the inverse is true of A Piece of Ireland; I have to be a bit harsher with it because it is suffering a noticeable decline in quality with no apparent offset. If I were writing this review a year or two ago, I would be telling the tale of one of the best Irish pubs in the whole state of Delaware. Back then, the bar had a great selection, lots of live Irish music, and a general feel of an establishment that knew its identity and worked hard to maintain it. But lately, things have been on a slide at A Piece of Ireland.

I’ll start by highlighting what is still good about the place, and I will say that, on the whole, A Piece of Ireland is a good bar/restaurant. First off, I have always had excellent service; the bartenders have always been prompt, friendly, and knowledgeable. I’ve never been faced with some rookie barkeep that thinks every single liquor drink is supposed to come with a lime wedge garnish. (Note to entry-level bartenders, don’t put fruit on the edge of a glass holding good whiskey; it makes us experienced drinkers angry). Consistently good service is a rare enough thing these days, to receive it year in and year out from a bar is quite an accomplishment and my hat’s off to A Piece of Ireland.

The atmosphere is evocative of a traditional Irish country pub; with the dark wood exterior, white walled interior with short stools by the fireplace. There are the de rigueur pictures of Irish scenes and people along with framed poems and sayings from the literary children of old Eire. The actual bar isn’t of the dark wood variety, but that’s a good thing, considering that it wouldn’t match the light interior. It’s nice to see a place that demonstrates that is more than one Irish pub model to build on; they don’t all have to be dark wood, vaulted ceilings, and mirror backed bars.

That’s the good news, now the bad news, which is that A Piece of Ireland is slowly losing its Irish pub identity and is starting to look more and more like a basic local sports bar. They haven’t been adding any new Irish accents to their repertoire, but only losing them. Not too long ago, the pub had the best Irish whiskey selection of any Irish pub in the area. There used to be about a dozen Irish whiskies on hand, being the only place where I could order, say, Knappouge Castle. But they haven’t had Knappougue available for over a year, and I’ve seen Michael Collins, Jameson 18, and other labels slip away, not to be replaced. On my most recent visit, they had: Jameson, Jameson 12, Powers, Bushmills, Tullamore Dew, and Red Breast. I asked a bartender recently what the story was, and he said that they should still be carrying some of the stuff, but the other stuff is too expensive and they don’t get many calls for it. He pointed out some 12 year-old scotches that were selling well. I said, “tell people it’s an Irish place and they should try the Irish stuff out.” People think that I’m a bit fanatical on this point; the idea that Irish pubs have a responsibility to not only carry a wide range of Irish whiskies and beers, but to suggestively sell those items to their customers. People appreciate having bartenders recommend new drinks for them to try, and if you run an Irish pub, you should hire people who will create a demand for Irish items. If you can’t find Irish whiskey at an Irish pub, what do you do then?

In sum, A Piece of Ireland loses big points in my book for moving backwards with regard to their selection, carrying only half of what they used to in the whiskey department. And I don’t buy that cost is the only factor. On a recent visit I spotted a bottle of 10 Cane rum, which is very good but somewhat pricy rum. I find it hard to believe that this place sells a whole lot of this premium rum, but cannot move Michael Collins in any significant quantities. Maybe I’m making the situation too complicated, maybe it’s not someone with the green eyeshades and a calculator deciding what bar items make the cut. It could be that whoever does the liquor ordering just doesn’t care.

Okay, so the place is letting its selection slide, but it is a good place to have a drink? Well, yes and no. Like I said before, it’s a nice-looking place with consistently excellent service. But A Piece of Ireland certainly doesn’t have craic. It’s tough to put my finger on why exactly a place doesn’t have craic, but like the judge said about pornography, I know it when I see it. In the case of A Piece of Ireland, I know when I don’t see it. Maybe it’s the clientele. I generally don’t like to knock a bar’s customers, but there have been too many times when I’ve been in the place and have wished there were more bar stools between me and the people near me. Now, I’m not a squeamish or prudish person and I can handle rough language and colorful characters, but some people just put me off. For instance, people who can’t keep their hands off each other. Come on, grow up and get a room. I don’t want to see a couple of disgusting rednecks groping and tongue-kissing while I’m having a drink with my wife. Not all the patrons are trashy, but not discouraging low behavior in a bar contributes to the rot.

The scorecard for A Piece of Ireland: B-.
It may seem that I’m being too hard on this place, but as I said at the beginning, I’m going to have tougher words on a bar that was really good but is currently in decline. A Piece of Ireland should not be content to let itself go downhill. It used to be a real quality Irish pub, and it can be again if someone makes the effort to turn it around.