Delaware's Best Irish Pub

One of the better experiences one can have is going to a restaurant or pub that you have heard good things about and having an experience that surpasses all of your positive expectations. An even better situation is when you visit a new, completely unknown place and are so impressed that you ask, “where have you been all my life?” I had that experience with Stoney Lonen, a little place in Rehoboth Beach that may just be the best Irish pub in Delaware.

As a native Delawarean, I make my usual pilgrimages to the beach (that’s “the shore” if you’re from Jersey or Pennsylvania). I stop by Rehoboth a few times a summer and I have seen Stoney Lonen, but never had the opportunity to stop in. Their hours are limited: closed on Mon and Tues and they don’t open until 5 o’clock the other days, except Sunday when they open at 4. It always seemed that whenever I made a point to check the place out, it was closed. I actually started to get a little resentful, asking myself “who do these people think they are? I’m trying to have a spot of the ol’ uisce beatha and this friggin’ place is never open.” When I finally did make it in, I happily discovered what a gem Stoney Lonen really is.

The building itself is small, done up to resemble one of Ireland’s cottage-style pubs. Most likely the place used to be a house; many of Rehoboth’s in-town restaurants are converted homes. The exterior is painted an eye-catching green and yellow. The interior is small but cozy (and I mean cozy in the true sense, not as a realtor’s euphemism for cramped). There is the usual Irish bric-a-brac: pictures of old Eire, classic ad posters for Irish beers and whiskies. The bar is great, with dark wood and a low ceiling that invites civilized conversation rather than drunken rowdiness. The bar is relatively small, with about 10 stools and a few high top tables. It has a nice mellow atmosphere; an easy-going craic that will appeal to civilized adults looking for a quiet drink. The bartender, Chester, is a great guy. He’s the kind of bartender I like, unobtrusive but always ready with a great story when the opportunity presents itself. When my wife and I were recently there, he regaled us with all sorts of tales about his long career as a beach bartender.

What really puts Stoney Lonen over the top for me as an Irish pub is their whiskey selection. When I first walked into the place about a year ago, my eyes almost popped out of my head. The entire first shelf of the back bar was given over to Irish whiskey; 15 bottles in all, which is double what most other pubs carry. I’ve tried stuff there that I haven’t had the pleasure of drinking anywhere else. I had Connemara on my first visit (not bad, but too much peat, I call it shamrock scotch). On my recent visit I enjoyed: Tullamore 12, Jameson Gold Label, and Greenore 15. Great whiskies all, and all reasonably priced at $8 (I think a mistake was made with regard to the Greenore. Most likely the pricing is supposed to be for the standard 8 year old, not the premium 15 I was having. A good break for me). Chester was telling me that the owner deliberately set out to stock his bar with a wide variety of Irish whiskies. And it’s a fine sign for the state of Irish whiskey when a bar can carry 15 brands and still not have every Irish whiskey that’s available for purchase in Delaware. We’re a long way from “you can have any Irish whiskey you want, as long as it’s Jameson or Bushmills,” to paraphrase Henry Ford.

I’ll leave you with an anecdote that sums up why Stoney Lonen appeals to me so much When I was there on my recent visit, a customer came to the bar and asked for a higher-end scotch, something like Macallan. The bartender replied, “we don’t carry that, we’re really an Irish whiskey place.” Buddy, when I heard that I felt like yelling “Halleluiah” and dancing a jig on the bar. Finally, I found a pub that takes Irish whiskey as seriously as I do. Stoney Lonen makes me feel like less of an obsessed madman, ranting like a banshee in the wind that no one cares about uisce beatha. Well, maybe I’m still a bit of a ranting lunatic, but at least I’m not alone.


Paddy’s Grade: A

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