ML Happy Hour: Connolly’s Pub & Restaurant

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every Friday afternoon our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

Yeah, I know… Another Irish bar! I hear you, but if it seems like every other write-up is an Irish bar it’s because every other bar in Midtown is an Irish bar. Seriously, they are thick on the ground here. It’s as if these people had a certain reputation in regards to booze. Now, I have nothing against a good Emerald Isle watering hole, but most are carbon copies of each other with little distinguishing factors. And that’s when Connolly’s Pub stumbles in. Established in ’67 it is part of a brood of other Connolly’s in midtown. Just off 5th ave they attract the local workers looking for a tasty burger or a liquid lunch to ease the pain of cubicle life.

I started my happy hour search a little earlier in the day this week. It was around 3pm when Connolly’s caught my eye. Connolly’s features a rotating beer of the month special. For July it was $5 Blue Moon bottles. Not great, but serviceable on a hot summers day so I ambled over to the bar.

Inside the restaurant was unexpectedly populated given the hour. Connolly’s long mahogany bar was crowded with regulars, locals and suits. Framing the bar are service patches donated by police, firemen, union workers and the like.

Lighting is easy on the eyes and the bartenders have an authentic Irish accent -naturally. The taps feature a full selection of beers from Goose Island IPA to the king of stouts Guinness.

I ordered a Blue Moon, but failed to specifically ask for the bottle special. Nevertheless the draft was cold and delicious, but for $7 I should have been more attentive and ordered the bottle deal. The food looked good, but even appetizers started at $12 and therefore out of the ML price cap.

So is this just your ubiquitous Irish pub? The verdict: Probably, yet I’m on the fence on this one. Here at ML it comes down to how much coin you dare to drop. Connolly’s will never be my go-to pub, but it’ll do in a pinch.

Connolly’s Pub & Restaurant,14 E 47th St (btw. 5th & Madison Ave,) (212) 867-3767

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