Report Card: Keagan’s Irish Pub

Keagan’s Irish Pub — you must find your way here

http://www.keagans.com/

 

Overall GrubGrade A

 

The Breakdown:

 

Atmosphere: Grade A-: This place was fantastic. Keagan’s Irish Pub absolutely does not have an identity crisis. Upon entering, you definitely know you’re in an Irish style pub. One clue was the fact that the flat screen televisions all throughout the pub were tuned into soccer matches, and the World Cup hadn’t even started yet. Plus there were a ton of Irish themed pictures on the wall. Keagan’s reminded us a lot of the very imaginatively named “The Pub” here in Columbus. Because it claims to be a pub and is dressed like a pub, it’s a little hard for Keagan’s to really impress us with its ambiance, hence the “A-“ grade. But that’s okay, because it looked and sounded exactly like it should have. We might have been impressed with more upscale décor, but it would have been weird when considering the theme of the restaurant. The staff wore pseudo-Irish uniforms (they were a little more Scottish (kilts) than Irish, in our opinion). The restaurant was clean and a little crowded, and there was quite a bit of noise to deal with, but the hostess seated us in a little nook that gave us some privacy and made the noise level a little less obtrusive.

High marks: Pub properly decorated, clean

Low marks: A little noisy

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Service: Grade A: Our server, Alex, was awesome. And just so there’s no confusion, Alex was a she. She was attentive without being intrusive (that is an actual SKILL many servers lack), and very personable. Alex even offered us some suggestions and helped us pick out our dessert. Our only issue with the service was that it was a tad slow, with appetizers and entrees taking a little longer than expected to arrive, and a small inaccuracy with our bill that Alex quickly corrected. The service was about as close to an “A+” as you can get without actually getting there. Toss out the slow speed (minor) and bill discrepancy and Keagan’s would have totally nailed it.

High marks: Server made helpful suggestions and recommendations, attentive but not intrusive

Low marks:   A little slow with the food, minor inaccuracy with the bill

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Food/Spirits: Grade A: Katina ordered something called a Strawberry Limeade to drink (yes, it did have alcohol) and found it to be very smooth and delicious. If you order this drink and expect it to taste like strawberry limeade, then you will not be disappointed, and you’re probably smarter than you look. We are definitely fans of drinks that actually taste like their name suggests they should. I opted for a Guinness and a Smithwick’s, and most of the beer drinkers out there will have come across both those beers at some point in time. Morgan just had a ginger ale, and guess what it tasted like…ginger ale. We ordered Pretzel Sticks for an appetizer. The pretzel sticks were served with 3 sauces: beer cheese, Dijon, and parmesan garlic. All three sauces were excellent. And let’s face it, if you follow this blog, you know we’ve eaten a lot of pretzel sticks, so by now it’s really all about the sauces. In that regard, Keagan’s hits a home run. Usually when we’re served multiple sauces, we like one or two but there’s always one that basically sucks. Not the case here…all three sauces were scrumptious. Morgan ordered a turkey club (big shock) and we think she described it as “really good.” It was a little hard to understand her with her mouth stuffed full of bread and turkey. She might be part snake since she seems to be able to unhinge her jaw in order to stuff more food in it that should be humanly possible. Katina ordered crab legs for dinner. And who wouldn’t enter an Irish pub when you need to satisfy your crab leg fix, right? She got a huge portion, and the crab legs were surprisingly well prepared. I ordered the chicken wings, hoping that I could recreate the magic I experienced at Ri Ra in Charlotte. The wings were prepared perfectly (nice and crispy) and really saucy. They weren’t as mesmerizing as the ones from Ri Ra, but they were still excellent. The wings were just right on the level of spiciness, but they needed to be a little warmer temperature-wise. I got the impression my wings were done first and had to wait for the rest of the food to catch up. The wings were served with French fries, and those were also excellent. For dessert, Alex suggested the Fried Cookie Dough. The dessert was unique and delicious, and the recommendation much appreciated (we expressed our thanks with a big ol’ tip). By far, Keagan’s was the most enjoyable dining experience we had in Virginia Beach, and they had the best food by far.

High marks: Good turkey club, excellent crab legs, delicious drinks, great sauce for the appetizer, awesome French Fries, amazing dessert              

Low marks: Wings not warm enough

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Value: Grade A: To recap, an appetizer, 3 entrees, a dessert, and 2 grown up drinks each for Katina and myself and we spent less than $80 (remember, one of those entrees was a huge portion of crab legs). We left stuffed and we spent right about what we expected we would spend. What we didn’t expect was the superior quality of the food, which pushed a normally “B+” or “A-“ grade up a notch. Very well done, Keagan’s. If you’re hitting up Virginia Beach for vacation, do yourself a favor and get away from the ocean for a night, drive 15 to 20 minutes, and enjoy a feast at Keagan’s Irish Pub. Your tummy will thank you.

High marks: Great portion size, superior food/drink quality

Low marks: There’s not one in Columbus, Ohio

Report Card: Pocahontas Pancake House

Pocohontas Pancake House

http://pocahontaspancakes.com/

Overall GrubGrade B

 

The Breakdown:

 

Atmosphere: Grade B-: Pocohontas Pancake House was certainly nothing special from the outside. The outside of the building looked pretty much like all the rest of the little shops located on the strip near the ocean. On the inside, the décor was interesting but pretty dated. There was an abundance of Native American themed artwork around the interior, but the rest of the inside looked like it hasn’t been updated in a couple of decades at least. It was busy when we stopped by for breakfast, but you would expect a large crowd at a pancake house in a tourist town. Table spacing was okay based on the size of the place and the volume of diners.

High marks: Interesting Native American themed décor

Low marks: Bland exterior, dated booths and tables

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Service: Grade B: We believe our server, Nicole, took pretty good care of us. I say we believe because we honestly couldn’t remember a single thing about the service a day after our visit. That means two things occurred…1) there was nothing special about the service and 2) nothing bad enough to permanently imbed itself into our memories occurred.

High marks: Nothing really bad occurred

Low marks:   Nothing memorable occurred

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Food/Spirits: Grade B: We had coffee and juice for beverages for our breakfast (with Morgan chugging a glass of chocolate milk), so there’s not much to talk about in that regard. Morgan had French Toast (again) and Katina had a waffle (again) and I ordered a Meat Lover’s Omelet (again). Evidently we forgot to pack our sense of adventure for this vacation. Morgan didn’t say too much about her French Toast, but that’s probably because her mouth was jammed full of French Toast with each bite she took. I swear that girl thinks that eating is a race. Katina described her waffle as “good” which I am sure really distinguishes it from the hundreds of other waffles she’s eaten in the past. If you’re a waffle freak, you’re on your own here. The Meat Lover’s omelet was really tasty, but it contained no cheese. In fairness to Pocohontas, they do not claim to put cheese in the omelet in the menu description, but in my opinion the presence of cheese is a defining characteristic of an omelet. A cheese-less omelet is like chip-less nachos…it might be tasty but it’s just not right.

High marks: Assuming delicious French Toast and a decent waffle          

Low marks: Cheese-less omelet – pay attention to the descriptions on the menu.

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Value: Grade B-: The three of us feasted for around $50. In my opinion, that’s about $5-$10 more than I would expect to pay for a breakfast of this caliber. There are a few other breakfast places to try in Virginia Beach, but not too many. We would recommend Pocohontas Pancake House based on the quality of the food, even though it might be a tad on the pricey side.

High marks: Decent quality

Low marks: A little over-priced

Report Card: Nick’s Fresh Seafood & Steaks

The very imaginatively named Nick’s Restaurant

 

Overall GrubGrade B

 

The Breakdown:

 

Atmosphere: Grade C-: We decided to hit Nick’s Fresh Seafood & Steaks on our first night in Virginia Beach. We were pretty tapped out from the drive in, so we were not real happy when we realized we misjudged the distance Nick’s was from our hotel. It was quite a trek, and we were heartbroken when we arrived. From the outside, Nick’s looked a little on the dumpy side. Nick’s could have just as easily been a dry cleaner judging by the exterior of the place. Upon entering, there wasn’t much about the look of the place to put our minds at ease. Nick’s Fresh Seafood and Steaks looked more like a dive bar than a restaurant. There was enough crap on the tables and walls to be overwhelming, and it doesn’t look like the place has had a facelift since the Brady Bunch was still filming. There was no hostess, so it was seat yourself. Plus there were no menus on the table, so when I took it upon myself to grab a couple from a nearby bin, I was rudely told they were the wrong menus. Overall, off to a real bad start.

High marks: None

Low marks: Cluttered, old, outdated, dirty…the list goes on and on

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Service: Grade B-: Apparently, old Nick isn’t dropping a fortune in labor costs. There was only one server that we could see, and the place was pretty busy. Despite what appeared to be an overwhelming situation, our server did a really decent job handling all our needs. Our server was fairly attentive, but not really engaging at all. That, however, is probably less her fault than that of the Einstein that decided one server would be adequate to handle 20 or more tables. There were other employees milling around, but we have no idea what their function was. Our order was accurate, and although there was a bit of a wait for the food, the wait wasn’t anything we’d consider to be inappropriate.

High marks: Accurate and attentive

Low marks:   Frenzied and not engaging

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Food/Spirits: Grade B+: Had Nick’s Fresh Seafood and Steak not been a 20 minute pilgrimage from our hotel, I might have made the family turn around and go elsewhere (I can sometimes do that since I usually carry the wallet, but Katina doesn’t let me wield too much power too often). It turns out that fleeing would have been a mistake. Nick’s had some pretty good food. The hush puppies were well prepared and delicious, and our daughter, Morgan, would have been happy making her entire meal out of them. Morgan did decide to go with her traditional plain turkey sandwich, which must have tasted better than it looked because she scarfed it down. But it was just turkey and bread, so that would be pretty hard to screw up. Katina ordered the “all you can eat flounder.” The flounder was lightly battered and according to Katina, perfectly cooked. She thought it was delicious, and we both found the French fries to be really good (although not the absolute best we’ve had). I ordered the bacon cheeseburger, which was advertised on the menu as being the best in Virginia Beach. I believe it. It was a really simple burger that was absolutely perfectly cooked with just the right amount of bacon.

High marks: Good flounder, fries, cheeseburger, and hush puppies      

Low marks: Entrees were overly simplified

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Value: Grade A-: We’ve got to hand it to Nick’s. Most of those who will visit this restaurant will be on vacation and probably working with a budget. Nick’s will be a good choice for you. Despite the poor start, Nick’s Fresh Seafood and Steaks turned it around with good food, generous portions (“all you can eat flounder” for Pete’s sake), and a completely reasonable price. We feasted for a mere $53, and we didn’t even order the least expensive dishes on the menu.

High marks: Portion size, quality, price

Low marks: Tidy up the appearance and increase staffing, and it could be an A+ next time

 

 

 

Honorable Mention: North End Pizza

North End 2020

Our first vacation review is a quick glance at a pizza joint called North End Pizza. Known for their “New York” style pizza, North End Pizza is right on the oceanfront. Inside and out, nothing about the look of North End Pizza is probably going to get most vacationers too excited. A fairly plain exterior and an interior that looks like it was lifted straight from a nearby Dairy Queen, if you hit up North End Pizza, you had better be going for the food rather than the atmosphere.

North End Pizza gets the “Honorable Mention” treatment because like most average pizza places, there’s really no service to speak of. We entered, placed our order with the cashier, and took out receipts and empty cups over to the fountain drink dispenser and then our somewhat sticky and greasy booth. After about 15 minutes, our number was called and after an acknowledging nod from myself, an employee did bring the pizza to our table along with a wad of napkins.

As for the pizza itself, it wasn’t too bad. The thin crust wasn’t too crisp or too chewy, and was just firm enough to not fall apart when you picked up a slice. A word of warning to any health nuts out there: you’re probably going to need your arteries Roto-Rootered if you eat more than a few slices of this pizza. If you’re in the camp (and I think this is primarily a college student mentality) that the greasier the pizza the tastier the pizza, then North End Pizza should be the end point of your quest for the perfect pizza. However, if you’re more like us and would rather not have to bury your pizza in grated parmesan cheese to soak up the excess grease (which forms a rather tasty but extremely unhealthy yellow-orange paste) then you may want to skip North End Pizza. Bottom line is that the pizza wasn’t too bad, but we’ve certainly had better (and worse). The price was reasonable, which may also be a factor since the majority of those who will visit North End Pizza will be on vacation and probably on a budget. If you’re in the neighborhood, we recommend you at least give North End Pizza a try. You can order by the slice if you don’t want to commit to a whole pie, and legend says they have some pretty choice salads, which is the direction you should definitely go if you post-first-heart attack.