It’s official: as of 3 pm this afternoon, Murphy’s has re-opened their doors under new management.
On a tip from Brett Jennings and Kevin, I popped my head in around 4, and the place was already filling up nicely, despite Paddy and Eamonn’s attempts to keep things quiet for a “soft opening”.
The bar looks like a cleaner, less cluttered version of the old Murphy’s: the walls have been stripped of memorabilia and knick knacks, but the same deep green, homey feel remains. The remodel left the basic layout intact with a few notable exceptions: the darts area is now a comfortable sitting area with couches, chairs and books, and the passage to the outdoor patio has been moved over next to the bathrooms, making it immensely more accessible.
The kitchen also got a redo, allowing for easier food prep. While I was there, I saw a plate of scotch eggs go by ($5 at happy hour) and an amazing looking reuben, with dripping melted cheese and high-stacked corned beef on a dark rye bread.
Music starts Monday.
Super psyched to try out the new Murphy’s. But I gotta say, I’ll miss playing darts there.
Nice job on the refurnishing. Glad you’re back.
How’s the TV situation tho?
Best darts area in Seattle gone – new owner darts are an “English” game. Lame excuse. Not better than ever, just better than the last few years (marginally).
Thanks for the update! Can’t wait to try it and also bummed to hear about the darts.
Meh. A Terrible Beauty + Murphy’s = A Terrible Murphy’s.
I was trying to figure out if the new place was going to be an Irish bar or Irish restaurant. Then I realized that I cannot even think of any Irish restaurant per se. Not typically a cuisine that can stand on its own or is in high demand. Solidified by the fact that the best Reuben in town belongs to the Alehouses (74th, Hilltop, & Columbia city), which are English style pubs. Therefore, as a restaurant, good luck.
As a bar, what’s one to do? Sit on the couch in the dartpit and wish there was a dartboard? Stare at the huge Guinness harp & wish it was a TV? Listen to the live music and wish it wasn’t Irish tunes AGAIN?
I was hoping for a good neighborhood bar to have a drink at after work. Still looking. Any suggestions?
Went yesterday for beers with friends. It was all nicely freshened up, clean, nice wait staff, good beer….no complaints from me! It looked like just 2 TV’s which suits me fine. I guess everyone is looking for something different, but the new Murphy’s seemed like a very nice place to stop off for a drink to me.
Went last night – was pleased to find some standards on the menu, like Shepherd’s Pie, Fish & Chips and Bangers & Mash. (And corned beef, though that’s is more American-Irish) 😉 If you want yummy comfort food, good beer and an Irish Pub atmosphere, I recommend it!
So after all this time you took down a dart board and a few things off the wall, and then kinda sat back and called it all good. Way to take the Seattle work ethic and make it Irish.
Do you think pubs in Ireland only play traditional music? You may want to visit and find out for yourself.
Nothing about this place looks or feels Irish. It isn’t shepherds pie, as that is made with lamb, and is an English dish, along with Scotch eggs, fish & chips, and Bangers and Mash. Yep you managed to create an American bar, with English food and annoying fiddlers and call it good.
The flag you are flying is from the Republic of Ireland, in case you want to one day prove that you know one little thing about Ireland, geography or anything, and decide to fly the flag of Northern Ireland too. If it helps, Harp originated about 20 feet from Northern Island, so perhaps you can tell that tale when confused people ask what the other Irish flag is.
Cannot wait to try it out.
Wow the comments are tough. I grew up in Ireland. My mother always made shepherds pie with beef from Sunday leftovers. I did not know we had to use lamb. But then again we never ate lamb growing up it was always mutton. No-one could afford lamb. People in Ireland flock to pubs to hear traditional music. I am looking forward to trying Murphys again.
I’m really looking forward to checking it out. Murphy’s was our go-to joint for years, until the food got to be inedible.
HOWEVER, please, please, please, do not have that electric fiddle guy there playing bad cover tunes. He seems like a nice guy, but his music is absolutely terrible.
Never mind everyone, Patrick says it’s not Irish enough. Let’s all just ignore Murphy’s until Patrick the arbiter of everything Irish has decided it meets his specific idea of what an Irish pub should be. I, for one, am looking forward to him blessing his perfect one.
Thanks for setting everyone right, Patrick!
I also went there yesterday. Granted I’ve only spent a week in Ireland down in County Cork (SW corner) in some of the smaller fishing communities. It felt pretty authentic to me. Cleaner and brighter than many of the pubs I went into but a little bit of hodge podge furniture and family friendly enviroment was definitely in keeping with many of the spots I popped into. I think they did a great job on the remodel and the food was fresh and tasty.
Yeh, the dart board was pretty popular before. They said in a past piece I read about the new murphys that they will have the tvs on for some games – Imagine that will probably include soccer. but that they will be focused on booking more live irish bands. Even the old murphys had a group of 5-10 regulars that would just come in and play, on Mondays i think, for fun that got to be a pretty popular backdrop to the place and typical of my experience in Ireland.
I think you guys will be happily surprised once you check it out.
I’m the original owner of Murphy’s and am very pleased with the changes the new group has done…a coincidence of note is that it was on Feb. 14th, 1992, Valentines Day we opened up in this new location from a half block east after being there the previous 10 years. 23 years to the day…gotta be a good omen.
Been there twice since they reopened and I must say “HUGE IMPROVEMENT.” I’ve only had two entrees so far, they were very good–borderline great, and I didn’t have to wait long for it. Considering that the food was barely edible before I’d say this is 1000 times better. Good beer selection is nothing special in the northwest, but at least the staff isn’t sneaking $8 pints on unsuspecting patrons like the old crew did. Oh, did I mention the lighting? SO much better… the old place was lit up like a walmart. It now has proper pub/restaurant atmosphere. As for the disgruntled dart players, you all seem like a bunch that I’m glad will be going somewhere else. It’s pretty understandable that they didn’t think things like darts, pull-tabs, or gaming machines were a good “fit” for the restaurant style they were going for. You should understand that, and not bash the place for their good decision making.
I went to Murphy’s last night for food and drink. Man, it’s great to have a good pub back in the neighborhood. The food was good. The lighting was good. The music was good. The service was good. It’s all good.
I’m at Murphy’s right now and it feels very welcoming and has a great pub feel. I can only imagine how nice it will feel on a cold rainy evening with the fireplace.
I live in Fremont and work in Wallingford. I was in the ‘old’ Murphy’s only a time or two, and am eager to check-out the ‘new’ Murphy’s. If everyone who’s concerned persistently asks nicely, perhaps the new management would be persuaded to again have darts. I think it would be with a try. With regard to TVs, I must say that I am so tired of everyplace that I go to coming off as a ‘sports bar’, with TVs on every available wall-space. I’m HAPPY that it sounds like there might be a place to go where people might actually talk with each-other instead of staring at large screens the entire visit!
Off on a tangent, but wishful thinking about people talking with each other without TVs. I have been in the industry for years. Nowadays, the only time people talk is when there is some sort of distracting entertainment. If not, everyone is staring at their “mini-screen” ala phone or tablet, doing something even more mundane. Kind of like what I’m doing now and what Catherine was doing instead of conversing at the bar, writing a review with her head down, staring at her phone. Our only way to communicate with each other now is through social media or talking about the Seahawks.
@19. Gosh, Johann, I’m sorry that seems to be the case for you, but it sure isn’t for me, and for lots of people that I know.
Yeah, we do, often, enjoy watching a Seahawks (or Bears!) game together, and yakking during the breaks.
But we also value, and enjoy, meeting for coffee, or a beer, or a glass of wine and having a conversation. No personal electronics needed! There are several wonderful venues for this in our Wallingford and Fremont neighborhoods…and whether there’s a TV in the background doesn’t make all that much difference if one is engaged with one’s companions and the conversation they provide.
I agree that it may be difficult, sometimes, to set entertainment and iPads aside, but it certainly can be done…I hope you will give it a try!
I think we all know places with no TV, where there’s so much talking going on that you almost have to scream to make yourself heard.
But it’s interesting, I’d never thought very hard about the function of those screens. The venues that put up a TV, likely know what they’re doing – and so do the ones that don’t. I think Fremont Brewing’s new pub space has TVs – maybe that’s why I see so many people sitting at the outside tables on cold, grey windy days, to get away from the stupid TV.
@Neighbor2You- can I hang out with you and your friends?
I am just stating the facts with my tangent. Where I’m from, Amsterdam, we go out to bars and we talk to anyone who is to our left and our right. Since moving to Seattle, I have stopped trying to talk to random people at the bar. It’s usually the same outcome: a polite but uninterested response, followed by more intensely staring at their phone. Only during sport events does the person next to you become your friend. Call me bitter, call me pathetic, but also cozy up to any bar, look at all the people staring down between their hands, and call me correct.
#SeattleFreeze
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#level236onCandyCrush!
Well, Johann, first of all, I do sympathize. I moved to Seattle in 1987, and I didn’t find it an easy community to break into until I started some specific activities like playing music or going to gallery openings. Took time.
Having said that, though, I do have some thoughts. Hopefully, others will chime in, too, but here’s my perspective:
–You’re right. Seattle is not Amsterdam.
–No, you can’t hang out with me and my friends, mainly because I don’t know you at all, and frankly, if you were to start railing about how “everyone does this-and-that” or about social media, I’d be, like, totally embarrassed.
But hey, who knows, maybe one day our paths will cross and we can give it a real shot. 🙂
–Customs differ, but more to the point, people differ. Say I’m sitting at my favorite bar by myself enjoying some quiet (especially after a full day of work). My being to the immediate left or right of a total stranger doesn’t automatically mean I want to have a conversation, let alone be a listening post…especially if they’re, um, boring.
Having said that, I think most people are open to at least the idea of a conversation. But conversation about….what? I can assure you that if some windbag corners me just to run his face, I’m out of there as fast as I can. It’s too much like….being at work, lol.
–Spending time with friends is rather a separate thing. What I’d offer is that in my favorite hangouts in our neighborhood, over time I’ve come to know some people by name (or at least by sight), and frankly, it’s pretty easy to tell if/when they’re up for chatting and when they’re not. So if they’re reading a book (or writing one!), I might ask how that’s going, but otherwise leave it up to them.
In short, I think a modicum of sensitivity, and friendliness, works well….and I say that as someone who’s pretty awkward socially anyway. Again, it takes time.
So to your last point, while you may be citing your own experience, I don’t think you’re at all correct in your assessment of other people, nor your assessment of bar conversation. Above all, I hope things get better for you….whether strangers, neighbors, or friends, I think there are great people here. Good luck!
Just to set the record straight, Johann, please speak for yourself. I was not at the bar staring at my phone with my head down when I wrote my previous reply. I was sitting at home with my laptop.
I agree with you, Catherine – it’s nice to have a place to go where there aren’t a range of TV screens around the walls. I went to Murphy’s on Saturday with my family and had a decent meal, enjoyed our conversation without TV distractions, listened to spontaneous singing and had a perfectly comfortable evening. Great idea to have kid friendly early evening – saves us driving to Hales! I wonder if quiz night will be back?
I always liked the fish n chips; rueben and nachoes. At some tiem it seemed that the carpet smelled. I hope they kept the good food and changed rugs. I don’t care about darts and prefer games to Irish music.
Went there and played scrabble with my 9-yr-old daughter tonight and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. We had the shepherds pie and clam chowder, both of who’s where awesome. The soda bread wasnt as good as you can get ate owl-n-thistle, so somebody needs to steal that recipe. I’ll miss the darts, but the music and vibe more than made up for that loss.
Good job Murphys, we’ll be back tomorrow to sample your whisky bread pudding!
The wife and I stopped in to the “new” Murphy’s late last week. Based on what I’m reading here now it sounds like the food has improved, so they got that going for them. We didn’t eat so I can’t comment on that but otherwise it seemed like more/less the exact same place as it was before.
All this talk before the opening of making it into a “real” Irish bar I guess meant leaving it more/less in tact and getting some guys with Irish accents to pull pints. I’ve never been to Ireland so I can’t comment if it’s authentic to that standard or not. However I did go to bars in the states in the late 80’s and early 90’s and I think they have that look pretty much nailed.
And Johann, you and I see Murphy’s through the same lens, we got that in common so I’m down to hang out with you. I’ve been to Amsterdam a handful of times and have always found the Dutch to be good peeps. Hit me up!
Finally, a decent Reubens sandwich in Wallingford! And there’s the added benefit that Patrick won’t be there.