Photo by: Anthony Mair
If you haven’t yet sat down at one of Rí Rá Irish Pub’s bars for a drink, or ordered up a meal at a high-top or cozy booth, then don’t delay! It’s great food, great beer and all kinds of cheer! And with St. Patrick’s Day this week, and the restaurant’s 15th anniversary on the Las Vegas Strip, it’s the perfect time to stop in.
As you approach Rí Rá Irish Pub in The Shoppes at Mandalay Place, you may feel like you’ve been transported back in time, with dark woods, shop windows, columns and corbels. It’s heartily inviting, but doesn’t compare to what’s inside, where you’ll really feel like it’s a different century. Rí Rá Irish Pub is formed of multiple rooms, with bars and tables in each.
Much of the interior has been reclaimed from Ireland and reconstructed here by Irish craftsmen. Almost like a museum exhibit is the shop bar (although museum exhibits wouldn’t have the good folk drinking and eating inside), a petite space with benches, tables and the original bar from co-founder Cairan Sheehan’s grandfather’s pub, founded in the 1880s and rebuilt in the 1920s after a fire. That’s just the start of several more ornate bars and rooms, from the Victorian Room, with a bar top of Kilkenny limestone, a statue of St. Patrick, a gorgeous floor made by the same company that worked on the Titanic, and a huge set of antique cabinets that house an enormous whiskey collection; the Theater Room, with an impressive bar backed by huge mirrors rescued from the Olympia Theatre in Dublin; and the Living Room, designed as a typical 1970s Irish living room (with a cute little bar). And all over the walls, you’ll find photos and memorabilia.
Photo by: Courtesy of MGM Resorts International Operations, Inc.
Once seated, grab a drink—there are several Irish brews to choose from, including Guinness, and you can’t go wrong with one of those pints! You have plenty of authentic dishes to choose from and a few extra as well. I recommend starting with potato cakes and deviled Scotch eggs. The potato cakes are creamy, with sour cream and balsamic glaze atop and cheddar lending richness to the mashed potato. The Scotch egg changes the traditional breaded, sausage-wrapped boiled egg and devils the yolks, creating a creamy, surprising mouthful. Baked goat cheese, potato leek soup and sausage roll bites with Guinness-mustard sauce might also be to your liking.
For mains, choose from pub faves like the Guinness BBQ burger, with cheddar cheese, Guinness barbecue sauce and onion rings, or the Dubliner burger, with a rosemary-infused lamb patty, goat cheese and curry aioli.
Specialties to try include beef and Guinness stew, with barley, root veg and mashed potatoes on top; chicken pot pie; fish and chips with lager-breaded haddock; shepherd’s pie with lamb and beef; or the all-day Irish breakfast, a classic with eggs, Irish bangers (sausage) and rashers (bacon), black and white pudding (Google it), mushrooms, tomato and toast; and pub mac and cheese, so creamy and delicious with mushrooms, garlic and a crumb topping.
For dessert, indulge in a rich bread pudding with dollops of whipped cream, but on St. Patrick’s Day ask about the Baileys cheesecake or the Oreo ice cream cake, with Oreos, Heath bars, chocolate and caramel sauce and whipped cream.
Photo by: Courtesy of MGM Resorts International Operations, Inc.
St. Patrick’s Day
Celebrate at Rí Rá Irish Pub with a curated menu of favorite Irish dishes on St. Patrick’s Day and live Irish entertainment throughout the week.
March 15: 8 p.m.-midnight, The Crooked Jacks perform
March 16: 5 p.m. midnight, The Crooked Jacks and Perfect Strangers alternate times
March 17: From noon to midnight, The Crooked Jacks, Perfect Strangers, and Dave Rooney & Friends provide live music while dancers and bagpipers perform periodically throughout the afternoon
March 18-22: 8 p.m.-midnight: The Crooked Jacks are back
The Shoppes at Mandalay Bay. 702.632.7771 or rira.com
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