McAleer's Blog

Real or Blarney?

Real or Blarney?

What makes a real Irish pub, and what’s one full of blarney? Or, excuse my French, what’s a faux Irish pub?

There’s so many places out there claiming to be Irish pubs, but it’s just a marketing campaign. McAleer’s has been an Upper West Side tradition for almost 60 years, and it’s a lifstyle not a marketing ploy.

Pragmatically, a true Irish pub makes the food from scratch, from fresh ingredients. The Irish can be a suspicious people, and we just don’t trust frozen, pre-made, easy options. We serve the food as if we’re making it for family, that’s a real Irish pub.

We also know how to drink, we know how to pour, and we know how to make our customers feel at home, be a part of the crowd and conversation. It’s an art form you can’t teach, you can only learn, and it comes from the heart not the corporate office.

Generations of McAleers have called New York City home, and generations McAleer’s have worked to keep McAleer’s pub a fixture, a tradition, an authentic Irish pub.

Love the Pub

It’s an accepted fact around the globe that the Irish have produced the greatest authors in the world, but the English have produced a few themselves. One recent book coming out of Britain is “The Old Spring” by Richard Francis.

The reason I have a certain appreciation for this book is pretty obvious, it’s all set in a pub. The pub itself is a character in the book, it’s the the glue for all the characters. It’s a story that really captures the feeling of the pub in society, how it brings people together, brings them out of their separate homes and allows them to interact. In this way, the pub rises above religious differences, racial differences, and gives a platform for people to come together.

The characters in the story deal with love, death, sex, and all the other elements of life, but it’s the pub that brings it all together. While not written to be Hollywood action packed movie, the book reads fast and easy as the story takes us through one day in the life of a pub. There’s a steady supply of comedy as we get to peak in on the private lives, thoughts and feelings of various characters that seem so familiar.

The New Menu



The Mystics Making a Bun

Along with our new kitchen comes a variety of new items on the menu like Flat Bread Pizza, Mac’s Beef or Pork Sliders, Mac’s Fish or Chicken Tacos, and a New Zealand Lamb Burger just to name a few.

Some of the new items, like burgers, are served on a fantastic bun….but on the menu we call it a brioche bun which has caused some trouble for our waiters & waitresses since they often have to explain what this bun is….we should have just called it a fantastic bun.

The brioche bun was originally created in ancient Ireland by mystic Druids who instilled magical powers into the bun….not many people know that since it’s not recorded anywhere else but here.  History, incorrectly, attributes the bakers in Vienna with coming up the recipe which was then stolen by the French in what is known as the Hot Buns War of the 1400s.

McAleer’s  bun contains all the mystical powers of the original  created by the ancient Druids, and adds the perfect texture, perfect flavoring, and perfect proportions. …Perhaps we should have called it The Perfect Bun…..

The Irish Zorro



The last time a foreign army invaded North or South America was back in May 5th, 1862…Cinco de Mayo. 4,000 Mexicans defeated 8,000 French soldiers.

And of course, we can assume there were some good Irishmen in the fight. Thousands of Irish emigrated to Mexico during the famine in Ireland, and there are monuments recognizing their efforts during the war for independence there.

Then there is the tale of William Lamport from County Wexford who was an adventurer, escaped the Inquisition, authored the first proclamation of independence in the New World, and is believed by some to be the basis for the fictional character Zorro.

But Cinco de Mayo is about Mexico…even though its not celebrated widely in Mexico…It’s celebrated a lot in the USA…so cheers!

If you out and about, come in to McAleer’s Pub for half price Corona’s and tequila shots on May 5th

Spring Break…& Irish History



Spring Fever…most people get it regardless of what age they are, just the fever is not as high as you get older. But for those lucky enough to have spring fever during Spring Break, they may notice a heavy Irish influence in the Caribbean….which has an interesting history behind it.

The Irish slave trade prospered in the mid 1600s under Cromwell. In 1629 a large group of Irish men and women were sent to Guiana, and by 1632, Irish were the main slaves sold to Antigua and Montserrat. The influence was so great in Montserrat, that even in the late 1800s Gaelic was still frequently spoken by the residents. Irish sailors who visited the island at this time were shocked to meet local black residents speaking their native language, and they were also treated to some typical Irish humor. The dark skinned residents, with tongue in cheek, told the pale faced Irish sailors that they did not look too Irish.

St. Kitts has a monument in commemoration of the 25,000 Irish men and women who were shipped there as slaves. In one particularly grueling story, over 150 Irish slaves were caught practicing Catholicism, and were shipped to tiny Crab Island, where they died of starvation.

The African slaves were not Catholic, so there treatment was slightly less inhumane than that of the Irish slaves. Reports from the time indicate that Irish slaves were cheaper than African slaves, and therefore owners had less of a financial stake in their survival. As Colonel William Brayne wrote requesting an increase in African slaves in 1656, “as the planters would have to pay much more for them, they would have an interest in preserving their lives, which was wanting in the case of (Irish)….”

The British governor’s wife in Jamaica, Lady Nugent, in the journal of her time in Jamaica, wrote about the African and Irish slaves: “We treated them with beef and punch, and never was there a happier set of people. All day they have been singing odd songs, only interrupted by peals of laughter; and indeed I must say they have every reason to be content, for they have many comforts and enjoyments. I only wish the poor Irish were half as well off.”

But let’s end on a lighter note, in Jamaica where Sir Alexander Bustamante became a national hero and one of Jamaica’s most beloved politicians. He used to brag he was 50% Irish, 50% Jamaican and 10% Arawak….that’s Irish math. And then there is the mysterious origins of the term “irie”….everyone knows what it means, but no one knows for certain where it originated. Could it be a recognition of that Irish spirit that gets knocked around but always bounces back? Keeping a positive vibe. Maybe….

And the awesome sounds of the legendary Bob Marley. The lilting music, the poetic verses, the soulful strength and celebration…there’s got to be a little bit of Irish there…