Local Pubs Vol. 2 – Frankie Farrell’s Irish Pub & Grille

Are you a big soccer fan? Do you hate to miss your favorite sporting events – even when you’re on vacation? Do you like to drink good beer and eat great food while watching your sporting events? Well I’ve found a hidden gem that will take care of all of these desires!!

Frankie Farrell’s Irish Pub & Grille

My family and I spent a long weekend up at our Disney Holiday Townhome (DHT) recently. While there, I got a real hankerin’ for a good beer. I did a couple of searches on the Internet, but didn’t find much in the area. On our way to EPCOT, I noticed a billboard on SR-535. Frankie Farrell’s Irish Pub & Grille. Hmmm…. This might fit the bill!

Frankie Farrell’s is a brand new pub (less than 1 year as of June 1, 2008 ) that is located behind the Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores just off SR-535, and just south of SR-417. The great thing for my family (and our guests) is that it is just under 3 miles away from DHT! Because it is so new and not obvious from SR-535, it is not very crowded – YET!

We were greeted by Ryan, one of the managers, and his staff. I had many questions about the beer selection and the sports packages that they provide. Ryan and his crew answered all of my questions. When they didn’t have an immediate answer, they would go off to research the question and return with the answer.

The decor certainly gives you the feel of an Irish pub, but it isn’t as intimate as the other local pubs I frequent. Since it is brand new, you definitely do not have that residual smell of smoke that many older establishments have from back in the days when smoking was allowed inside. There is also a really nice outside cafe area for cooler weather.

Our server, Kate, was friendly and very attentive. She was also very helpful when we had questions about menu items. We never had to wait long for refills. The food arrived before I had finished my first pint, which was unexpected. I’m usually on my second pint before my food arrives at my local pubs.

The quality beer selection and excellent food are just the beginning of why this pub may turn out to be my personal “watering hole of choice” whenever we’re staying at DHT. The beer list is long and full of great beers including beers from Ireland, England, Denmark, Belgium, Australia, Holland, and microbreweries in the US. There are also the US standards. No German beers (Spaten, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, etc), which is what I prefer, but hey, it’s an Irish Pub!! Besides, I love a good Guinness straight from the tap. Here is a list of beers available when my family visited:

Draft Beers

• Guinness
• Bass
• Magner’s
• Harp
• Swithwick’s
• Tennent’s
• Boddington’s
• Newcastle
• Strongbow
• Carlsberg
• Stella Artois
• Foster’s
• Heineken
• Grolsch
• Shipyard (Seasonal)
• Blue Moon
• Wild Berry Ale
• Sam Adams
• Yuengling
• Killian’s Irish Red
• Miller Lite
• Amber Bock
• Budweiser
• Bud Light
• Coors Light

Bottled Beers

• Heineken Light
• Corona
• Smirnoff Ice
• Budweiser
• Bud Light
• Michelob Light
• Michelob Ultra
• Miller Lite

Food

If you like pub food, then you’ll be in heaven at Frankie Farrell’s! Not a big fan of pub food? Well, don’t despair – there is a wide selection of menu items that aren’t considered typical pub food to choose from. Appetizers include such things as Buffalo wings, chicken quesadillas, mozzarella sticks, potato skins. Salads and soups are also available. Main courses range from sandwiches to burgers. Steak and fish also can be ordered, along with chicken Parmesan, teriyaki chicken, and chicken & mushroom alfredo.

I’m sure the food above is great (and I’m sure I’ll find out, eventually), but besides great beer, I head to an Irish or British pub for what I consider traditional “pub food”. I’m a big fan of pub food, and so is my family. We ordered a couple of items and shared them to see what everyone liked.

First off, here is the “pub menu”:

• Irish Breakfast – Served all day! Rashers (bacon), sausage, white & black pudding, eggs, fried tomatoes.
• Fish And Chips – Atlantic Cod in our own special batter and deep fried, served with tartar sauce and chips.
• Shepherd’s Pie – Choice ground beef, carrots, onions, celery, and leeks mixed together and cooked to perfection and topped with fluffy mashed potatoes. Optional cheese topping.
• Bangers & Mash – Two plump British Isles sausages served with fluffy piping hot mashed potatoes and gravy
• Chicken Curry – Every region in India has their own version. We present our classic regional favorite served over your choice of chips or a bed of rice.
• Guinness Stew – This pub specialty is Angus Sirloin braised in Guinness Stout with aromatic vegetables.

I tried the shepherd’s pie, and my wife had the chicken curry. Both were excellent. If I were to compare them with other pubs that I frequent, I would say that the curry was the best I’ve had! (I have a local Indian restaurant that serves better curry – in my humble opinion – but no pub does it better!) Curry can vary widely from restaurant to restaurant. I’m sure this is based on the region of India where the recipe originated. This curry tended more towards a green curry, rather than a red curry. Curry isn’t for everyone. However, if you are a curry fan, you’ll be very satisfied with this one!

The shepherd’s pie was very traditional and had a great flavor. I went with the optional cheese, which is the only way to go – again, in my opinion. The menu item above states only ground beef. However, I believe our waitress said there was also lamb in the mix, which makes sense since this is how most (all?) shepherd’s pies that I’ve had previously have been prepared. Either way, the pie was awesome! The only thing I would say is that it would have been nice to also have a side vegetable – say, steamed broccoli and/or carrots.

The kids tried both of these, and both gave them a big “thumbs up”! Our next visit will include an order of the Guinness stew, at the very least! It came highly recommended by the entire staff.

Prices

Prices were just above the sweet spot of most Kissimmee and Orlando area restaurants. Sandwiches, burgers, and appetizers were under $10. Most entrees were under $15. Steaks and fish (not fish and chips, which were $14.95) were typically between $20 and $25. Not exorbitant prices, but slightly higher than your typical Applebee’s, TGi Friday’s, or Olive Garden.

The Best For Last – SPORTS!

I’m a big college basketball and football fan. I also enjoy the NFL and NASCAR. But you can get many of those sporting events at home or in an average sports bar. With the 2008 Euro Cup coming up, I was looking for a place where I could watch soccer (football, to the rest of the world). Frankie Farrell’s has DirecTV, along with several sports channels. ESPN, ESPN2, GolTV, Setanta, and Fox Soccer Channel are all provided, which means I don’t have to miss a single match of the 2008 Euro Cup – or the upcoming Bundesliga season for that matter! These channels cover just about every major soccer league in Europe and the Americas!! With 13 TVs available, you are all but guaranteed to see the match of your choice.

I checked with Ryan, and he mentioned that they may get some of the other major sports packages offered by DirecTV once they become more established.

Soccer, Food, and Good Beer – All of the Essentials!

Frankie Farrell’s isn’t the quintessential Irish pub – then again, it’s not a hundred (or more!) years old either! But if you want to watch your favorite soccer team, enjoy a great beer, and some very good food in a pub atmosphere, then Frankie Farrell’s will do quite nicely! Heck, unless your wife is a soccer fan, too, let her walk over to the Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores for an afternoon of shopping while you bask in the glory of your team’s victory!

Combine these elements with the close proximity to DHT, and you can’t go wrong with picking Frankie Farrell’s Irish Pub & Grille as your holiday watering hole!

Up Next

Another pub crawl? Another shopping spree? Maybe some local minor attractions? Who knows – it’s summer! And I’m sure I’ll come up with something!