Food Czar Revisit #4: Lochrann's Irish Pub & Eatery

Alright, let's get one thing straight. In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm no purist when it comes to much of anything, let alone food. I've read reports that the delightful downtown Frisco bar know as Lochrann's Irish Pub isn't "sufficently Irish". While I can definitely respect someone else's opinion on the subject, I feel I have to come clean and admit the truth: I DON'T CARE!!! When I visit a restaurant, all I care about are good, affordable eats served in a timely fashion by nice people without attitude. Lochrann's can be as Irish as County Cork or not, it doesn't matter, as long as the above criteria are met. Furthurmore, some patrons have apparently had issues with the service. I can honestly say I've been to this pub several times and have had nothing but exemplary service. Perhaps I've been lucky or perhaps most of the problems were worked out in the shakedown cruise that is the first few months of a restaurant's existence. In any case, my wife and I had originally intended one recent Saturday evening to dined at the newly-opened branch of Mattitos next door. We walked in and were told there was an hour wait. My maximum wait for a restaurant is thirty minutes, so after a little deliberation, I decided it was time Lochrann's got a revisit.

We were seated right away at the only vacant table remaining (thankfully, it was a two-fer), where the attractive and efficent Bailey tended to our needs. My lovely Rock Star is a huge fan of the beer and cider drink known as a Black Velvet and ordered it. I decided to go with Boddingtons Ale (Lochrann's features a dozen or so beers on draft.) We scanned the menu and decided on an intriguing appetizer: Leprichauns Gold, three generous balls of corned beef and roasted garlic mashed potatoes, rolled and deep fried. Not only were they delicious by themselves, but they were served with lip-smackin' Guinness gravy, making this one of the best appeteasers I've had in ages. My wife loves a great burger, and when in Frisco, ordered the Frisco burger. Tender, fresh beef prepared medium and served with onion rings, bacon, cheddar cheese, and home-made BBQ sauce. Very nice. For myself, even though I'm not a purist, I can get a good burger all over town, so I opted for an Irish specialty: chicken and bacon boxty potato pancakes. Rather light, as the menu promised, but still full of potato flavor, and served with a fabulous bechamel sauce, those boxin' boxtys were quite satisfying. As sweet as Irish cream, Bailey was easily able to tempt us into dessert: made-in-house carrot cake, thick with frosting. Soon we were boxing up the leftovers and making plans to depart.

Then, out in the parking lot, disaster struck. The car wouldn't start. Despite three hours and two or three jumpstart attempts, we could not revive our conveyance. So, taking the advice of our road assistance supervisor, who said a wrecker would take another ninety minutes (this after three hours of frustration), we decided to call a cab and arrange for a wrecker on the morrow. After some thought, we decided that our pub, like all bars, must call dozens of cabs in the course of business, and would know which company to use. The manager on duty was extraordinarily kind, not only calling the cab company himself, but furnishing us with complimentary sodas while we waited and enjoyed the excellent live music. Now that's service!!! Lochrann's had already earned our business that evening, now I believe they truly went above and beyond the call of duty. We'll be back! Website is of course www.lochranns.com. Hopefully, you'll find a similar pot of gold at the end of the rainbow on your visit, and remember:

LIFE IS TOO SHORT FOR MEDIOCRE FOOD!!!