Three Cheers for Ri Ra

It's a chilly day in Uptown Charlotte and as you wander the streets, admiring the oversized Christmas trees, ornaments and other items of holiday cheer. Hunger strikes.

And what better to quiet the belly beast than with classic Irish fare, in a certified haunted building, with really cute waitstaff? You down? Come on!

I started things off right with a Flat Tire on draft. Yes, I know, Flat Tire is an American craft, not Irish, but Flat Tire isn't available in FLA, so I have to get it while I can.

Yum. Amber and delicious and much less hoppy than one (and by "one" I meant myself, obvs) would expect.

Sweet bar, right? It is over 200 years old and was imported directly from Ireland for Ri Ra's. Oh and it has a resident "protective entity" in the form of a 30-something bar-tender ghost. The upstairs bar apparently has a few ghosts too, including a little girl who practices her penmanship on the draft chalkboard.

This mess, that I dove into before taking a picture, was one of the lunch specials: Fried Haddock Sandwich with house cut "chips". So good. The fish was flaky and delicious, and the chips were tender and flavorful. Amen.

Abigail got the special of the month, otherwise known as "The Roast," which was a 1/2 cow serving of the tenderest beef I have tasted in long while, with mashed potatoes, which bled into the roasted beets.  And were amazing. The beets, not the bleeding part. I'm so roasting beets when I get home.

 

Stay tuned for more excitement from Charlotte, NC.

Love to all,

~ the good Irish gal, who loves the Queen City, Jess