O'Keefe's Family Tavern & Grill

Every year I ask Lady Gianna where she would like to go for Mother’s Day and every year it’s the same answer.  “Surprise me.”  Having already heard that this year I was pleasantly surprised to receive a call from her last Thursday telling me moms eat free at O’Keefe’s Tavern in Clearwater.  O’Keefe’s is a great Irish place near the hospital in Clearwater that has been in business for 50 years.  If this was Lady Gianna’s choice then O’Keefe’s it would be!

I called for a reservation and was able to obtain one without any difficulty.  Being that it was Thursday I did not take this as a good sign.  Sure, we had a table reserved, but why was no one else going there?  Having not been there in a few years I wondered if things had gone sour, so when we arrived and saw a full parking lot I actually felt relieved.  We walked in and were immediately seated in a lovely booth.  (On the way to the booth we passed a couple that had just been served an order of chili cheese fries and I will tell you that they looked incredible.)

Our server was a very attractive young girl named Little Sarah.  LS greeted us at the same time I was dropping something.  I apologized for being clumsy to which LS replied “No problem.  I drop stuff all the time, but then again I just turned 21 and am usually drunk”.  Normally a statement like this would frighten the crap out of me, but being that LS was quite pretty I had no problem.

The menu at O'Keefe's is quite extensive.  I already knew that had delicious burgers and they make an amazing Italian beef sandwich, but since this was an Irish pub/tavern I wanted something more along those lines and I ordered the Shepherd’s pie.  Lady Gianna went with the Irish schnitzel with mashed potatoes & gravy and sauerkraut.  LS was quite pleased with our choices.

The Shepherd’s pie was served in a classic bowl along with two small pieces of garlic bread.  LS warned me that the SP was very hot so I tasted the garlic bread first.  It was good garlic bread, but not great.  Could have used more garlic for my taste.  I looked at the SP and could see the steam rise.  The cheese appeared to be perfectly melted on top of the potatoes.  Was it as good underneath all that?  It was tome to find out so I shoved my spoon in to the potatoes and released more steam.  I looked at the blend of beef, peas, potatoes and Guinness gravy and I was mesmerized.  The peas were as green as I had ever seen and the first bite was indeed magical.  The blend of flavors, including the perfectly seasoned beef, was like a wonderland.  The peas were not soggy as is sometimes the case in a Shepherd’s pie.  The gravy was at just the right level and incredibly flavorful.  Not too overwhelming to cover the flavors and not too underwhelming to the point whether you wonder if it was really there.  It was indeed hot, but I savored that bite as long as I could and then went for more.  It did not take that long and I had scraped the bowl clean.  LS was impressed.

Although I am not a big fan of sauerkraut I did partake in some of Lady Gianna’s Irish schnitzel just for the sake of getting it included in this review.  The schnitzel was very flavorful and was a good choice.  The kraut was a perfect compliment as were the potatoes.  Mixing them all together was the way to go.  However, I chose to keep eating my SP and keep my grubby hands off of Lady Gianna’s plate as it was her day after all.

I was stuffed and not really wanting a dessert, but Lady Gianna decided she wanted to try the bread pudding.  LS said that it was made right there the restaurant whereas some of the other desserts were purchased and shipped in.  Since it was homemade I decided that I should give it at least a taste.  It was indescribably delicious.  It was warm and served with a brown rum sauce which I was surprised that I actually enjoyed.

Little Sarah came by and told us how she had never enjoyed bread pudding until she moved here and tried the one at O’Keefe’s.  Out of curiosity I asked LS where she was from and she told us that she moved to Florida from Wisconsin when she was 19.  Then, completely unprovoked, LS decided that she needed to tell us that she was arrested just two weeks after she moved here.  Apparently LS was caught drinking at Gasparilla two years ago and spent the night in the slammer.  While I was certainly enjoying her stories I wondered how appropriate they were at this particular dinner.  LS added that she called her mother back in Wisconsin and was bailed out of jail.  This revealed to me the connection of the underage drinking story and Mother’s Day.  LS has a great mom that would bail her out of jail all the way from America’s Dairyland.  That’s a good mom.

So if you are ever having a hankering for some delicious Irish food I would highly recommend a trip to O’Keefe’s.  Ask for Little Sarah and order the Shepherd’s pie.  You won’t regret it.