Bites Nearby: Mavis Winkle's Irish Pub

Restaurant: Mavis Winkle’s Irish Pub

Cuisine: Irish pub-style food

Atmosphere: Casual

Drinks: Various foreign and domestic beers; fully stocked bar

Appetizers: Choose from starters like Reuben Bites ($7.49), Celtic Calamari ($8.99), pierogi ($6.99), O’ Rings ($6.99), Shamrock Dip ($6.99) and Kieran’s Quesadilla ($7.99).

Entrees: There's a variety of dishes, such as the corned beef boxty ($9.99), salmon boxty ($10.99), corned beef and cabbage ($11.99), bangers and mash ($12.99), pot roast sandwich ($ 8.49), Chicken Francoise ($13.99), baby back ribs (Half $13.99 Full $19.99) and the Tropical Tilapia ($12.99).

Desserts: If you're in the mood for dessert, there are options like bread pudding ($5.49), Rocky Road Brownie ($5.49), carrot cake ($5.49), Annie's Apple Crisp ($5.49) and banoffi ($4.99).

Service: Sit down

Reservations: Not required

Address: 5005 Rockside Road Independence, Ohio 44131

Hours of Operation: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday;  11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays

Cost: $$ (on a scale of 1 to 5)

In a nutshell: 

With dishes like chicken paprikash, Tropical Tilapia and baby back ribs, you can tell that this Irish-themed pub isn’t exactly going for 100 percent authenticity as far as its menu goes. But you know what? That’s more than OK.

Don’t get me wrong, Mavis Winkle’s serves more than enough of the “traditional” corned beef, boxty and colcannon to satisfy anyone from Ireland itself. But according to its website, the overall goal of Mavis Winkle’s owners was to recreate the spirit of a traditional Irish pub while, at the same time, offering a menu that is not only eclectic enough to attract a more culinary-diverse crowd, but tasty enough to keep them coming back.

And in this they have succeeded; the restaurant itself does have that coziness traditionally associated with Irish pubs without coming across as overly gimmicky (well, except maybe for the bar clock counting down the days until St. Patrick‘s day). But it’s the food that ultimately makes the trip worthwhile. While you may be tempted to stick with the ever-ubiquitous corned beef, do yourself a huge favor by expanding your horizons a bit more and try the absolutely fantastic Bangers and Mash with Colcannon.