Wine Dine and Play: O'brien's Irish Pub

Brandon’s Favorite Little Pub

Brandon, Florida, USA

Dined from 2004-2017

July and December 2016 review

By Sean Overpeck (CFE)

28 April 2017 review / 16 December 2016 review

It started back in 2004, when I visited my father and stepmother after they retired to Brandon, Florida. They found a few spots that they enjoyed going to and meeting up with some friends that became a regular Friday night tradition. At the time they were a small pub with a side section for the restaurant which was non smoking, and the main bar section for smoking. As the years went by, the laws banning smoking indoors went into affect, and the entire bar area and dining room opened into one large section, with a huge patio outside to accommodate the smokers. This little hole in the wall, is known as Brandon’s favorite little pub, O’brien’s Irish Pub. Since that first visit, they take me their every time I traveled down to Florida. Now I live in St. Petersburg, and my wife and I visit them all the time, still meeting up with my folks and their friends.

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Owner:
Sean Rice

Main review:

If you want it, then O’Brien’s has it. Every night there is a different type of special. During the football season groups of fans pack in supporting their teams, while their rivals occupy one side of the bar, while they are at the other. If you're not a sports fan, and you just want to come in and enjoy a beer or a sandwich, then this is also the place for you. Over the years as I have come in to meet up with my parents and their friends, I’ve never paid attention to the televisions, just sat back, enjoyed many items on the menu and had a good time. Speaking of the menu, here is the breakdown:

Start Here (Appetizers)
Salads
Sandwiches & Wraps
Burgers & Sliders
Pub Favorites
Gourmet Pub Pizza
Pub Snacks & Platters
Sides
Wings
Desserts

On this particular visit, I was home from working overseas, and my wife I headed on over to meet the folks, and depending on who shows up, the crowd can be as small as six or as many as fifteen to twenty. I’m not a very big Guinness drinker, though I really did enjoy the Guinness when I was in Dublin back in 2013 eating at places like Alex Restaurant and Guilroy’s. Here at O’Brein’s, the Guinness on tap is actually really good, and close to the quality served in Ireland. As we enjoyed the evening with conversation we ordered a few snacks starting with the chips and gravy ($7), prepared using homemade potato chips topped in a wonderful tasting Guinness gravy.

Next we enjoyed some Reuben Rolls ($9), which my father recommended. My dad is a big Reuben connoisseur, and can tell you the best places to get a Reuben and places to avoid, all over the country. There were three to the order, filled with corned beef, sauerkraut, and swiss cheese, and a side of thousand island dressing for dipping. The rolls were lightly fried, served steaming hot, and tasted delicious.

Other items on the starters menu included chicken bombers ($8) which were pieces of chicken in flour tortillas, similar to a quesadilla, pork or chicken nachos ($11) or an OB’s sampler ($15) to name a few. Under salads they had a choice of a wedge or house salad ($7), chef ($10), caesar ($8), and a Greek ($10).

At O'brein's, my folks & wife friends

For sandwiches, wraps, and burgers, you could get the Key West shrimp wrap ($11), a Philly ($12), Cuban ($10), or Tacos ($10). I know your thinking that this is an Irish pub and the only thing you have seen menu wise that is remotely Irish was the Guinness gravy. Well under the burgers and further on, they do not disappoint. There is the Celtic Burger ($10), Shamrock Burger ($13), Stout Burger ($11), and the hangover burger ($11). I’ve had a few of these in the past, and they are all very good as well. For entrees you can enjoy bar favorites like fajitas ($15), or your more common Irish favorites like shepherd’s pie ($12), though it should be called cottage pie, since it has ground beef in it instead of lamb. Corned beef and cabbage ($14) is always a favorite, whisky glazed salmon ($15) hopefully using some Jameson’s, and another English favorite of bangers and mash ($10).

My folks and friends at O'brein's

The hand tossed pizzas with buffalo chicken, Hawaiian, supreme, or meat feast to name a few conclude the menu along with the wing selections, where you can get regular boneless or jumbo wings. We also enjoy a small basket of eight wings ($8).

December 2016 UPDATE....

For the next visit, my wife, daughter, parents and I returned to O'brein's yet again to meet up with the crowd and enjoy more favorites from the menu, including some buffalo chicken dip with chips, BBQ pork nachos, and a wedge salad, all pictured below. All while enjoying a few drinks as normal...

Food Prices

(excluding, alcohol, taxes & gratuity)

$£€¥ - Under 50.00

$£€¥ x 2 - 51.00- 99.00

$£€¥ x 3 - Over 100.00

$£€¥ x 4 - Over 200.00

$£€¥ x 5 - Over 400.00

**Currencies chosen reflect the world’s major travelers and restaurant connoisseur’s**

My food bill:	Currency:	Price chart:
$31.00	United States Dollar (USD)	$
$41.00	Australian Dollar (AUS)	$
£25.00	Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)	£
$41.00	Canadian Dollar (CAN)	$
¥208.00	Chinese Yuan (CNY)	¥¥¥¥
€28.00	European Union (EUR)	€

Alcohol Prices:

$37.00

Review basics:

Restaurant style:	Casual
Reservations:	Not Required
Child policy:	The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a child’s menu or cater to them; however for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended for children not to be in attendance, unless they have been trained in proper etiquette. Hire a Babysitter!
Dress code:	Casual
Cuisine style:	Modern, Lounge, Bar, American, Irish, English, Tex-Mex, & Vegetarian
Experiences:	Trendy, Lounge, Business parties, Hot spot, Great bar, Great outdoor dining, Good for special occasions, Rustic, Hole-in-the-wall, and a Neighborhood gem.
Payments:	Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express
Parking:	Public lot
Wifi	The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
Noise level:	Medium to Loud
Smoking:	Nonsmoking restaurant, but a smoking patio
Patio:	Yes

O’Brein’s Irish Pub:

701 W Lumsden Rd
Brandon, Florida

33511

Contact Information:

Maître d or host:	813.661.9688
Restaurant website:	O’Brien’s Pub
Serving hours: Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 5:00)	Daily: Mon-Sun 11:00 am - 3:00 am
Email or webpage contact:	Contact the restaurant
Social Media & Accolades:	Facebook link
Social Media & Accolades:	Twitter @ObriensPubs

Reviewed by:

Sean Overpeck (CFE)

About Sean:

I am based out of St. Petersburg, Florida working in the food service industry for the past twenty years, and am currently with the American Embassy as the Executive Chef in Basra, Iraq. Formally I have worked with groups contracting in Afghanistan, and Antarctica, also working in restaurants in and around Atlanta, Georgia prior to the wars. I have also owned a catering company and served proudly in the United States Army Food Service Program. The idea for Wine, Dine, and Play started in late 2012 after a trip to Jordan, when I was asked by friends to write down the experiences from a few Jordanian restaurants, wine from the region that I tasted, and locations of interest such as Petra. Since that time, over 250 articles have been written on restaurants, including fifteen from the worlds top 100 lists of San Pellegrino and the Elite Travelers Guide. There are articles on exotic world locations such as Victoria Falls, and South African Safari’s; food recipes & Grand Food Dictionaries; ethnic country cuisines such as Afghan, and Peruvian; tasting tours of world cities like Charleston, Cape Town, and Dubai; and of course wine from vineyards in California, Oregon, the Carolina’s, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia, with much more to see and write about.

Who is John Galt?

“Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things,

But in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”

-Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661)