Mahoneys

Jen and I went here on our first date.  Yep, its true, I take girls to the bar on dates.  What a romantic I am.  Actually, this was part two of our first date, part one was also a bar/restaurant/awesomeness out in Sutliff, Iowa...which I won't review here as it is outside the scope of this here bar tour.  After drinking a few PBR's at Sutliff Tavern, we moseyed on back to civilization, and Jen suggested Mahoneys.  Now, if you haven't read our review of J M O'Malleys yet, then before reading this, please acquaint yourself with that review before going on any further.  Read it?  Read on:  Mahoneys is a great example of what the bars in the Irish District should be like.  It, like its cousin O'Malleys is a hole in the wall, nothing special, small, regulars only type hangout on the weekends, but that doesn't stop you from being able to walk in here, and not feel like the floor might collapse under you.  O'Malleys is small, and admittedly, it has a flaw, and that is parking.  However, they work with what they have, and they work with it well.  It is nice inside and out.  It makes good use of the little space it has, and we had great service.  The bartender even took the time to tell us about a Chili Cook-off they were having the following weekend...seeing as she didn't recognize us, she assumed we didn't know about it...and we didn't.  This is the type of stuff that we love on the bar tour.  Of course, this all happened well before the bar tour was conceived, but the point is this.  How do you grow your bar, and make people want to come back with new friends?  Warm up to the people who aren't regulars!  Serve them drinks!  Engage them in hearty conversation!  Tell them about the Chili Cook-off or whatever silly but awesome ideas your bar happens to be hosting in the near future to help promote yourself.  I don't ask a lot of the bars I go to, but judging by how bad O'Malleys was at the critical things I want in a bar, I think they could take a lesson from their neighbor down the street.  I don't have the highest hopes for Paddy O'Rourks, which is around the corner from Mahoneys, but I will keep an open mind.  I personally think on top of the fact that we had good service here, its pretty cool that a year later I can remember the details of our experience here down to the Chili Cook-off because they made a good impression.  Moving on...

The outside of Mahoneys