Mmm It’s Good!

Shamrock Irish Pub

December 18th, 2008

My affinity for Irish pubs began in Spain, of all places, while I was studying abroad my senior year of college. Us American kids took to hanging out frequently at St. Patty’s, where we could speak English to our hearts’ content and drink good beer.

Since that time, I’ve made it a point to try out other Irish bars - which I’d never done before spending so much time in them abroad - and although they all differ slightly, they’re all fun.

So, when my mom and I took a 2-week vacation to Italy this past summer, it was no different. After a long morning of touring the Roman Colosseum, we were tired, our feet were sore, and we were hungry. Of course, this was 11am Rome time, so the restaurants weren’t open for business yet.

We happened to stumble across an Irish Pub called the Shamrock not far from the Piazza del Colosseum (Via del colosseo 1/c at Via Cavour). The doors were open, so we peeked inside to find an empty but charming bar. The bartender was there, and said he’d need a few minutes to open up. It was worth the wait!

The food was excellent, the beer was pretty good, and our Rugby-playing bartender was courteous and charming (aren’t all Italians?). The decor is strictly Irish - the only Roman influence was the bartender - with soccer scarves and other Irish paraphernalia scattered amongst the bottles and adorning the walls. It was such a neat place we decided to head all the way back for dinner the next night - keep in mind our hotel was no less than 3 miles away!

The night scene was much more animated than our quiet, early-afternoon lunch. It was standing-room only after about 8pm, and the crowd was lively. Evidently it’s much more raucous when there’s a Roman soccer game on the TV But, in spite of being busy, our favorite Irish-bar-in-Rome bartender had time to send us off with a friendly photo!

Entry Filed under: Bars, Irish Pubs