Donovan's Pub - Woodside
Quintessential Irish Pub - Restaurants In Woodside
Woodside Neighborhood / Sunnyside & Woodside Restaurants / Queens Restaurants / Queens Buzz. I’ve been wanting to review Donovan’s Pub for a while, but without stereotyping it as an Irish Pub. But alas, it’s about as Irish a pub as you’ll find in all of New York, maybe even the world, save perhaps, Ireland itself.
I was met by Jack Donovan who is the brother of the owner; Joe. Jack has been managing the Irish pub ever since he retired as a New York police detective in 1990. Since then he’s been managing the affairs of Donovan’s Pub in tandem with, and for, his brother Joe.
Ambiance At Donovan's Irish Pub - Queens
Jack gave me a brief tour of the expansive restaurant and bar, which on the outside looks like a small Irish pub but on the inside has three separate large dining rooms, a smaller dining room and a long bar at the entrance. Donovan's Pub happens to be a case where looks are deceiving, as the pub is capable of seating 179 people. The benefit is that it can quickly and easily accommodate large groups on a moment's notice, such as a spur-of-the-moment gathering of the guys before a Mets game.
Donovan's Pub puts solid wooden floors beneath your feet, and provides a dark cozy comfortable atmosphere. There are three working wood burning fireplaces which add to that comfort, especially on a cold winter day. Because of its size, the pub has an expansive airy feel to it, but at the same time it’s a sort of labyrinthian maze. The net result is that they can provide customers with a mix of ambiance ranging from private 'date', to a family dinner to a beer hall get together. And they can do it simultaneously.
I sat down in the main dining room and was waited on by an Irish lass. As it turns out, she’s the pub’s newest waitress, having started in 1997. One of the other waitresses has been working at Donovan’s since 1967, shortly after the pub became Donovan’s.
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