Irish-themed Neponset Avenue venue to open in coming days

Dorchester’s newest eatery — McGonagle’s Restaurant & Pub on Neponset Avenue—is the latest property in the portfolio of Oran McGonagle, a native of Ireland’s County Donegal, who has built an empire of pubs and restaurants across the region over the last decade.

But McGonagle’s — which is expected to swing open its doors over the weekend for a “soft opening”— may be just be his masterpiece.
From the dark-wood finishes and Victorian-style tin ceilings, the two-level McGonagle’s has the look and feel of a centuries-old Dublin pub, complete with a small stage for live music. But it also brings in subtle modern flourishes and an expansive menu that the owner hopes will make it a cherished neighborhood destination.

Oran McGonagle pours a pint inside his ready-to-open pub and restaurant, McGonagle's on Neponset Ave. Cassidy McNeeley photo

“The whole idea of an Irish bar is to be warm, inviting, and cozy. It's an Irish pub and everyone is welcome,” McGonagle told The Reporter during an exclusive tour of the pub on Wednesday. “We’re going to try and make it a really vibrant part of Dorchester where people can have their events. Someone might have their christening here and end up having their 21st here. I want it to be somewhere that really feels like it's a part of the community.”

Located at 376 Neponset Ave. at the corner of Chickatawbut Street, McGonagle’s replaces an earlier bar and eatery— Dorset Hall, which closed earlier this year. McGonagle and his business partner William Mc Carthy enlisted the help of fellow Irishman Keith Gill of KJ Carpentry to completely transform the space into an authentic Irish pub with dark woods, ornate stools, and memorabilia from Ireland, with an emphasis on McGonagle’s hometown, the seaside village of Moville, Co. Donegal.

To further root the space in Irish tradition and his own story, the top floor features glass-stained windows and a shop display full of Irish “bric-a-brac,” a nod to his father who was a shopkeeper back home.

The downstairs stage features a colorful mural depicting Oran McGonagle's hometown in Ireland, the coastal village of Moville, Co. Donegal.

A colorful new mural behind the lower-level stage depicts Moville and proudly carries the name: McGonagle’s… Dorchester.

In fact, the Dorchester connection is just as prominent and meaningful in the space as the Irish ancestry— and that’s no accident. After graduating from Ulster University in 2009, the young Oran left Ireland and headed straight to Dorchester Avenue, where he spent the summer working as a bartender at The Banshee.

When his student visa expired, McGonagle returned home and tried to “do all the stuff they tell you that you have to do after you graduate,” he says. But he’d found his calling back in Boston and before long he was back in Beantown working his way up through the city’s restaurant industry.

That hard work paid off with interest. Today, McGonagle owns or directs operations at seven pubs and restaurants spread out around Boston. He owns The Dubliner Irish Pub across from Boston City Hall and The Cottage Bar; and he is the director of operations for Emmet’s Irish Pub and Restaurant; Roxanne’s Cocktail Bar; Carrie Nation Restaurant & Cocktail Bar, and Scholars.

The Dubliner, which has won acclaim as the city’s number one Irish pub from Boston Magazine for two consecutive years, is known for lively night life, live music and excellent food created by Chef Aiden McGee, who is also the executive chef at the new Dorchester spot.

McGonagle bought what was once The Kinsale in 2022, mid-Covid.

“I had an opportunity to buy The Kinsale and decided to go for that and The Dubliner was born,” he said. “It was our version of an Irish bar, a modern one with different styles of food and not just what I call your mom and dad's Irish music.”

Now, he says, the Neponset Avenue establishment can bring a similar vibe to the neighborhood.

A seating area inside the McGonagle's dining room. Cassidy McNeeley photo

“Dorchester has a big Irish influx in it. We think there needs to be a modernization of the Irish bar here,” said McGonagle, who laughs when asked how he feels about opening his seventh establishment.

“It’s probably because I’m crazy. Honestly, I still have the little itch there, but didn’t think I could do something in Dorchester. I’ve lived here for most of my time in America. I lived three blocks up the street here, North Munroe [Terrace]. I’ve just seen the opportunity and thought, there's room for what we’re doing in the city out here,” said McGonagle, who now lives in Weymouth.

In the new space that carries his name, McGonagle hopes to reach the children of Irish people who moved to Dorchester and other Boston neighborhoods and nearby towns in the 1970s and 80s.

“We’re looking at that demographic being like this is your version of the Irish pub, not your mom and dad’s version.”

There are echoes of the traditional pub vibe peppered throughout the space with vintage photos, signs, and Guinness memorabilia. The updated features are subtle, but critical to the pub’s success. These include tubes brought in from Ireland to try and match the “lines” that pump the Guinness stout from keg to tap.

It’s McGonagle’s intent to serve the best pint in Boston.

“Obviously, in Ireland it's fresh and from there, we’ll never be able to recreate that but what we’ve done here is we basically looked at the specs of an Irish pub in Ireland and what they put in here and we realized that our lines in America are smaller,” he explained.

In Ireland, he says, Guinness is poured with a one-half-inch beer line while the bars in America use quarter-inch lines. That technicality, McGonagle says, makes all the difference in the quality of a pour.

Not only is Guinness pressurized differently than these other beers, but it should be kept at a higher temperature too. To make this happen a separate beer trunk line was installed.

“I cool [the Guinness] separately so I can set it two degrees higher. It’s a lot creamier. The colder the pint, the cream, and everything becomes thinner,” McGonagle said. “We put the pressure where we want it, we put the temperature where we want it so now, we just got to make sure that we’re doing all the other little things that we do.”

This includes pouring and presenting the Guinness properly in a 20 oz. McGonagle’s glass. Now, instead of participating in the trending challenge of ‘splitting the G,’ McGonagle said those on Neponset Ave can “split the Mac G here.”

At the start of each week, every custom glass is “beer cleaned” to make sure the quality of the cup is up to par with that of the drinks. McGonagle’s uses separate lines for ten different drafts like Samuel Adams and Fiddlehead and Dorchester Brewing Co.

Guests who are so inclined can pass up a pint for cocktails such as an Aperol margarita, seasonal sangria, or espresso martinis. And those interested in premium liquor are encouraged to join the whiskey club. Here customers can purchase high-end bottles to keep in their own lockers and access them when they visit the pub.

McGonagle hopes the 30 lockers will add a new dynamic to the Dorchester bar scene. Regulars can visit for meals or nightcaps with family and friends to sip on their own signature cocktail.

The whiskey lockers inside McGonagle's.

“I'll give you a locker, I'll give you a little gold plaque with your name on it, you’ll come in in the evening and say, ‘We’re having a couple of drinks, I want to get a couple out of my whiskey locker.’ We’ll say ‘What's the name? No problem” and we’ll come down with really nice glassware and pour your own bottle,” McGonagle said.

The menu is in the hands of Chef McGee, Chef of The Dubliner, who has also worked at multiple Michelin-star restaurants. On weekends the restaurant will serve a classic Irish breakfast and a traditional Sunday lunch. During the week the lunch menu will feature popular Irish dishes like steak sandwiches and a warm tuna melt.

McGonagle, however, is most excited about the spice bag. “We’re doing a thing that’s probably strange to a lot of Americans. It's called a spice bag, it's an Irish Chinese dish,” said McGonagle. “It's basically like battered chicken, fries, peppers, onions mixed in a spice mix.”

The dinner menu will offer grilled pork chops, fish and chips, chicken pie, steak tips, and even pizza. The menu here was crafted to appeal to neighbors who visit the restaurant regularly.

McGonagle said: “We’re offering a way bigger side selection here. If you do something like steak tips, you could change that meal completely by ordering two different sides with it instead of a set menu, like we do in The Dubliner.”

He added, “There's an element that will compare to The Dubliner definitely but the neighborhood style of this place is a little different. The Dubliner is very touristy and more like a lot of overturn customers that we might see again, where I feel like this place, we might get someone two, three times a week.”

A view inside the two-level McGonagle's pub.

What makes the place so special is restaurant goers can get multiple experiences in just one location.

On a weekday afternoon, neighbors can sit in the upstairs pub for a post-work pint and bite of food.

“I don’t want anyone to feel like they’re not welcome,” McGonagle said. “The more modern bars get now, the more I feel like they’re turning away from that person who just wants to be here after work. They feel like I have to go home and change first.”

When the weekend rolls around patrons can venture downstairs to eat in the larger dining area and end the night listening to live music, which will be offered every Friday and Saturday night. The first performers will include five-member country rock band Overserved Again and Irish singers like Gerald Ahern and Jinty McGrath, all of whom will perform in front of a beautiful mural of McGonagle's hometown overlooked by a Guinness Toucan. When the stage isn’t being used, the backroom of the bar can be closed off for private events.

“We’re hoping that we have really good energy in the room on a Saturday night where people feel like we can go there, have something to eat, have some drinks, and stay for live music and really have a night out where you're not jumping in Ubers going to all different places,” he said.

Those looking for another form of entertainment can enjoy domestic and international sports across a dozen different TVs and two 20-foot projectors. Though the pub will show all sports, McGonagle is especially excited to bring Gaelic football fans together.

“Not many people have the right to [Gaelic football,] you have to buy the rights off a company in Ireland to show that in America,” explained McGonagle. “I have it in The Dubliner, in The Cottage, and purchased it for here also. We’re kind of looking after the city so hopefully everyone will have a home to watch the game on a Saturday or Sunday. That’s kind of where you represent your county, where you are from in Ireland. It’s quite part of our culture so we’re happy to have that in here.”

The business owner is already planning on partnering up with youth athletic programs too. He will be teaming up with St. Brendan’s Gaelic Athletic Club and those playing soccer and hockey just across the street at Garvey Field and Devine Rink.

“The biggest thing I learned was how to treat people and invite them into your space and make them feel comfortable,” said McGonagle. “The rest, honestly, we’re cooking food and drinking beers, everyone can do it. It's the little things that will set us apart, making people feel really welcome.”

The sense of home McGonagle wants people to feel at his bar is communicated in its name. Throughout the years many have suggested he name his businesses after himself. But it didn’t feel right, until now.

A view of the exterior at McGonagle's.

“It's come up over the last few bars to do it, it's been other people telling me to do it, but it didn’t suit what we were doing,” said McGonagle. “The Dubliner, I felt like that had the be the generic Irish hit where people knew straight away what it was for tourists and things like that. The reason why I thought McGonagle’s worked here is the neighborhood. I feel like a neighborhood can connect more to the surname than what the city would.”

He added: “I wanted people to know there was a family behind it, there was a person behind it. This was the neighborhood that made me in America.”

Once fully open, McGonagle’s will operate Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. The address is 367 Neponset Ave., Dorchester.