MacKenzie's Pub

The worst imitation of an Irish pub, is in Beaumont, TX.  My rating is solely based on St. Patrick's Day and not during their regular, non-holiday hours.  

Anyone that has ever been to an Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day, is usually drunk by 2:00 pm if not earlier and their ears should be full of traditional Irish pub songs from the time they enter, to the time they leave.  The place is packed, shoulder-to-shoulder, the Irish/St. Paddy's decor exudes from every corner, green beer can be had and Irish beer signs are proudly displayed.

This place could not even get their opening time correct; the main web page of events says 2:00 pm while another says open at 3:00.  The doors were open so I walked in.

I was expecting, at minimal, a jukebox blaring Irish pub songs.  Not even!  Instead I walk in to total silence and empty tables, almost all of which had "reserved" signs on them.  What pub has reserved tables on St. Patrick's Day?  To anyone just walking in, I guess they expect you to stand up in an empty bar with reserved signs on the tables. Do they turn the tables around when a party gets up and leaves?  I don't know, nothing was explained to me and the staff didn't seem to care.

Another worst off here was the fact that they did not have drought (draft) beer.  A pub not having drought beer?  Unheard of up north!  At this point I think I was setting myself up for disappointment. I ordered a bottled Guinness and  ordered corned beef and cabbage.  Kind of hard to screw up corned beef, cabbage, red potatoes and carrots; except in temperature.  I ate at the bar and while I ate the bartender started sticking names on post-it notes to the bar, as a means of reserving bar stools.  Seriously?  Not only were all of the tables reserved but so was the entire bar.  Two servers/bartenders asked me about getting a table  and at the time I expressed interest.  Would I have had to stand up while eating if I didn't reserve a table?  Between two bartenders/servers I never got a table or seat reserved.  One hand did not know what the other was doing.  It was feeling like a first attempt at hosting St. Patrick's Day. It seemed so poorly executed.

As I sat and finished my meal, I faintly heard some music playing, it was classic rock for crying out loud.  I even said something to the bartender and she told me there would be live music later.  Later?  "Live music and Irish jokes. "  Was that her selling point?  She should have at least have known the lineup of musicians.

As people started coming in, the age demographic was looking like upwards of 65 and the longer I sat, the more I felt like I was in one of those senior citizen supper clubs. Regardless of what the music was going to be, I could tell it was going to be no win situation.  I got the waitress' attention and she asked if I wanted another beer.  I told her I wanted to cash out and her response was "I kind of figured you would." I left the bar and googled "oldest bar in Beaumont, TX" in the hopes of finding something better.  I'll keep ya posted.

I guess when someone has been to a few really good Irish pubs they have certain standards in mind.  I guess mine were too high for Beaumont.

I'm sure this establishment is fine during regular hours, for non-Irish events and that the regulars are happy.  The inside was neat and clean and featured a dance floor which may be fun during another outing.  Maybe later.

We were in Beaumont (we live in Houston and had a hotel room in Beaumont for the night) for a show downtown at the Julie Rodgers Theater (Ron White... funny as heck!) and after the show we were looking for a nice bar to go party in.

We tried the 'Crocket Street' bars and they were a joke. Too loud music (you couldn't think let alone talk) and dead action wise. The one venue that we had hoped would have live music was having Tejano Male Strippers that night. Please...

So we took out our iphones and started a search. I stumbled on Mackenzie's Pub and said what the heck, let's give it a chance. Gave the address to our limo driver and off we went. We arrived about 10:30. It is in a strip center and looks closed when you pull up in front because the windows are all blacked out. If it were not for a tiny electric 'Open' sign in a corner of a window we would have driven on and looked for somewhere else.

When we opened the door we were surprised to find a 'traditional' (or traditional for Texas) rendition of a Pub with dark wood, green trim and all. There is a nice sized dance floor front and center and a band area adjacent to it. We chose to sit on some barstools between the bar itself and the dance floor which were next to a bar height counter.

As it happened Britt Goodwin was playing that night (he is quite good). The atmosphere was warm and friendly and you had the feeling that you were in a  place that was the local version of Cheers where almost everyone knows everyone and no one is a stranger. We were served quickly and cheerfully by our waitress. The drinks were good and reasonable priced.

Britt responded favorably to our request for "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" and soon the whole place was singing along. We got up and danced to a few songs and generally enjoyed the ambiance of the place. During the evening the Owner, Chuck Mackenzie, came over and welcomed us and had a nice chat. We were having such a good time we called our driver and told him we would be another hour or so as we intended to close the place.

Earlier that evening we were talking with Ron White backstage after his show and he was talking about how much he had enjoyed Scotland and the Pubs there. He said that in Scotland you could go into a pub, sit at a table by yourself and order a drink and in 15 minutes you would have new friends at the table sharing a drink and their stories, as opposed to New York where you could go into a bar, sit at a table and get a drink and you would sit there alone until you died 35 years later and no one would ever even say hello. Mackenzie's is the Scotland sort of pub. I don't think anyone who walks in would ever be a stranger for long. If you are in the area, go, you will like it. We are only sorry the place isn't closer to us because if it was we would probably become regular patrons.