Sunday, July 5, 2020

Kitty O'Shea's Orlando

(407) 238-9769

Jeez.  Orlando.  Right before the pandemic decided to show up.  So, firstly, I got tested and similar to the days before the ol' wifey wife it was a relief not to have to call all of my loved ones and tell them I was infected with some disease due to my irresponsibility.  And secondly, I had to go.  It was a difficult choice, but at the time Florida was relatively safe and NYC was on the downswing so why not?

Okay, with that said, I was going to do an Orlando super post similar to Berlin and Portland, etc...  Except Orlando is so steeped in chain restaurant homogeny that there wasn't much to write about.  I didn't dig deep, and I wasn't with company that wanted something risky or trendy.  Steakhouses and Hooters would suffice.  And I must say, hooters is a great place to sit and drink beer.  Nonetheless, as my random luck would have it at one of our multiple afternoon happy-hour Hooters excursions we met Ray, the owner of Kitty O'Shea.

A .little about Ray.  He is from Buffalo.  He was the first winner of the annual wing competition.  He moved to Florida and opened this bar.  It is a traditional Irish Pub, which is saying something in the strip-mall,  chain-restaurant mecca that is Orlando.  More so, Ray took me (as a fellow purveyor in the industry) on a full tour of Kitties; walk in box, bathroom renovation, structural problems, etc... followed by him sampling John Powers Irish whiskey--an Irish spirit he admitted he'd never tried.  Several beers ensued.  I only had drinks so cannot comment on the wings.  But I will say that this dude checks out and so does his bar.