Opening Soon
Irish pub about to open in old Real Jerk space
The former home of the Real Jerk at Queen and Broadview is about to be the new home of The An Sibin Pub & Ceili House. Set to open its doors later this month, the gastropub promises to encompass both authentic and new-age Irish traditions, or Irish-fusion so to speak.
Earlier this week I met up for a tour of the under-construction space with co-owner Scott Brockington who used to manage Quinn's Steakhouse. He has lead me around the building and talked to me about what they have planned for the new venture. Gone is the iconic ray of sun on the west-facing wall, and the red and yellow exterior is now simply yellow.
Beer lovers should take note that the An Sibin Pub will have 20 Irish and craft beers on tap as well as host regular cask nights featuring many Ontario Craft Brewers. Behind the bar will be plenty of whisky (whisky tastings will be a recurring feature) and locals or whoever shows up will be able to get their fill until 2am, 7 days a week. That means plenty of options for those who are looking for a bit of Irish variety from the Roy and Ceili Cottage a little further east.
Construction is the name of the game at the moment and some notable additions include a private, rentable room called The Plank as well as The Over-look Bar suitably located upstairs over-looking the main space. Also worth noting is something they're referring to as Room 237: a space, according to Brockington, that is reminiscent of an old-school Irish snug, or, a private area meant specifically for women. The room will up the pretty and feature a chandelier as well as an intimate dining area.
Food wise, Irish inspired pub fare such as Kilkenny battered shrimp and Guinness stew will be on the menu. Apart from pints and tasty grub, live music will dominate Wednesday through Sunday evenings.
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(Also Irish, also not a fan of Finn McCools and its ilk.)
Truth is, there MIGHT be two legit Irish Pubs in the whole city.
The North American trend of 'Lets throw a clover on the wall, Guinness on tap and have the servers wear kilts' makes people money. That's why you can throw a stick in the air and hit one of these (admittedly tired) pseudo-Irish pubs.
If anyone tried to open a LEGIT Irish pub here like my local back in Belfast, it would be shut down within a month. Real Irish pubs don't offer things like friendly service (sorry, no bartender with a giant smile behind the bar, pouring pint after pint of Guinness) a thirty page menu (many pubs don't even offer food) or Spirit Of The West and Great Big Sea playing 24/7. (Thank goodness.) Yer lucky if ya get a 'Whaddaya want?' from the bartender.
Anyways, I wish them the best of luck.
The little room in the Overlook Bar will be called Snug 217. If you recall the evil room in the Overlook Hotel is room 217.
We aren't cooking all typical Pub Fare like Fionn McCools, but you will be guaranteed to see an Irish Stew, a Chicken Curry, lots of potatoes and root vegetables on the menu. Our Chef Tim Pettigrew will be playing around with specials so nothing is concrete. And I too am not the biggest fan of the term Gastro, but when you allow for your Chef to be creative rather than mundane, what else would you call it? Damn good Irish Pub Fare with a twist?
We will offering 17 beers on tap that are Irish & Craft only, plus 1 cider. A focus will also be on Irish Whiskey, as we will have 21 to begin.
We may not be Irish, but our experience comes from many Irish Pubs in Toronto. Most notably working for the Quinn Family at The Irish Embassy Pub, P.J. O'Brien's and Quinn's Steakhouse & Irish Bar. We have a soft spot for the Irish and its community and the feeling has been mutual over the last number of years. We have hosted and attended many Irish Events, Luncheons, and GAA Events. Also have employed many Irish in our pubs, heck I even have a 1 year old son with one I stole from Galway! 6 of our Barmen and Barmaids are also from Ireland.
Rick and I aren't just opening an Irish Pub, we are opening a pub for the Irish, for Riverside and for ourselves to be proud of. Also of note, An Sibín is the house the Irish built, if you consider the 5 Carpenters, 2 Electricians, 2 Tilers, the Painter/Stainer and the Jack-of-all trademen are all Irish. Rick and I have been the only Canadian's in the pub since we open the door on June 1st.
Our website will be ready for a good look by next weekend. So hopefully rather than negative thoughts, you will come to our home and enjoy some great Hospitality, of which we learned from Pat & Anne Quinn, and their entire Quinn family.
Come see ua at The Shebeen and have a big of fun with us.
Looking forward to seeing what the An Sibin has to offer. Why people are so quick to judge is beyond me.
Give it a chance. See what it has to offer and if you dont like it then, the fair play to you.
Opening a pub/restaurant is never easy, regardless if its Irish, a dance club, etc.
They deserve a chance as much as anyone else who opens something, that they hope has a different twist on an old idea.
Good luck boys.
I live about a block from the Ceili - so that will remain my local, but I've already been to check out the Riverside Public House twice (totally worth many more return visits) and will definitely hit up this new pub as well :)
More and more reasons not to bother heading downtown for a good time.
Good luck to you!
Agree with Eoghan Ennis - doesn't look/sound like any actual Irish (or Scottish) pub I've ever visited. The massive 'Guinness' decal on the window suggests Diageo have had some influence; would be interested to see what that's done to the beer list.
All in all, I'm glad to see it's not become yet another condo development, but it will be interesting to see if this place makes an effort to stand out from all catering-to-yuppies/hipsters "Irish" pubs in the downtown core.
How did that happen? Did you turn tradesmen away if they weren't Irish? Just white people? Not a single black guy applied? Or a Portuguese guy? Not one? Really?
Welcome to the neighbourhood Scott and the crew of the An Sibín!
We speak with the manager and surprise.. he didn't even apologize to us.. in fact his attitude towards us was terrible. This is basically what he tried to do in a short sense of thing.. "F**k off and take your money back" without directly saying it... So he decides to refund us our money back by slapping a buncha fives on the table and expects us to take it and leave (btw the refund was only for the pie and not even for the wine we got!)... so we told him we don't care about the money (who would when being treated like that?) , we just wanted the receipt back and so he mutters "ill have to dig it from the garbage" in a really offense tone/manner and disappears and comes back in a couple minutes and you know he does? he tries to scam us again by giving us a brand new receipt and this one doesn't even include the wine we bought.. We clearly asked for the one they overcharged us on... So we got the receipts and leave as pissed as we are now. He Never said sorry or apologize to us and would only admit it was a mistake but at the same hand say he was right with some excuse..
Terrible Service - Check
Over priced - Check
Horrible Management - Check
Mediocre Food - Check
says that it has whisky that's Scotch whisky.
Even my spell checker doesn't like whisky
Irish whiskey is correct. Possibly could edit the article
Where is the Real Jerk re-opening? It better be in the neighbourhood or we're all going to be very pissed.