Given that Raglan Road is supposed to be a recreation of an authentic Irish pub, I guess it's only appropriate that this new Pleasure Island area eatery was inaugurated with a brief poetry reading (Below, you'll find a photo of the restaurant's maitre de reciting Patrick Kavanagh's "The Dawning of the Day." What makes this picture particularly interesting is that -- as he reads the poem -- the maitre de is resting his hand on a bronze sculpture of this renown Irish poet) ...

Photo by Samantha Murphy

... followed by the twinkling of broken glass.  As two of the pub's owners break a bottle of fine Irish whiskey against the building's threshold ...

Photo by Samantha Murphy

And -- with that -- Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant officially threw open its doors and invited a slew of Orlando-area notables in for its opening night celebration.

There was music ...

Photo by Samantha Murphy

... And dancing ...

Photo by Samantha Murphy

Not to mention great food & drink. But for those of us who truly love the old sod, what really won us over about Raglan Road was the attention to detail in this 600-seat restaurant. Like the bar pictured in the photo below ...

Photo by Samantha Murphy

That's one of four antique bars in the place. And when I say "antique," I mean antique. The Raglan bar is over 142 years old. The furnishings, lighting fixtures and wall coverings? Every one of them was designed and built over in Ireland by Irish craftspeople. Then they were shipped over to Disney World for installation in P.I.'s old Jazz Company building.

Add to this a menu that ranges from old fashioned comfort foods like shepherd's pie and fish & chips right up to hoity-toity new age fare like oven-roasted loin of bacon served with braised cabbage and creamed potato ... And this place is a little slice of Dublin plunked down right in the center of Downtown Disney.

Mind you, if you've a hankering for Irish ambiance, you'd best bring your wallet along.  For a night of fun at Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant don't come cheap. Dinner and drinks for two will run you around $90 (Well, that's what happens when the bar charges $6.50 for each and every Guinness).

Which (I know) seems like a pretty hefty price tag for an evening of fun in Orlando. But given the great time that I just had at Raglan Road, I know that I'll be back again and again.

Photo by Samantha Murphy

After all, $90 is certainly less expensive than buying a plane ticket to take you over to the real Ireland.

For further information of Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant, call 407-628-1648 and/or follow this link.

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