Beef O’Brady’s: Family-Friendly Pub Food
9375 Emerald Coast Pkwy, The Market Shops at Sandestin, 837-9710
1/3
By Bruce Collier November 17, 2005 Issue

Beef O’Brady’s Family Sports Pubs can be found in various locations in this area. This review is of the one in The Market Shops at Sandestin. We visited on a night early in the week, so I wasn’t expecting there’d be much of a crowd. As it turns out, there was a bit of a slam.

In addition to a sizable adult presence, a kids’ soccer team turned up for a victory dinner. Our server, who was a bit delayed in attending to us, said that several of the staff was absent that evening. This had some effect on our service, but not on the quality of the food.

The restaurant advertises itself as a “family” sports pub. Overall, they make that seemingly contradictory proposition work. “Pub” implies some kind of alcohol, but Beef O’Brady’s confines the adult beverages to beer and wine. The sports aspect is likewise handled in a more family-tuned way than in some sports bars hereabouts. Television sets adorn the walls, with smaller monitors at each booth, but the volume is kept uniformly low. In addition to sporting events, one can also watch sitcoms, news, and kid-friendly fare.

We ordered beers, and decided it would be a good idea to order the whole meal at once, since our server and her associates were rushing to cover tables inside and outside. Beef O’Brady’s interior is C-shaped, with the bar at center. A second bar and several sets of tables lay outside, parallel to the main dining room.

The menu is divided into appetizers, soups and salads, burgers, sandwiches, wings, wraps, and baskets. We started with a small order of wings and onion rings. Other possibilities are seasoned curly fries, potato skins, jalapeno poppers, chicken tenders, fried mozzarella, fried mushrooms, a quesadilla, and queso dip.

The wings came out first, and they were piping hot, meaning that they hadn’t sat in the kitchen waiting. Sauces are available in mild, medium, hot, extra hot, and “nuclear.” We got traditional wings, but they can be prepared with honey barbecue, garlic, teriyaki and Caribbean jerk seasoning. They were crisp and juicy, and you could do a lot worse than to make Beef O’Brady’s your spot for a wings night.

Beef O’Brady’s menu leans heavily toward sandwiches. We got a Reuben and a roast beef garlic melt. I got mine with curly fries, and my friend tried a house specialty, creamy pineapple-style coleslaw, with hers.

My friend had asked for her Reuben without its thousand-island dressing. The kitchen, which was doubtless hurrying, left it on. Back it went. At length, a new sandwich returned as ordered. Both the Reuben and my beef melt were hot, the bread crisp, the meat, cheese, kraut and onions generously portioned and flavorful. The slaw was indeed creamy, with the fruit adding a sweet and crisp touch. A look around at this point showed that several additional staffers had appeared, possibly called in from a night off. They were moving in and out like runners, taking up the slack and getting out the food.

The onion rings didn’t show up until the main course, and they were cold. We were promised a replacement basket, and in time it came. When it did, the rings were as hot as the wings had been.

Other items on the main course menu are burger variations, chicken, fish, Philly steak, Cuban, and wrap-style sandwiches. You can also get a soup of the day, chili, and dinner salads made with fish or chicken. Basket meals feature wings, chicken fingers, shrimp, and fish and chips.

The menu offers a regular dessert item, strawberry shortcake parfait served in a mug, as well as nightly specials. We got a vanilla cheesecake and a slice of key lime pie. Both were good examples—the cheesecake strongly flavored with specks of vanilla bean.

If I seem to have dwelled on service a lot in this review, it is only to make a point. No place chooses to have such a hectic night as we saw at Beef O’Brady’s, but any place can have one. The trick is how they handle it. Beef O’Brady’s had a tough night, but they rose to the occasion and gave us a well-prepared meal, staying friendly and courteous through it all.

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