Fireside Pub

Went here this past Friday night for the open mic which everyone inside was having fun singing and playing guitar & the music was great. They don’t have a menu only serve burgers, I had a burger with sauteed onions it was a very large burger & I must say it was so delicious & juicy, served with nice crunchy pickle. I had a Long Island Ice Tea, Tommy the bartender made me the best LIIT I ever had & was in a very large glass. Prices are reasonable. Had a nice friendly crowd & they make you feel welcome, especially Tommy the bartender. I will definitely be back.

This is a very cozy, casual bar, sort of the opposite of the larger establishments in this very *unique* section of the north Bronx.
PARKING
Parking can be a pain in the ass. It’s an urban, mixed-​use neighborhood. ‘Nough said! Public transportation is available, mainly by bus, but ya gotta be patient.
INTERIOR
Once you get here, you will find it fairly dim, with an odd, curved bar that I liked, and a cheery, chubby guy behind it, named Tom. There is a pool table and several TVs, displaying the usual sports shows. The bar looked well stocked. The décor was soccer flags, for the World Cup, when I was there. So, they at least try. The mens’ bathroom was working and reasonably clean.
NO MENU
There’s no freakin’ menu! Y’know why? Because Tom only cooks burgers! They are big, and tasty, and you can get onions and cheese on them, but that’s all there is. You may also be offered a Twizzler (the red licorice candy from 200 years ago).
FRIENDLY
My suggestion is to go when you feel gregarious («Gregarious: adj. Seeking and enjoying the company of others.»). This is not the kind of place to go when you want to be alone. People here are usually very friendly, so a serious, suspicious stranger might not go over well. The place gets going, like everything on this block, on late weekend nights.
As for the no-​Guinness-​on-​tap issue, raised by a prior Unilocaler, that is apparently due to economic and beer quality issues, so it isn’t a deterrent to me.
SERVICE
I thought the service was good, altho I could imagine that one bartender might be a little overwhelmed on a very crowded Saturday night. I drank bottled beer, and the selection was good. My friend’s Long Island Ice Tea was huge, and well made. Everything is done by hand, so, at the end of the evening, your tab will not be a beautifully printed computer tape. Like I said, casual. My bill was a very reasonable $ 52, for two drinks, two beers and two burgers.
ENTERTAINMENT
They run sports specials and karaōke nights. I went for a Friday open mic night, which was fun. It wasn’t too crowded. Mike Darmiento ran it and did a good job. Everyone got a chance and the sound system worked well.
The bar’s music system played great classic rock, between the open mic sets. It was a warm night, and they opened the whole front of the place, and the music spilled into the street. The atmosphere, overall, was really nice.
HISTORY
The back story is that the place was opened in 1977, by Tom’s father, John Mulligan. That’s why it says «John Mulligan’s» above the Fireside sign outside. The Irish trickled into the area, during the 1970’s, then became a torrent in the 1980’s. Now the whole area (sometimes called «Bronkers,» because it overlaps Yonkers, in Westchester County) is an incredibly vibrant, attractive piece of the «old country» right here in the U.S.

I want to know WHAT KIND OF IRISH PUB ARE YOU THAT YOU DON’T HAVE GUINNESS ON DRAFT?
Okay, besides that. They didn’t have any food when I went. I don’t know if they normally do?
The only saving graces were:
–Karaōke (which I did a lot of)
–Dancing (which if you’ve been here… you wouldn’t think there would be dancing at this dive, but there is sometimes)
–Pool tables
–The bartender was kind of ok?
The local townies just come here to get blasted. But I did end up having some of those strange interesting conversations with strangers that you just don’t get at fancy places.
Um…probably would not go there again though.
I must reiterate: WHAT KIND OF IRISH PUB ARE YOU THAT YOU DON’T HAVE GUINNESS?
I have to give them a bit a praise for breaking the laws that all self-​respecting pubs in Woodlawn break such as:
–Allowing smoking (FYI I do not smoke)
–Underage drinking
–Pouring drinks waaaaay past 4AM (they kick people out around 6AM)