Opening in October 2001, McFadden's finally presents a Celtic challenge to fellow Northern Liberty neighbor and Irish entertainment centre,  Finnigan's Wake. Where Finnigan's Wake offers two floors (sometimes three) of Irish frivolity, McFadden's offers one floor. Where Finnigan's gets a little hokey with their Gift Shop, plastic horticulture decorations and mini-TV's, McFadden's is ensconced in dark burl wood paneling, half-moon booths, a sit-down dining area in the back and a back bar complete with sofas.   

You just get the feeling that the management of this pub put a lot of thought into designing the place. Well, to be truthful, they've had their practice. There are 3 other McFadden's in Baltimore, NYC and White Plains, NY. That notwithstanding, the bar area is nice and open - plenty of room to wander around. It gets crowded out here and when the DJ starts playing dance music, it gives a new meaning to bump and grind (and more bumping).

Down the centerline of the room are column that support the upper floors of the building. Instead of these columns being obtrusive, they have installed nice, big ledges to rest your pint of brew or lean on while you're talking to the honeys about how you single-handedly brought instant-replay to the NFL. 

Even the ceiling fans are cool. Instead of fan blades rotating around, each fan has 2 mini-fans rotating. They've angled the fans so that as the fans rotate, everyone gets a breath of fresh air.  This helps out a lot when things crowd up in the center area.

Most bars have TV's hanging around their bar area, but they're usually the $100 Wal-Mart 19 inch variety beaming plain old cable. McFadden's raises the ante. They've got six big-ass 27" TVs booming multiple satellite signals. On the Saturday Night we visited we watched the 76ers beat the Nets, Seminoles beat the Gators (college football) and Fox Sports Channel recapping all sports of the day.   

On tap, they pour an excellent Guinness, as well as Pabst Blue Ribbon (did I just say that), Harp, and Yuengling Lager. In bottles, they've got Bud, Miller Lite and Coors Light. It would be great if they put a couple more Irish and English brews on the taps like Caffery's and Tetley's, but I digress...

Ok, ok, I know the ladies don't want to hear about sports and brews. The good news is that on the weekends, McFadden's set up a live DJ. Depending upon how crowded it is, determines how much dancing you'll get to do. There were a few groups of ladies shaking their moneymakers to the best the house DJ could conjure up. On the Saturday Night we visited, the DJ kicked out the jams like nobody's business. Although it was an odd mix of tunes. The extremes went from generic house and dance music to college favorites like Van Morrison and U2. As 2AM approached, the music was all booty-shakin' dance grooves. Be prepared for some serious volume. High up in the rafters are about 10 speakers pointed downward towards the center of the bar. This area area gets loud, my ears were ringing long after I got home.

Whenever a place gets crowded, it's inevitable that people start bumping into one another and there is a propensity for tempers to rise. Although jostled, bumped and groped (in a good way), everyone was really apologetic and nice. The crowd is an older lot - we're talking post-college age on up to people in their 30's.  

Just look at the front facade. The place screams: "Irish Pub - Good Drink Here." If you're a little reticent about visiting and being bored, Finnigan's Wake is a half-block north on Spring Garden and Club Shampoo is 4 blocks west on Willow Street. But c'mon this place is new. Just think of all the bragging rights you'll score with your friends/co-workers by beating them here. 

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