Throughout the last several years, Jack and Lisa Philips have had a very successful business on the Covington Square, the Cork. At the wine, beer, cigar and specialty foods store, you can find a great selection.

Now the couple has opened the Irish Bred Pub, which held its official ribbon cutting Thursday, next door to the Cork. A true bit of Ireland has come to our Square.

At the heart of any village in Ireland you will find a pub. The word Pub comes from “Public House”. It has always been the place where people could come without a membership, and has become the central gathering place in the community. Spend some time at an Irish pub and will find a very welcoming place where people gathered as a community. At their favorite Pub, residents caught up with their neighbors and shared gossip and rumors.
At Covington’s newest pub, you may notice two things about their logo. One is the slogan, “The place where friends meet”. And the other item of note is that their leprechaun is not green as we usually see in America but rather is red.

The feeling upon entering the pub on Church Street is that of stepping into a pub in Ireland.

Great attention seems to have been given to the main dining room as well as the bar area in order to be as one might find in a pub in Ireland. In the bar area there are darts on the wall for some friendly competition.

The restaurant’s menu offers many Irish favorites such as Shepherd’s Pie, Bangers and Mash, Fish and Chips, and Irish Beef and Guinness Stew. You will also find steaks, chops, chicken, and a variety of sandwiches.

Service is offered in two downstairs dining rooms as well as on the balcony on the second floor. Michael St. Bernard, the General Manager, calls the view from the Balcony the best on the Square.

While the pub does not offer reservations, except for private parties in the private dining room and lunch in the Listening Room, they do offer call-ahead seating for dinner if there is a wait.

The two bars also show the Irish influence, with selections such as Guinness, Harp, Murphy’s and Smithwick’s beers on tap. There are nine different Irish cocktails offered at the bars as well. For those that want to snack while at the bar, there is also offered a late menu featuring hot wings, fish and chips, potato skins, rings and fries among other things for those that want to stay around in the bar area or the Listening Room.

The Pub is a part of a franchised group with five locations in Georgia In addition to Covington — you will find one in Douglasville, Carrollton, West Point and Hapeville, as well as two in Alabama in Montgomery and Opelika. Each is somewhat unique in design and free to make such decisions as the menu offered to fit their market.

One great feature of Covington’s Irish Bred is found on the second floor, The Listening Room. Described by St. Bernard as the metro east side’s premier music venture, The Listening Room has offered some of the best in country, indie, bluegrass, Americana, jazz, and blues music this summer.

Every Wednesday from 7-9 p.m., The Listening Room hosts an open mike night, and every Thursday from 7-9 p.m. there is karaoke.

Last Sunday was the first Sunday brunch at the Pub. It featured a special menu for brunch plus some other lunch dishes. There was a good response and plans are for it to become a regular part of the Pub’s offerings.

There are more than 60 million people in our nation that are descendants of either the Irish or Scots-Irish, this is compared to the total population of the Island of Ireland having 6.4 million people. And, whether you heritage is Irish or not, you will find good food and a great time at the Irish Bred Pub on the Square in Covington. You don’t have to wait for St. Patrick’s Day to feel Irish.