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A friendly 'neighborhood place'

Photo: Rick Giase © Special to the News

Jim McLoughlin, left, and his brother, Frank, are hoping to re-create the success of Denver's Irish Snug on East Colfax Avenue with McLoughlin's, their restaurant and bar at 16th and Little Raven streets in Denver's Riverfront neighborhood.

Brothers Jim and Frank McLoughlin's ultrabusy time begins today with a St. Patrick's Day celebration at Denver's Irish Snug, a pub that's been so successful the pair has plans to expand downstairs.

A second venture, McLoughlin's in Denver's Riverfront neighborhood, will feature a more subdued St. Patrick's Day celebration.

Recently, the brothers, originally from Ireland, chatted with the Rocky Mountain News about their two eateries as well as plans for both businesses.

How did you end up here and wind up opening the two restaurants?

Frank McLoughlin: I lived in Atlanta, worked for Fado Irish Pub, and I moved here with them, worked for them for about two years. Then I mentioned to Jim (who lives in Chicago and travels to Denver several times a month) that I was interested in opening an Irish pub, and he was interested. We looked around for six or seven months, and we found the location up on Colfax, and we fell in love with it immediately because of what's north and south of the street, not just what's on Colfax. We have since fallen in love with Colfax - it's a good street. So, we opened the Snug, and it was an instant success.

Are you going to expand?

Jim McLoughlin: Yeah, we are. We're very close to doing a deal with the landlord to develop the basement.

What is it about the Snug that brings people in?

Frank: It's an Irish pub, but I think it's more of a local pub. The food is inexpensive - there's nothing on the menu that's more than $10. I think the locals come by; it's casual, friendly. I think our staff plays a big role in that, too.

Why does that appeal to people?

Frank: I think there are so many corporate restaurants out there now that when you sit down for dinner, you get somewhat of a robot. They do what they're told. We ask our staff to let their personalities come through.

Jim: That's like anything in life; it has its advantages and disadvantages. (Laughs.)

You don't want somebody doing that robotic thing, "Hi, my name's John, I'll be your server today." And doing that up-selling thing. The little things mean a lot.

There's nothing more irritating and that comes across as less genuine than somebody doing, "We have these wonderful desserts" or "This is our cocktail for this evening." It comes across as very insincere.

Are you taking a position on the smoking ban?

Jim: (Laughs.) You know, in rugby, there's a thing called a hospital pass, when you pass the ball to the guy, and you do it in such a way that he can only end up in the hospital.

I think I just got one.

This is probably a selfish answer, but we would probably prefer that the whole of Denver was nonsmoking. We feel that, if you go nonsmoking in a neighborhood pub like the Snug, we would be at a serious disadvantage against our competition if they were to allow smoking and we weren't. A certain segment of the population wouldn't come.

Do we think that nonsmoking for all of Denver should be the thing? Yes, we do.

Frank: All of Colorado. Otherwise, they'd be all up smoking in Glendale. (Laughs.)

We hope they don't do what they did in Chicago. They have a rule that it's OK to smoke in a restaurant that has a bar, which would be most restaurants, within 15 feet of the bar.

So, what has the owner done? Put up a sign that says please don't smoke further than 15 feet from the bar. It's the worst of all worlds.

McLoughlin's is a different type of place. Talk about that.

Jim: What we were trying to do was create a restaurant, steak and seafood, modern American cuisine, that was priced to be in the locality. We don't see ourselves as being a Sullivan's, where it becomes this big outing venue.

In other words, "It's my birthday, so I'm going to Sullivan's for dinner." We think the neighbors, when they look at our menu and our pricing structure, could come on a Monday evening. Because you can have a burger for eight bucks; you can have a half-priced bottle of wine on a Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday. Absolutely, what's happened is we've got all the people in the neighborhood, and they see us as the neighborhood place. The Irish theme runs around in the background, but it's not right up front.

Although that's been confusing for people, I think. People come in and say "Where's the corned beef and cabbage?" and "Where's the shepherd's pie?"

And we've tweaked the menu to give the people some of those things.

Are you catering more to a different neighborhood than the one the Snug is in?

Jim: Yeah, and I think if you look at the neighborhood down there, it's a different demographic, and we're looking to be the neighborhood place in that demographic. I think we're doing it successfully. We had a great January.

Do you think more people know you're there now?

Jim: Yeah. We've done a lot of direct marketing to the local apartments there. We have relationships with some of the management companies there, and we do a flier. We find that form of marketing much more successful.

The foot traffic isn't as dramatic in the wintertime as it is in the summertime.

We have some traditional Irish music, and some dancers, but more sedate than over at the Snug. At the Snug we have the pipers, and we have the reels on St. Patrick's Day.

Are you looking at expanding further here, opening new places?

Jim: We'd always be open to propositions, but there are no immediate plans to do anything like that.

Are you seeing a continuation of the popularity of Irish pubs in Denver?

Jim: Absolutely. Everybody says to me, "There are too many Irish pubs," but every time I go past them, they're all busy.

I think it is because they're not just Irish pubs - they're local bars and restaurants.

Irish tends to mean friendly. I mean that from an American's point of view, that Irish bars would have that kind of friendly, welcoming feel.

Janet Forgrieve may be contacted at 303-892-5191