For Richer or Pourer

Tell us about Doherty’s East Avenue Irish Pub.
It’s a laid-back, low-key Irish pub. The food is delicious. The beer selection is tremendous. We have amazing craft beers. The owner is incredible. It’s like a big family here and that comes through in our service. Our beer garden (an outdoor patio) is now open. Monday night is wing night, Tuesday is trivia night and on Thursdays we have live music. On Saturday and Sundays until 3pm, you can come in and enjoy a traditional Irish breakfast.

Can customers expect typical Irish pub fare here?
Yes, but our menu runs far deeper than corned beef and cabbage and bangers and mash. My favorite dish is the Rasta Pasta – grilled Jamaican Jerk chicken sauted with yellow tomatoes and sweet red onions in a spicy chipotle cream sauce served over bow tie pasta. That’s followed by the Steak Tips, which are marinated in our secret BBQ sauce, and grilled to order. My favorite brunch dish is the Mamacita – grilled jalapeo cornbread served with eggs, chili, cheddar and cilantro.

Which cold, refreshing brews does Doherty’s have flowing?

We have 82 rotating draft lines. Add to that our bottled beer, in-house draft and two cask lines – Doherty’s offers about 160 beers. The amazing selection of bottled beers includes rich Belgians, English ales, German lagers and a solid mix of American craft brews. In addition to beer, we offer an amazing selection of liquor, mostly from local distilleries. Our house vodka, Triple Eight, is out of Nantucket. Of course, we offer brand names like Knob Creek, but we really do concentrate on smaller distilleries. As a small local pub, we try to support the community in return.

What is the Doherty’s Libation Ledger?
It is your guide to our seemingly overwhelming beer selection. You can scroll through beers by type so it’s easy to find your favorites – lagers, stouts, etc. The Ledger lists the alcohol content, price and which state it was produced in. It’s printed daily. We typically run out of five beers each evening. We replace those with new selections for the next day.

What brought you to Doherty’s?
Pure luck. Jack Doherty, the owner, and I have been friends for quite a while. I was having lunch with him on the right day at the right time. He needed a bartender and my previous employment had just ended the day before. I’ve been here for almost four years.

What is your signature drink?
I concocted a fusion beer called the Raspberry Torte. I combined pale ale and Harpoon Cider with a splash of Lindemans Framboise. It’s delicious.

What’s the hottest new thing on tap?

Meads are bursting onto the scene. HoneyMaker Dry Hopped Mead is a wine made from honey. The dry hops have champagne yeast, so it’s effervescent up front on your tongue and then has an IPA taste when it hits the back of your throat. It’s very unique to see a wine on draft. It’s served cold because of the high alcohol content.

Which beer best describes you?
Hefeweizen – it’s generally unfiltered, like my mouth normally is; it’s my favorite style of beer. Doherty’s Irish Red best describes this place; it’s an amber ale made specially for us. We really go out of our way to get new and exciting beers in for our customers. That’s us. We love beer.