firstly, full disclosure: i love authentic irish pubs. i love the music, the atmosphere, and generally everything about them. i was very excited to hear that what was previously granny mccarthy's tea room was being converted into a pub, especially as bethlehem is completely void of irish pubs (no, molly's does not count). i finally stopped in on a friday night for a bit and a few pints of guinness. first and foremost, mccarthy's, seems to have retained its more cafe-like setup with the majority of the space being plastic tablecloth covered tables. the bar was pretty small (8 people?), and there was no room, so we took a table. we explained that we were there largely to drink and maybe order some food at some point (which should be commonplace in a pub) -- while we were seated at a table with no issue, the staff did not seem to be used to that request. it had more of a restaurant (order drinks, order food, drink/eat, leave) type feel than it did a place you could sit for a couple hours and socialize. we ended up ordering a couple of small plates, including the char-grilled jameson wings and the dubliner and innis & gunn fondue. it was happy hour, which meant half-price appetizers. that brought the wings to $5.50 and the fondue to $3.75 -- an excellent deal. even better, they were really good. i forgot about much better grilled wings can be. their house buffalo sauce was spiced, slightly vinegary and delicious. the fondue came with both fresh bread and sliced apples, and were a perfect accompaniment to the tasty fondue. our guinness(es) were well poured and hit the spot. however, our visit ended when the waitress saw our food was done and asked if we wanted the check, which seemed to be our cue to make way for the next diners.
i think mccarthy's would be a great place to patronize regularly if the bar was a bit bigger, and they put in place a more authentic pub decor and set up where patrons can stay and socialize. perhaps breaking out the seated dining area from the bar would help with this. last i saw, they had started doing some renovations -- maybe this is the goal. i sure hope so!