FOOD REVIEW: Hennessey's Tavern

One chilly night this week, we headed over to Hennessey’s in Dana Point.  Located at 34111 La Plaza, Hennessey’s flies an American and an Irish flag, and their neon green sign with shamrocks is both retro and charming. Inside, there is a large, gleaming wood bar and nearby there is a large dining room with plenty of seating and several televisions, for patrons to keep an eye on the game. The dark wood and green carpet create a comfortable atmosphere.

We were able to choose our own table right in the middle of the restaurant. We were immediately greeted by our friendly waitress, who took our drink orders. I was still freezing, so ordered a hot tea, and my husband got a Samuel Adams on tap. The drinks came quickly, and the tea was served with a pot of hot water, two tea bags and two packets of honey, which I thought was a nice touch.

The menu all fits on a trifold, but is packed with lots of variety. Appetizers include spinach artichoke dip, chicken wings, calamari, prime rib sliders, Irish nachos along with onion rings, kettle chips and French fries.

Under ‘soups and salads’, they offer tomato bisque, a side green salad, and a few entrée salads, such as the California Citrus salad, (made with chicken, feta, artichoke hearts, cucumber, olives, tomatoes, red onions, almonds and avocado and topped with a citrus vinaigrette), the blackened ahi salad, and the Hermosa chicken salad.

There are many tasty sandwich options, including a classic Reuben, the Pub Club, and an Irish tuna sandwich, with a slice of Irish cheddar. The Earth sandwich features avocado, sprouts, tomato, pineapple, and Swiss served on wheat. Turkey or tuna can be added to this sandwich, if desired.  Other sandwich choices include a grilled cheese, served with tomato bisque soup, the B.L.T.A. (a BLT plus avocado), the chicken club, a pesto chicken sandwich, and a prime dip sandwich, made with shaved prime rib, horseradish cream and au jus served on a French roll.

The true jewels of this menu seem to be the burgers. Mushroom, bleu cheese, western, Hawaiian, the Texas melt, the Dublin and the Frisco are just a few of the burgers to choose from.  If you can’t choose, you can opt for the burger sampler, which offers four mini-burgers, one with cheese, one topped with mushrooms, one with avocado and the fourth with barbecue sauce and bacon.

If a sandwich or burger does not fit the bill, under “plates” there are more traditional entrée options, including steak and shrimp served on garlic mashed potatoes, slow cooked ribs served with coleslaw and fries, shepherds’ pie, and grilled salmon with mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables. Other seafood menu items include ahi poke, which is served with crispy wontons, traditional fish and chips, and a Baja style fish taco platter.

I decided to go with the B.L.T.A. and Jim selected the prime dip sandwich. As we were sitting at the table, we checked out some of the specials offered by Hennessey’s. Tuesdays, customers can get two burgers for the price of one. Wednesdays, bottles of wine are fifty percent off, and on Thursdays, martinis are fifty percent off. There are other specials for almost every day of the week, along with daily happy hour deals.

Our food arrived quickly and it looked great. The beef dip sandwich came with lots of thinly sliced prime rib on a fresh French roll. Jim commented on how tender and tasty the meat was and he enjoyed the horseradish sauce on the sandwich. My B.L.T.A was delicious, with lots of thick, crispy bacon, a generous portion of avocado, and fresh tomato on perfectly toasted sourdough.

If we had had room, we could have tried one of the desserts, like the Hennessey’s Irish bread pudding, root beer float, sundae, chocolate brownie, or banana royale.

We enjoyed our meal at Hennessey’s Tavern. Its comfortable atmosphere, varied menu, very friendly service, make it a nice place to hang out with friends or to bring the family. They are open daily from 7 a.m. until late, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I give Hennessey’s Tavern 3 ¾ Patches out of 5.