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Mainly a gathering place for those after liquid sustenance, this sprawling, multi-roomed Irish tavern also has a menu of stick-to-your-ribs dishes (good prep work for subsequent pints of Guinness). In the early evening, the two large front rooms—which have their own bars, and are furnished with enough Emerald-Isle paraphernalia to fill a country church—draw college-age carousers, who sit at battered wood tables and booths among vintage grandfather clocks, brass lanterns, and black-and-white photos from the old country. The smart ones ignore the usual offerings of fried calamari and mozzarella sticks in favor of Irish mainstays like beef stew, bangers and mash, and shepherd’s pie. As the night wears on the crowds get denser and noisier, so you may find yourself jostling through back-room nooks, hallways, and staircases to reach the bathrooms. A few partiers crawl back the next day to take the edge off with an all-day Irish breakfast—eggs, baked beans, sausage, black pudding—and a little hair of the dog. — Sarah Gold

Shepherd’s pie, $14

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