Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Bandon
It’s dinnertime at Foley’s Irish Pub, where shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash and fish and chips are all washed down with frothy pints of Guinness at this 1-year-old pub tucked into a historic former post office in Bandon’s old town.
Foley’s owners, Noel Foley and his partner, Heidi Hoss, moved to Bandon in 2013 after a long and successful run at another — and much larger — Irish pub in Reno. When the opportunity to open a pub in Bandon presented itself, the couple packed up their Irish memorabilia and settled in.
“Bandon reminds me a lot of Ireland with its rocky coastline and sense of history,” says Foley, who came to the U.S. from Galway on the west coast of Ireland in the 1980s and still retains a charming Irish brogue. “I always thought that if I left Reno, this would be a great place to retire.”
Retirement will have to wait for now. Foley and Hoss are enjoying the fruits of the restaurant’s first year as regulars become friends and gather around Foley’s myrtle wood bar. Along with the first-name basis hospitality, locals come for the big screen televisions tuned to American football, and, as with any Irish pub worth its salt, soccer. “During the World Cup,” says Foley with a laugh, “we were packed!”
Foley and Hoss will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a traditional Irish feast that will include favorites such as cabbage and sausage. It’s their way of bringing the spirit of Ireland to the Oregon Coast but also giving back to their new home of Bandon. “We’ve had so much local support,” says Foley. “We’re a part of the community.”
(Foley’s Irish Pub, 160 Baltimore Ave., Bandon, 541.329.2203)
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on the Coast by eating and drinking as if you were on the Emerald Isle at these popular Irish gathering spots:
The Irish Table
1235 S. Hemlock St.
Cannon Beach
503.436.0708
Nana’s Irish Pub
613 NW 3rd St.
Newport
541.574.8787
Photo by Angela Cardas
