The Chieftain Pub at 23 Washington Street (Route 1) in
Plainville, MA was our lunch destination for January. The Pub, owned and operated by the Cahill
family, has been at this location since 1995.
All of us have dined here in the past but this is the first time
together as the Brew & Chew Guys.
Entering the pub, there is a full dining area next to the
windowed front of the building with a pub area with great ambiance complete
with Irish music playing in the background.
We could have been in Dublin! For
the warmer weather there is an outside seating area.
We chose the pub. The first thing we observed was the
creative décor. There are Irish Rugby
Football Union (IRFB) banners hanging from the ceiling, ornate pewter plates, autographed
pictures of local athletes on the wall.
License plates and beer company wall hangings. The list goes on.
Being beer people, we spotted the two matching ornate brass
draft beer stations on the bar.
Seated at our table we looked over the food and beverage
menus. On the wall near the wide screen
TV’s there is also a very creative beer offerings menu handwritten on a very
large chalkboard shaped like a pint of Guinness! Close by is another menu displaying today’s
lunch specials.
We were attended to by two very friendly Chieftain employees,
John and Katie, who took our beer orders.
Castle Island IPA is brewed locally in Norwood, MA. At 6.5% ABV with great hop aroma without the
bitterness, it is smooth and flavorful.
Tom Crean’s Irish Lager is brewed in Ireland. Coming in at
3.4% ABV, it qualifies as a session beer. It’s a very smooth drinkable beer, blonde
in color that is easy on the palette.
Smithwick’s Irish Red Ale, brewed by Guinness, with its bold amber
color and creamy head presents a nice mix of bitterness and malt. It’s rated at 4.5% ABV.
All paired very well with the excellent calamari appetizer,
served with just spicy enough jalapeno peppers and marinara sauce.
Fourteen draft offerings were being poured that day. A full bar service, a wide wine selection, as
well as a large variety of soft drinks are also available.
For lunch, we chose The Blademeat Spiced Pork Sandwich with a
choice of two styles of French fries, the spiced variety are robust! The Lismore
Shepherd’s Pie is a great combination of beef carrots and onions topped off
with mashed potatoes. The pub is
renowned for its seafood dishes and the Fish & Chips featuring North
Atlantic haddock French fries and cole slaw certainly did not disappoint.
Lynn Cahill, one of the owners of the pub, stopped by our
table to see how we were enjoying our lunch.
Lynn and her sister Olivia are co-owners of the pub, taking it over from
their parents who opened the Chieftain in 1995.
Their parents came to America from Ireland where they
operated a pub founded in 1973. Lynn
said she and Olivia aspire to offer their patrons a great place to “eat, drink
and have fun”. With live music on the
weekends and fun activities like Musical Bingo and Irish Breakfast offered on
Saturday mornings, they have definitely accomplished that goal.
For more information about the Chieftain visit their website
at www.chieftainpub.com or on Face Book at The Chieftain Pub
