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Rod Stewart tribute act Hot Rod plays the newly-christened Mad Hatter's Pub in Tequesta. (Courtesy Orlaigh Quane / facebook.com)
McCarthy’s has gone mad. Literally.
The popular Tequesta Irish pub and restaurant has a brand new name, look and identity. It’s now Mad Hatter’s Pub & Restaurant (187 Tequesta Drive, 561-401-9304, madhatterspub.com). But it retains the same ownership team — beloved Irish comedian-turned-restaurateur Brendan Grace and his daughter and son-in-law Melanie and Frank Gillespie.
The change was a result of the slowing economy and the need to make the pub more welcoming to a larger crowd. With new carpeting and furniture, Mad Hatter’s has a cozy but more contemporary look than McCarthy’s. More important: It has a new stage in the main dining room (and a second stage in the pub area), plus a new game room with two pool tables (we’re told a pinball machine is coming soon, too).
Mad Hatter's owners Frank Gillespie and Brendan Grace. (Allen Eyestone / Post file photo)
The new stage allows the restaurant to book acts that can play to bigger audiences (and it gives those audiences some space to dance). Among the artists on tap in the coming weeks: Elton John tribute act Rocket Man (Saturday), Beatles tribute act Two of Us (Feb. 20) and Rolling Stones tribute act Satisfaction (March 6). In addition, Mad Hatter’s is regularly featuring two local favorites — Rod Stewart impersonator Hot Rod and Irish entertainer Noel Kingston. Karaoke and quiz nights are also part of the mix.
As for the food, Mad Hatter’s manager Gillespie has brought in veteran local French-trained chef Franklin King, formerly with the acclaimed Lake Park eatery Café du Parc (now closed) and the catering company C’est Si Bon. Together, the pair is emphasizing honest, home-cooked fare, but with an occasional gourmet tweak. Think everything from burgers to a salmon BLT, plus such Irish/English classics as shepherd’s pie (made entirely with ground lamb, King notes) to bangers and mash.
Oh, and yes, McCarthy’s must-have chicken pot pie is still on the menu. (Prices are relatively low, too: No menu item is more than $20.)
To celebrate the restaurant’s opening (or reopening, depending on how you look at it), Brendan Grace is playing a one-man show on Feb. 10. Call Mad Hatter’s for pricing and ticket availability.
A CityPlace update
Two much-anticipated CityPlace restaurants have finally opened their doors: Wild Olives by Todd English and McCormick & Schmick’s.
Wild Olives (477 S. Rosemary Ave., West Palm Beach; 561-832-7771; wildolives.com) is part of English’s growing national — and Palm Beach County — empire. The acclaimed Boston chef has a Wild Olives in Boca Raton, a Figs in Palm Beach Gardens (at the Macy’s at The Gardens Mall) and other eateries everywhere from Las Vegas to Aspen. Wild Olives offers what’s billed as a fresh, contemporary approach to Mediterranean cuisine, using organic ingredients and featuring such menu items as thin-crust flatbreads and homemade pastas.
The CityPlace McCormick & Schmick’s (651 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach; 561-655-6363; mccormickandschmicks.com) is the second Palm Beach County location for the growing seafood chain (the first is in Boca). The restaurant offers a daily “Fresh List” of items: In South Florida, that means stone crab claws, grilled black grouper with adobo and lime mayo and Cajun-seared snapper, among other offerings. The restaurant is also known for its value-priced bar menu (all items are $1.95) and list of classic cocktails.
And to our south…
You’ve got to have a special reason to drive all the way to Miami for dinner. But I suspect some locals will be making that trip soon — and for nothing more than a burger!
Well, not just any burger, but a Shake Shack burger. Yes, the insanely popular casual New York burger (and shake) place is opening in Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road Mall sometime in 2010. It’s the company’s first venture outside its home base. We’ll keep you posted as to an exact opening date.
Dear Melanie,I’m the glass lady who stopped in to meet you last week.By the way,thanks for yor time, I know you’re very busy.You saw the photo of my Betty Boop and I have a great idea for your front doors which includes the Mad Hatter.He would be GREAT in glass!!!I will be down from Stuart in the next couple of weeks to take a template of the door glass so I can draw the design.I will also be bringing a photo of the painting of “Alice in Wonderland” to show you.I told you it was the original,however it is not. The original sold for $25.000. The gallery has a glicee. It is 3′ wide and 2’4″ high.It’s #1,400 and is number 4 of 225 copies.It is also a canvas glicee.It’s a fantastic painting! Looking forward to coming down! Thanks again for your time, Margie Murphy
Dear Melanie,I’m the glass lady who stopped in to meet you last week.By the way,thanks for yor time, I know you’re very busy.You saw the photo of my Betty Boop and I have a great idea for your front doors which includes the Mad Hatter.He would be GREAT in glass!!!I will be down from Stuart in the next couple of weeks to take a template of the door glass so I can draw the design.I will also be bringing a photo of the painting of “Alice in Wonderland” to show you.I told you it was the original,however it is not. The original sold for $25.000. The gallery has a glicee. It is 3′ wide and 2’4″ high.It’s $1,400 and is number 4 of 225 copies.It is also a canvas glicee.It’s a fantastic painting! Looking forward to coming down! Thanks again for your time, Margie Murphy
I took my wife and daughter here, on the advice of someone we know. The food was well priced, albeit a quite small menu. The food itself was quite good, and decent portion sizes. The service left a LOT to be desired, and it was an older crowd. We were the youngest people there, at mid 30, and we felt rushed out to make room for the older, apparent regulars. I would give the food an 8/10, but i would give the service a 3/10. Tis a fairly new restaurant, so i would hope these issues would be ironed out, but in the future, if i want a hearty irish meal, I will stick to Rooney’s Public House.
Hi James
Sorry your service was so disappointing. Since your last visit, we have our final menu now in place which we were leading up to. The menu you had on your visit was a temporary one. We have a much broader range of food items to chose from now and we also have added a fantastic new chef to our kitchen who has come up with some very interesting and flavorful ideas! We have hired many new staff members and let some of the ‘lazier’ ones go. I bet your server is no longer with us! Although we do still get some of the older folks for dinner and welcome them, our pub does have a younger crowd 6 out of 7 nights a week – especially after 9pm (we’re open til 1am). Hpefully we’ll see you soon again and you can try our new menu/service/ambience. Thanks for your patience while we create the atmosphere we want our customers to LOVE.
I recently visited Madhatter’s with the new ‘gastropub’ improved menu and it was wonderful! I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food for good prices. A must try is the Brisket Melt and Salmon Burger both full of flavor and plated with a lot of appeal. I will be recommending friends to visit the new and improved Mad Hatter’s!
The food was OUTSTANDING! so much more than we expected. I am certain we will all be back again for dinner. We had the brisket melt and the salmon burger…both were to DIE for,,,this Gastropub is exactly what Tequesta needs!! The Chef, Renita Allamani created one hell of a menu. I will be back this week for more food!! wow….next on my list of things to try…the dublin strip and the cornish hen! where else can you find such a well thought out menu?
The food was OUTSTANDING! We were so impressed…so much more than we expected. I am certain we will all be back again for dinner. We had the brisket melt and the salmon burger and the cornish game hen..to DIE for…this Gastropub is exactly what Tequesta needs!! The Chef, Renita Allamani created one hell of a menu. I will be back this week for more food!! wow….next on my list of things to try…the dublin strip and the mussels! where else can you find such a well thought out menu?
AWESOME! Love the food here. Its a nice make over from the old Macarthy. The New Mad Hatters is worth being checked out by everyone. We will for sure be there again and again.
I came in a couple weeks ago to try the new menu ive been hearing so much about. A serious improvment. I will certainly be back for more.
Great food, horrible service. We went to Madhatters because well it was new, thought we would check it out. Stayed at the bar after our dinner, which was fine, nothing to write home to mom about. The bartender was HORRIBLE, rude, very unattractive to the eye and just down right miserable. She left many times to go smoke outside, came back smelling. When she left our glasses were empty, didnt even take the time to refill before her chain smoking commenced. The place was full of elderly people. I left very young at 35. Not a place you would come and hang out with your friends for a game of pool or listen to some music. The acts that they have are geared toward the elderly as well. Met the owner, who couldnt have cared less if we were there or not while we were there, but the second we walked out he was all over us telling us to come back again, bring our friends, get the word out. No thank you, I wouldnt put my friends through that if it were the last place on earth to get a Guinness.