John D. McGurk’s in Soulard has an outdoor patio with room enough for multiple Irish family reunions (yep, it’s a big ‘un). Featuring a mix of canopied bar seating and more intimate tables surrounded by a lush romantic garden, the Old World-inspired courtyard can get raucous in the summer, yet there are plenty of nooks and crannies to steal a quiet moment. We suggest parking yourself out back around the tinkling fountain under the dappled shade of trees as you start Leopold Bloom-ing your way through the selection of Irish and craft beer and pub-style nibbles that will take you straight to the Emerald Isle.
-photo by Carmen Troesser
This article appears in Readers’ Choice 2015.