Redwood City’s got a new pub downtown, and it’s serving Irish favorites with local flair.
At The Wild Rover, you’ll find Guinness (of course), beef stew and shepherd’s pie, plus a wide selection of local and N/A beers, corned beef and cabbage cheese quesadillas, and soju-based low-ABV cocktails.
Behind the new pub is Leona Browne, a Redwood City resident who grew up as the fifth of nine kids near Dublin, Ireland, before she and three of her sisters moved to the United States.
They worked for years in the food and beverage industry in San Francisco before launching their own American gastropub, The Patriot House, in San Francisco.
Now based in Redwood City, Browne decided to sell her shares in the family venture last year and start her own spot closer to home. When Paul Davey, the former owner of Redwood City’s City Pub, announced he wanted to retire, she got in touch. She bought the space May 15, and opened the doors of The Wild Rover just weeks later.
When she was trying to figure out what to name the pub, Browne consulted her family group chat, and her dad weighed in with the winner. The Wild Rover is his favorite Irish folk song, and it’s among the most common songs to be sung at the end of a night at the pub back home, she says.
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Three weeks in, she says, “It’s like having a newborn baby — sleepless nights, anxiety through the roof. But I know it’ll get easier.”
Her sisters Danielle and Marissa have been helping out.
On the menu, you’ll find shareable plates that riff on Irish traditions, like the aforementioned corned beef and cabbage cheese quesadilla, featuring a sauerkraut dipping sauce ($20), fish and chips with a housemade tartar sauce ($24), and Reuben-stuffed potato skins with remoulade ($17).
The beer selection continues City Pub’s local focus — think brews from Barebottle, Russian River, Fieldwork, Drake’s and Alvarado Street breweries, to name a few. Additionally, they offer wine, a low-ABV cocktail menu built around soju-based spirits, plus an array of spritzes.
Details: Open daily 11 a.m.-10 p.m. at 2620 Broadway, Redwood City; thewildroverpub.com.