Fadó: as Irish as it gets outside of Dublin
Published: Apr 16, 2009
When you step into Fadó, you'll think you’ve stepped across the ocean into a true Irish pub.
You’ll be hard pressed to find anything inside that isn’t from Ireland. The bar and furniture were hand-made in Dublin (and not the one in Georgia). Overhead hang flags from different Irish states and football (best not to be calling it soccer in here) clubs. When European football championships air in the wee hours of the morning, the pub opens early and is packed with die-hard fans. Check the sports schedule for early opening times.
Even the Guinness served here comes fresh from the Emerald Isle, not from Philadelphia, according to the manager.
One sip of a cold, brown pint of Guinness Stout and you’ll notice the fresh difference.
Fadó — the Gaelic Irish expression for “long ago" — claims to sell more Guinness than any other place in the U.S. “We take our pints SO seriously,” says Kim Rector, the pub's event manager.
Fadó also serves Ireland's Harp Lager and Smithwick's Ale; English brews such as Boddingtons Pub Ale, Strongbow Cider and Newcastle Brown Ale; other Belgian, German and Czech brews, plus several local Sweetwater draft varieties.
Different sections of the pub are designed to pay homage to different Irish pub styles and eras. The tapestry draped Victorian section features a “snug” — a nook portioned off with stained glass. Irish pub “snugs” were created so that priests and proper women could drink a pint without generating gossip.
Another section resembles a post office or grocery store, owing to the fact that the Irish often shopped and posted letters at the corner pub. A tower of bottles of Irish whisky — uisce batha, Gaelic for “Water of Life” – is enshrined in another section.
The pub has a broad menu of Irish whiskies as well as Scotch whiskies. During cold weather, a fire blazes in the huge fireplace at the center of the bar. On warmer days, climb to the rooftop patio for a view of downtown Buckhead.
The food is as warm as the surroundings, with many well-prepared appetizers and sandwiches to enjoy alongside a pint. Try the corned beef rolls, rolled in a traditional Irish pancake called a boxty.
Oak-smoked salmon comes served on boxty with capers and horseradish. New on the menu is thin baked potato bread served crisp with toppings such as omato mozzarella or Guinness BBQ chicken.
Check the music schedule to find a schedule for weekend DJs and Traditional Irish Music Mondays.
The Fadó Irish Pub and Restaurant menu.
- by Diane Loupe, Atlanta Reporter for HelloMetro
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