Parish Publick House - Westside

Over on the Westside of Santa Cruz is a British pub called Parish Publick House. It's has too many windows for a real British pub, but they have a lot of beer and mixed drinks for your imbibing celebrations. They also have food, but since this was a workday lunch, no drinking for us!

Parish Publick House

Jim and Seth joined me for this meal out and it's a short drive to the Mission St. Safeway parking lot. Watch for tight corners and slim spaces as you drive through. Better yet to just park on the street.

We grabbed menus at the front and chose a window table. Most of the seats are by a window. All the pubs I went to in England were dark, but cozy places. This place is still cozy, but at least it was foggy outside. It usually is on the Westside.

Our waitress came over quickly and asked about drinks. Then she came back to deliver them and take our order. The place was wasn't very full, so she was prompt and pleasant. My iced tea was a bit soapy (an unrinsed glass?), but she offered to replace it for me.

Jim ordered the Irish Dip with fries ($13). It was a take on the classic French Dip, but with Irish cheddar, Irish stout mayo and Jameson Irish Whiskey added to the au jus. That's a lot of Irish! It was a hearty plate of food, which he enjoyed.

I got the Almar Shuffle, which was turkey, avocado, Swiss cheese and grilled mushroom on sourdough ($13). Served with a salad, it was good and filled me up. You don't see mushrooms on hot sandwiches very often, so I always go for it. Thumbs up! Also, they put raw, chopped onions on the salads here - I like 'em, but some folks don't!

Seth got the Side Door, a veggie burger with fries ($11) and had all the toppings on the side. I'm in support of this, since you get to make it as you like it. He piled on all the goodies and drove in. He also gave it a thumbs up. You gotta love the throwback, crinkly fries.

As with all British pubs, the standards are here: Bangers and Mash, Shepherd's Pie, Fish and Chips. There's a pool table in the back and big TVs all around to watch sports. During football/soccer season, you can bet they are all tuned in. It is the European sport of choice after all. Happy hour is 4-6pm and all day Sunday if you want to get your drink on.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 7
Service: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Value for price: 6
Overall: 7