"Dive bar" in A.C. fights back

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on November 24th, 2007

In one of Michael Klein’s recent Inqulings column
in the Philadelphia Inquirer is an item that details a suit filed by the owners of Atlantic City’s Irish Pub. They’re suing the publishers of A.C. Now, a publication that contained reviews of restaurants.

In the filing, they claim…

…The Irish Pub– in business since 1972 and with two outposts in Center City– was harmed by A.C. Now’s dubbing it a “dive bar,” lumping it with Tony’s Baltimore Grill and the Chelsea Pub.

“Defendant characterizes the customers… as likely to be ‘broken-down blackjack addicts and ‘self-professed black sheep of the family, ” the suit says, adding that the label will hurt the pub’s chances at further expansion.

We are huge fans of the Irish Pub. It’s just off the boardwalk and it’s a ten-minute drive from the Borgata.

During the day, it’s packed with tourists, regular folk, older couples and (from what we hear) off-duty cops. At night, there’s the cops as usual, with a sizeable number of twenty- and thirtysomething revelers. (And on some nights, two or three comedians!)

A dive? We think not. It’s more accurately described as a… pub!

We’ve tossed back many a beer with other comics after shows– both during gigs at the Borgata and after shows at the defunct Catch A Rising Star at Resorts. And the specials during the day are worth the trip. The fish and chips are cheap and greasy– just the way we like ’em! Is there anything better than a huge plate of battered and fried whitefish (or its equivalent), fat fries and a cold draft?