Richard Righton has done it again! The owner of the successful Bidwell Street Bistro in Folsom, and Relish Burger Bar in El Dorado Hills has opened his 3rd restaurant (nearly next door to Relish) called 36 Handles Irish Pub & Eatery, and from our first visit I can tell you right now that Richard has done it again – this place is great!

36 Handles is an Irish Pub with an upscale decor that is noticeable as soon as you see the ornate wood red and black doors at the entrance. Upon stepping inside it’s like being transported to Ireland, this place truly has the look and feel of an authentic Irish Pub – it’s very nicely done with excellent quality furnishings and interesting wall hangings. The bar itself is a sight to behold, you don’t see really cool large wood bars like that very much anymore and this one is great, and very well equipped.

The staff and the service deserve special notice because we could not have wished for better service then we received at 36 Handles on our first visit today, simply put – the service was outstanding.

From the minute we sat down at our table in the bar area, we were handed menus and a minute or two later we had our drink orders in. Our waitress was very attentive and had a really great attitude. I’ll discuss the food later, for now I want to tell you more about the great service. My wife’s order of fish and chips came out wrong, she ordered panko crusted instead of traditional but that was no problem and did not end up being an issue, in fact it helped us experience another level of service that is sometimes awkward. Our waitress immediately took care of the mix up and promptly kept us informed on the status of the order every few minutes and she even brought over a plate of fries until the new order of fish and chips arrived. That mix up was easily forgotten when getting to experience this kind of top notch service.

The beer list is great with lots of excellent choices of beers of all types, and what’s really amazing is that for an Irish BEER Pub, they have a pretty good selection of good wines too! My wife enjoyed a nice Hess Chardonnay while I had a Kroenenbourg beer.

Photo from 36 Handles Website

The menu has a nice selection of traditional pub fare and more. For food I tried the Corn Beefed Reuben Sandwich made of marble rye, corned beef, white cheddar, braised cabbage, whole grain & served with pub fries. My wife had the fish and chips with Cod (there are 3 choices of fish) and she had it panko style (it’s also served traditional style).

My wife and I have had some pretty good fish and chips at another local restaurant lately, so that was what we used as a benchmark to measure how well 36 Handles makes their fish and chips. The results were immediately recognized, the fish and chips at 36 Handles BEAT the competition! The flavor was outstanding, the sauce amazing and the fish was cooked absolutely perfectly, very nice and flaky and tasty.

36 Handles, has it all – great ambiance, great service AND great food – two thumbs up here! We will be back – often!

36 Handles Pub & Eatery
1010 White Rock Rd.
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
(916) 941-3606

http://www.36handles.com/
https://www.facebook.com/36Handles