Village of Duval resident Wayne Pelhank retired to Florida’s Friendliest Hometown three years ago.
But golf wasn’t enough.
So a couple of months ago, he opened O’Shea’s Sports Pub on State Route 44 across from the entrance to Brownwood.
There hasn’t been a dull moment since.
On Tuesday nights, the house is rocking with Irish music by Patrick Hagerman. The beer is cold. And the food, well, it’s pure Ireland.
A Chicagoan, Pelhank is German, not Irish. And he’s never run a restaurant before. So he turned to a couple of Villages experts — Mike Miller is the general manager and Kelly Romine runs the front end of the restaurant and serves as bar manager.
As he smiles and greets customers at the restaurant (which is packed on a Tuesday night), he is clearly in an element he enjoys.
“We offer Irish fare with American flair,” Pelhank said.
A fun atmosphere is a big part of the attraction.
Villages favorite Dunning Shaw brings in a crowd on Wednesday nights and Thursday evenings it’s Pat Murphy with music of the ’50s and ’60s.
Devouring the “ridiculously hot wings” flavored with scorpion pepper can earn those daring to step up to the challenge a coveted O’Shea’s Sports Pub “I Survived the Scorpion Wing Test” T-shirt and a cold pitcher of beer.
Much of the Irish memorabilia on the walls of the pub is from Villagers’ personal collections.
The pub also features 16 51-inch television screens with all sports packages, including NFL Sunday Ticket.
The restaurant seats up to 305 people and includes a 60-person party room.
The outdoor patio seats up to 84 people.
Check out a video from O’Shea’s in the featured video section of www.villages-news.com
Check out the menu at O’Shea’s Sports Pub:
http://osheaspubwildwood.com/menu/