Murphy’s Law Irish Restaurant opened the day after Christmas and has drawn students and professionals alike, despite this winter’s snow.
Located on Wisconsin Avenue between Chesapeake and Brandywine Streets, patrons choose from a variety of dishes in addition to the traditional Irish fair and the 11 beers on tap. The menu offers Irish staples such as shepherd’s pie and fish and chips as well as “crispy calamari” and grilled cheese for the “wee ones.”
Co-owner Mark Sullivan estimated 20 to 25 percent of business at Murphy’s Law comes from college students.
Murphy’s Law offers Tuesday night specials that vary week to week. Sullivan said that tended to be a popular time for AU students to come in.
Sullivan said he and his partner brought the Irish restaurant to Tenleytown after conversations with people in the neighborhood led them to believe that there was nothing like it there.
“The neighborhood has a wonderful eclectic mix of opportunities from all sorts of different cuisines, which is awesome,” Sullivan said. “I think people really enjoy that, but at the same time, they did want a place where they could just go get a burger or fish and chips or shepherd’s pie and watch a game.”
Murphy’s Law is located within the boundaries of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3E, according to a strategic report on the area that the commission released in 2008.
The report said the retail area in Tenleytown felt “disjointed” but that its proximity to the Metro, to offices with a “strong daytime population” and to AU gave Tenleytown the potential to grow and expand its market.
The report suggested the addition of “a neighborhood Italian bistro, an Irish bar and grill or similar independent food service operations” as a recommendation for the future of the community.
Valentine Joseph, a visiting student in the master’s program for the College of Arts and Sciences, said she would like to see some expansion of business in Tenleytown as long as it did not include big chain stores.
“It would be great to have more boutiques, kind of make it more like ... U Street, those places where there’s a lot of stuff going on, especially for young people,” Joseph said.
Several reviews of Murphy’s Law from the Web site yelp.com stressed the friendliness and efficiency of the staff.
“What I was taught 20 years ago was you hire personality, you train skills,” Sullivan said. “But you can’t do it the other way around.”
On Friday afternoon, Sullivan was not behind a desk, crunching numbers or making phone calls. Instead, he was behind the bar, serving drinks. Sullivan said that happens pretty often.
“It’s the funnest part of my job,” Sullivan said.
You can reach this staff writer at sparnass@theeagleonline.com.
