Amid the rise and fall and relocation of Old Town restaurants, one spot is returning to how it used to be. Gallagher’s Irish Restaurant and Pub is headed back to its digs in the Eagle House (139 Second St., Eureka) in early 2025. As Jessica Silva reported in the forthcoming issue of My Humboldt Life, Mark Hill, who bought the restaurant in 2023 from Kelly Erbin, will be returning to the pub’s Irish roots, as well, letting go of the pizza menu and focusing on Irish fare.
Hill says he’s felt good about the business and the customers it’s drawn in the current Fourth Street spot. But there’s no denying the space most recently occupied by Tavern 1888, which closed in August, is the winner for foot traffic and atmosphere. Once he heard about the availability, Hill tells the Journal he contacted the owners of the Inn at 2nd & C and the former Tavern 1888.
“We’re going to go back to an Irish pub,” says Hill over the phone. “I want somebody to feel like they can bring a date there without breaking the bank.”
Current staffers, including some longtime Gallagher’s kitchen staff, will be moving over to the Eagle House location and making the fish and chips that has earned it a following.
The pizza, a leftover from Erbin’s Shenanigans restaurant in the Fourth Street spot, will be phased out and the Irish menu will expand. “My daughter and I went to Dublin a couple months ago and thought we need to check out some things for investigative purposes,” says Hill. Among the new items will be boxty potato dumplings with corned beef and a parsley cream sauce, as well as colcannon (mash with cabbage) and some vegetarian options.
Hill says the Eagle House kitchen will need another hood to accommodate a second fryer. He’s hopeful all the construction needed will go quickly enough to allow a February opening, and that he’ll be able to make the move with only a few days of operation lost to moving from Fourth Street.
This article appears in ‘A Big Heart’.
It would seem that 1888 is not a good price point for well drinks on skid row. Let’s see if Gallagher’s 18$ fish and chips are able to last.
Bets?
We’re eating at the 4th Street location as I read this. It’s packed and I’m happy for the business but even happier to have them back in old town!