Irish Pubs: What IS the Point?

So it seems like in almost every neighborhood in this city there is an Irish Bar, pub or Restaurant and every time I see one open up I always have this overwhelming feeling of annoyance and exhaustion. Why? Why do we need another Irish bar or pub? There have got to be at least 100 of them, probably a lot more. Now every city should have Irish bars but why are there so many of them in our town? St. Louis is not a particularly Irish city like Boston. It is a Catholic City but the German's and the Italians represent in the Catholic church at least as strong as the Irish.

I know the Irish lay a certain claim to loutish alcoholism and stupid drinking. I respect that. Although i hate St. Patrick's Day (another amateur drunk fest) I do not begrudge my Irish friends their legacy of drunkenness, bar fighting and spousal abuse. WHO would try and deny a legacy like that. But once again, why so many Irish bars. Think about it. Downtown and near downtown we have:
Tigin
Flannery's
The Dubliner
Mc Gurks
Llewelyns
O'Connells
Pats
Seamus Mc Daniels
Nicks
Maggie O"Briens
Hannegans
O'Malleys
And I am sure I have totally missed 30, piece of shit dumps with Irish names, Shamrocks and a big Guinness sign. And that is just in the city. Is there any beer more over rated then Guinness? EVER? Sure it is the color of motor oil and you feel like a man when you drink it warm but that does not make it enjoyable. It has a thick creamy head when poured from the special taps that serve it. Why? Not because of the beer but because the special tappers mix it with nitrogen. Left to itself when you pour it it looks like flat Coca Cola. But I digress.

Whenever these bars open up like Tigin recently or Molly Darcy's in the old Seven Gables Inn in Clayton, some asshole is always telling me how great their food is. Really? REALLY? Your going to tell me how great Irish cuisine is? I will never defend my German heritage's cooking but on the other hand there are only a hand full of places in town that apologetically serve German food. They know it is crap. they know they need to cover it with bad, heavy sauces so it it can even be gagged down, but no one every tries to tell you it is good. These Irish bars "have the best fish and chips". Has there ever been a bigger lie? Who knows what kind of fish most of them serve and inevitably they have the "authentic" fat fries which unless they are fresh from the deep friar taste like card board cancer. the fish and chips suck because inevitably, other then in lent, they never serve enough of it to put out consistent product. And then they want you to pay 12 bucks for it at lunch. Not that I am cheap... or bitter.... or petty.

God forbid if you order meat. Other then the afor mentioned Germans no one boils and over cooks worse cuts of meat then the Irish. They were a poor, down trodden, stupid, dirty people. they let themselves (and are still letting themselves) be oppressed by the British. The British! How embarrassing is that? Anyway, the British are crappy cooks too and they clearly did nothing to improve Irish cuisine though they probably never left enough meat on the island for it to make any difference. The fact that Seamus' miserable, yet huge hamburger appears every year on the list of best burgers in town is a testimony to the sympathy and drunkenness of St. Louis patrons.

Llewelyns has done a nice job creating a pretty stable menu of above average food but they are an exception and have become... a chain. That is testimony to their having found a decent mix of food. The others... crap. Unmitigated crap, across the board. So, I put it to you St. Louis Diner Review readers... why do we have so many of these places? What purpose do they serve? Shouldn't the drunken Irish be drinking at home where they do not have to drive and cannot fight with the decent, bar going public? Couldn't we, as a city do more with all of those kitchens that are being used and abused across the city?

I think so. I know so and I look forward to your thoughts. Think about, have a Guinness... and maybe a pickled egg.