If you are looking for some delicious food, great music, and true Irish bonhomie, you don’t have to look far: The Irish Inn at Glen Echo, located beside Glen Echo Park and serving folks across the metropolitan area, delivers.
Proprietor Christy (Chris) Hughes was born in Ireland and attended Catering College in Athenry Co, Galway where he learned all aspects of the hospitality business. After arriving in the US in 1974 he discovered the Dubliner Restaurant in D.C., which had just opened, and he worked there for 18 years. Subsequently he left the Dubliner and bought Ireland’s Four Provinces in D.C., acquired another restaurant in Falls Church also called Ireland’s Four Provinces, and kept them
for 15 years. Eventually, he and his wife Libby Byrne bought The Irish Inn at Glen Echo in 2003. The Inn has the ambience of a traditional Irish pub with draft beers and spirits, and also includes an indoor restaurant with private dining rooms and white tablecloths, and outdoor seating on a deck overlooking MacArthur Boulevard and Glen Echo.
The Irish Inn offers traditional Irish as well as contemporary American cuisine. Its Irish fare includes Shepherd’s Pie, Fish and Chips, and Corned Beef and Cabbage. Brunch is served from 11:00 am to 2:30 pm Saturdays and Sundays, and includes a traditional Irish breakfast, Irish pancakes, and Dublin scrambled eggs. Lunch and dinner dishes expand on the brunch menu with a soup of the day and delicious fresh fish offerings.
Not to be content with its food offerings, The Irish Inn offers weekly evening entertainment Sunday through Thursday. Sunday from 4:30pm to 7:30pm offers jazz with Brooks Tegler & Friends; Mondays 7:00pm to 10:00pm you can enjoy traditional Irish and American folk music with the Irish Inn Mates, with Mitch Fanning, Jesse Winch, Tina Eck, and Zan McLeod; Tuesdays 7:30pm to 9:00pm is trivia night; Wednesday 6:00pm to 9:00pm enjoy the Inn House Band featuring Steve Little and Mike Scoglio; and Thursday 6:00pm to 9:00pm diners can listen to musician Jeff Herbert, a noted
guitarist and vocalist who also plays bagpipes. According to Hughes, Monday evening is their biggest night, with 200 to 300 people in attendance.
Many visitors to The Irish Inn are “regulars” who enjoy the camaraderie they find there. Barbara Talbot of Chevy Chase, who consistently attends on Monday evenings, notes that “This is the only place in this area where you can hear a regular session with traditional Irish music.” And not only does she love hearing the Irish Inn Mates but says that sometimes as many as ten musicians will be playing. Talbot also enjoys joining the other people who come regularly --
around 15 to 20. Whenever possible she is there, and looks forward to her regular visits – “It really is a wonderful Monday night outing,” she says.
“This is the only place in this area where you can hear a regular session with traditional Irish music.”