Dingle House Is A Melting Pot Of Irish, English, And American Pub Cultures.
Written By: The Gnarly Gnome
Photos By: The Gnarly Gnome
Dingle House isn’t just an Irish Pub. The bar, which is located in West Chester, Ohio, takes inspiration from both traditional Irish and English pubs, along with some American flair, and combines it into a melting pot that results in a space that feels comfortable, warm, and inviting while also providing a great menu and an excellent beer selection.
It All Starts In Ireland
To get a better picture of what makes Dingle House tick, you have to take a trip back to when a group of friends, after a visit to Ireland, decided that they wanted to capture a little bit of that spirit back home. They teamed up to open the bar and named it after the town they fell in love with… Dingle.
They shipped in all the woodwork that you see around you in the bar from Ireland, put some little Scottish, English, and American twists on things – and just like that, the pub was born.
West Chester wasn’t quite what you think of when you picture it today. The area was still primarily farms and rural, but the people who lived there were desperate for a place that they could call their own.
So… What Can You Expect From Dingle House?
When you walk into Dingle House for the first time, you’re immediately struck by the stone and woodwork around the room. It isn’t exactly what you expect from the location, which is in a large, modern, mixed-use building in West Chester. A big bar dominates the room. winding its way around the space, making it clear this is a pub at its core.
That doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of high-top and low-top tables in the space for a casual lunch or a nice dinner out. There are even a couple of spaces that can be separated from the main room for parties or private events.
When you belly up to the bar, you’re immediately struck by how many beer offerings they have. Unlike many other “pubs,” they lean just as heavily into supporting local craft beer as they do Guinness (though with several different Guinness handles in the room… you know they do a lot of that, too).
I’ve probably said it about other bars in the past, but this is 100% a place with a little bit of something for everyone, no matter what you’re looking for.
Why You Should Be Drinking Here
I get a little tired of bars that try to pretend to be something they’re not. Dingle House has so much potential to fall into that trap, with the Pub “theme” and its waiters and waitresses in kilts. There are a lot of gimmicks that can pull a place into a very “fake” spot that I really dislike. Somehow, they’ve managed to not only avoid that, but keep slowly evolving over the years into a place that is really unique in it’s personality.
I find myself going back, over and over, for very different reasons. Sometimes, I want a pint of Guinness and the Irish egg rolls – sometimes, I want a craft beer and a burger – sometimes, I’m even in the mood for a cocktail and a fancy night out with my wife. Dingle House manages to satisfy every one of those feelings, and each time, it leaves me feeling like I have just discovered a new part of its personality.