Ten Fun Facts Celebrate Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant’s 10th Anniversary at Walt Disney World Resort
When it opened 10 years ago at Downtown Disney in Walt Disney World Resort, Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant was the new kid on the block with a culinary reputation to build. Ten years later, the iconic Irish pub thrives in its original but renamed Disney Springs location at Walt Disney World Resort with a loyal following among locals and travelers from around the world.
Here’s what pub regulars know and first-timers learn: Celebrity Master Chef Kevin Dundon stars in his own popular PBS cooking series; the award-winning Raglan Road Irish Dancers perform daily to the tunes of top Irish bands; much of the restaurant’s interior was built from furnishings shipped directly from Ireland; and you can’t visit the pub without having a rollicking good time.
To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Raglan Road shares 10 fun facts that even its most loyal guests may not know:
- Raglan Road Master Chef Kevin Dundon won Irish Dish of the Year for his Glazed Loin of Bacon with Colcannon Mash, a Raglan Road staple.He has published six cookbooks and has cooked for luminaries like Queen Elizabeth II, President George Bush and Bono.
- One dish you won’t find at Raglan Road is corned beef and cabbage.Contrary to what many people believe, it’s a New York dish, not an Irish one!
- The three founders and owners of Raglan Road – Paul Nolan, John Cooke and Kevin Dundon – have commuted a combined total of nearly 2 million miles to and from Ireland to Orlando in the past 10 years.That’s equal to about 78 circumnavigations of Earth at its equator. Or eight trips to the moon.
- Nolan, Cooke and Dundon each engage in secret (until now) pastimes: Nolan is the pub “tweeter” (@RaglanRoadPub), Cooke is a bass guitar geek, and Dundon might be spotted at the Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-through when he thinks no one is watching.
- Raglan Road sells more Guinness than any other pub in the United States.Nine Fine Irishmen in Las Vegas, the previous pub owned by Raglan Road’s founders, sells the second greatest amount of Guinness.
- It takes 250 staff members to keep Raglan Road running daily operations.The pub, with 500 seats inside and on the patio, serves the equivalent of half the number of Americans who travel to Ireland each year.
- Raglan Road coincidentally opened its doors 10 years ago on the birthday of Patrick Kavanagh, the Irish poet who wrote “On Raglan Road.” The poem became a song by Luke Kelly of The Dubliners and since has been sung by the likes of Sinead O’Conner, Van Morrison and U2.
- The celebrated Raglan Road Irish Dancers perform on stage daily and also on a platform that is an old Irish church pulpit located in the center of the Grand Dining Room.Cabinet displays in the pub’s Music Room include century-old items from Ireland including a period phonograph and a fiddle.
- There is a Hidden Mickey that has never, to our knowledge, been discovered.Try finding it in a “grand” location. And don’t miss the signed portraits of Bono and other celebrities on the pub’s walls.
- The official Raglan Road cookbook is “I’d Ate the Back Door Buttered, Ma!” which translates to “I’m so hungry I’d eat the back door if it were buttered, Ma!”The book features Dundon’s Raglan Road recipes but also the story behind Raglan Road: “There is a “road” to Raglan Road that crosses several continents and centuries – a journey involving brewers, publicans, singers, statues, gold rushes, a chef, a poet, yeast, several fishermen and an ex-priest. In short, our story is part of the larger Irish story of misfortune, emigration, hard work, ingenuity and eventual success outside mother Ireland.”
Raglan Road features inventive cuisine by Irish celebrity chef Kevin Dundon, host of the TASTE Award-winning PBS and Create TV cooking show, “Kevin Dundon’s Modern Irish Food.” The show also won a Silver World Media for “best culinary program” in the 2015 New York Festivals Best TV & Film awards. The second season of Dundon’s TV series, “Kevin Dundon’s Back to Basics,” premiered nationally March 13 on public television’s Create TV.
Owned and operated by Irish partners Paul Nolan, John Cooke and celebrity chef Kevin Dundon – famous for his five-star hotel and cookery school in Ireland and his award-winning PBS and Create TV cooking series – Raglan Road features traditional Irish dishes and new creations with a Celtic twist. The restaurant’s warm interior of aged walnut and mahogany woods from old Irish bars and churches was built in Ireland and shipped to Orlando. Guests can enjoy live Irish bands and performances by The Raglan Road Dancers nightly and during the Rollicking Raglan Weekend Brunch. Live music is also scheduled nightly on the pub patio. Lunch is served 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Dinner 3-11 p.m.; Bar menu 11 p.m.-late; Weekend Brunch 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant is located at Downtown Disney in the Walt Disney World Resort, 1640 E. Buena Vista Dr., Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Visit www.raglanroad.com or call 407/938-0300.
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