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With more than 750,000 people of Irish descent living in the Bay Area, it’s no surprise that there are quite a few Irish pubs to stop by for a pint of gat (Guinness). For 33 years, Millbrae’s Fiddler’s Green has been a favored spot for Irish expats and fans of Irish lore and customs. Today, the pub and restaurant, with its cottage exterior, planter boxes, stained-glass windows and faux thatched roof, appears as a Gaelic oasis among Millbrae’s Thai eateries, boba shops and Asian markets. Regulars cling to the authenticity that Oliver and Rose McElhone created, welcoming customers with warmth and good, hearty fare.
Oliver, originally from County Derry, Ireland, arrived in New York in 1980 and made his way to San Francisco two years later. “I always worked in bars, even in New York, and my first job out here was the now-closed O’donegan’s in Foster City. Around that time I met Rose, whose parents, Molly and Hugh Mitchell, had a pub in Walnut Creek. We started talking about opening a place closer to us on the Peninsula and opened Behan’s on Broadway in Burlingame in 1984,” Oliver said. “In 1991, this space, which used to be an Italian restaurant, became available and we opened Fiddler’s.”
The McElhone’s three children, Ollie, Sinéad and Trea, grew up helping with the family business, and Oliver admits that his son, Ollie, talked him into opening Molly O’s in San Carlos. “I was ready to enjoy my golden years, but I love my kids and was happy to help,” he said. “It’s his place and I told him, when he gets the keys, the headaches are his. Still, we have our weekly family meetings where we discuss both places.”
In the summer of 2023, Ollie McElhone opened Molly O’s with chef-partner Juan Angulo. The team wanted to create a similar welcoming atmosphere but also have a place to enjoy music late into the night. Ollie expanded on the old school versus new school concept of pubs and said, “I am hoping to create the same sense of community that my parents built but with more events and live music.”
Molly O’s is named after the popular Irish song and is a tribute to Ollie’s grandmother. Ollie’s sister, Sinéad McElhone, was in charge of Molly O’s design. Her time spent studying and working in England helped her hone in on key Irish pub accents like the mirrored bar and wainscoting. The space’s mezzanine is where live bands perform most Saturday nights until 2 a.m. The snugs at the front of the pub operate more like table service at a club, a far cry from their original use. According to Oliver, in Ireland, pub owners would take former church confessionals and place them inside.
“There would be a different entrance for the snug because women couldn’t drink in public. Each snug would have a sliding door for them to receive their drinks. The men would then sneak in so they could drink together,” he explained.
Businesses like the Irish Pub Company export a complete pub kit anywhere in the world, and many offer add-ons like confessionals and church pews. Oliver confessed that there’s a San Jose Irish pub that was created from a kit but he wouldn’t divulge its name.
This historical overlap between the church and pub goes back hundreds of years, and one of the most noteworthy is the role of the publican, a pub staff member who would not only pour your pint but also coordinate the funeral for your beloved. Oliver remembers having cousins in Ireland who served that role but disputed the notion that the cooler that kept the Guinness cold was an ideal location to store the deceased before the wake.
Life and death and every celebration in between land squarely within the confines of a pub. It’s probably why Rose’s mother and family matriarch, Molly Mitchell, pops by Fiddler’s a couple of times a week. At 91, she’s shared enough life experiences with her family and fellow pub patrons that Fiddler’s feels more like a second home. The staff confirm her celebrity status and always have her pot of Barry’s Irish tea and boiled cabbage on hand. She often arrives with friends, and her posse includes at least one or two Catholic priests.
St. Patrick’s Day to the Mitchell and McElhone family is a day to celebrate in many ways since it’s the busiest day of the year. Oliver isn’t bothered by the stereotypical notion that St. Patrick’s Day is all about drinking. When asked about its exploitation, he quipped, “Thank God!” He went on to explain that pubs used to be closed so that folks could honor Ireland’s patron saint who died on March 17. “It’s only been the last 20 years or so that the pubs stay open. It was a holy day of obligation, but where I grew up in Northern Ireland, people used to sneak into a closed pub through the back door.”
When Ollie and his siblings were young, they balanced attending the San Francisco Irish Parade with working at Fiddler’s, a common practice for a family business. And it’s those memories of sharing Irish pride with family and patrons and enjoying Irish music and dance that Ollie hopes to extend to his customers during Molly O’s first St. Patrick’s Day.
This St. Patrick’s Day and weekend, the McElhone and Mitchell family will be celebrating the legacy of their family businesses with proper pours of Guinness and Tullamore D.E.W.-spiked Irish coffee, among other special drinks and food. Bagpipers and Irish dancers will be dropping by both locations.
Behan’s, now run by Rose’s brother, Gerard Mitchell, will also participate in the family’s festivities with the Holy Trinity Pub Crawl. It kicks off on Friday, March 15, at 3:30 p.m. at Fiddler’s Green. Matriarch Molly Mitchell, Molly O’s namesake, will be joining in. Participants will receive a passport and stamp with each purchase of food or drink. With her posse, Mitchell will then make her way to Behan’s and Molly O’s. Prizes will be awarded after the third stamp. Ollie said this will be an ongoing event, though Mitchell won’t always participate. “She’s not much of a drinker, but she does enjoy the occasional pint or lemon drop,” he said.
Fiddler’s Green, 333 El Camino Real, Millbrae; 650-697-3419, Instagram: @fiddlersgreenmillbrae. Open Monday through Wednesday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday and Friday 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Molly O’s, 1163 San Carlos Ave., San Carlos; 650-486-1370, Instagram: @mollyos_sancarlos. Open Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Behan’s Irish Pub, 1327 Broadway, Burlingame. Open Monday through Saturday noon to 2 a.m. and Sunday noon to 11 p.m.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to note that 750,000 people of Irish descent are living in the Bay Area, not on the Peninsula alone.