Luxe Life Blog

Photos: Firkin on Paradise focuses on good food — and lots of beer

Posted September 19, 2012 • 11:41 a.m. by Don Chareunsy

"Suicide" flavor chicken wings at Firkin, a new neighborhood bar/pub in the strip mall at Paradise Road and Harmon Avenue Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012.

Photo: Steve Marcus

By Don Chareunsy

Let’s just get the question out of the way: What the firk is a Firkin? A firkin is an old English term describing a small wooden barrel or a unit of measurement, usually associated with beer. Firkin on Paradise is the new neighborhood pub at Harmon and Paradise owned by husband-and-wife team Tony and Mariel Sharron, who are simultaneously running the bar and raising three children ages 5 and younger. The full menu is available from open to close, and the pub is nonsmoking, nongaming and well worth checking out.

“Las Vegas needed something like Firkin,” Mariel Sharron says. “It’s a pub and a family-friendly restaurant—the best of both worlds. We’re affordable—and we’re good!”

I love neighborhood pubs. In my ’hood of Henderson, Republic Kitchen & Bar (reverse happy hour) and Shakespeare’s Grille & Pub (chips and curry), both on Eastern Avenue, are two of my favorites. But now I’m willing to make the short trek to Firkin, which I happily visited three times at in four days for this story.

Firkin, which opened on July 9 across from Hofbrauhaus and the Hard Rock Hotel, reminds me of an elevated college bar. The servers are friendly without being annoying; the booths, tables and bar are pristine; and nothing on the menu costs more than $14. There are pool tables and shuffleboard, LED screens behind the bar and a British flag hanging from the ceiling. There’s no valet and no winding parking garage, just a menu of traditional bar food with a few items that go well beyond pub standards and no less than 42 beers on tap. My favorite drinks on a recent Saturday afternoon included beers sweetened with lemonade (Radler), ginger ale (Shantygraff), Sprite (Lager and Lime) and orange juice (Bee Sting).

And there’s plenty of food, too. On Wednesdays, Firkin offers all-you-can-eat-wings for $12.95. There are 12 flavors, from buffalo, orange ginger and bourbon chipotle to Jameson-glazed, red Thai and cajun. The suicide wings left an indelible mark on our mouths; one friend is probably still paying the price weeks later. And the Sharrons say the recipe has actually increased in hotness since I tried them. Seriously.

Other dishes worth trying include the pub dip, avocado and bacon burger, and fish and chips. Finish things off with the cobbler of the day, fudge brownie sundae or bread pudding served with an amazing Jack Daniel’s whiskey and caramel sauce. Bottle it up, please.

“We put our heart and soul into this place. It’s our fourth child,” Tony Sharron says.

It shows.

Firkin on Paradise, 4503 Paradise Road, 457-3756. Mon-Thu, 11 a.m.-midnight; Fri-Sat, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.; Sun, 9 a.m.-midnight, www.firkinpubusa.com

Don Chareunsy is editor of VegasDeLuxe.com and senior editor, arts and entertainment, of LasVegasSun.com.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

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