New owners at Paddy Ryan’s won’t be put into a box-ty, use dozens of ingredients to steer clear of the usual restaurant fare and make Irish food and drink their own

What is old has now become new again. Paddy Ryan’s Irish restaurant and pub has had new owners for just over a year now, but is rolling out Irish food and drink that has its own unique style, incorporating all sorts of ingredients that can give a bit of a different twist, while remaining true to what you’d expect from Irish fare.
If you need evidence of how Irish this place is, consider that they were one of only a handful of such venues to take out an advertise in the Irish Gazette, for a long time a go-to Twin Cities metro publication. And Paddy Ryan’s ad took up more space than most among these precious few.
For record, the newer owners of the establishment in the town of Hudson are named Kirk and Jaclyn Mueller. Kirk worked for the previous owners for four years before purchasing the restaurant in December, 2016. “We feel we are the perfect destination restaurant in St. Croix Valley and our food is epic,” Kirk said, with possibly a bit of Irish bravado, adding that it is all made from scratch to preserve freshness.
If you want to tip one or two drinks while dining, Paddy Ryan’s provides a whopping 21 varieties of single malt scotch and a baker’s dozen kinds of Irish Whiskey. There also are 13 of the house cocktails, featuring not only Jameson Irish Whiskey, but other kinds such as Bushmill’s and Tullamore Dew. The Irish Seabreeze ups the ante in a way you might not expect of Ireland, with Boru Irish Vodka. Add to that Absolut Citron and wine selections and you have a party!
These are the flavorful names given to the house cold drinks: Wild Irish Rose, Paddy’s Cosmo, Irish Martini, Dublin Handshake, Luck O’ the Irish, Irish Raspberry, Lemondrop Martini, Celtic Bull and Crabbie Jameson.
But there is beer, too. Among their brew selections, Paddy Ryan’s also offers 28 kinds of Wisconsin craft beers, many with colorful names that indicate they are truly novel. Included is Pitchfork Brewing Paddy’s, incorporating the name of both their place and the craft brew taproom nextdoor. There are also six international beers, including ones from Ireland.
And of course, there also is Irish food. There is creative use of items like lamb, often topped with different enhancers such as several varieties of vegetables in a single dish, and many items are spiced with Jameson and Bailey’s Irish Creme. That is a theme that is followed through in their desserts and many of their weekend specials. And on the menu you’ll even find a splash of sherry listed.
And to go by the numbers concerning the varieties of mainstay toppings, their is the Build Your Own Farl, chiming in at eight. There also is a reuben farl. Many dishes utilize braising.
And continuing the trend of taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary is the prime rib sandwich, which adds Irish cheddar, not the also-ran cheese, and both sour cream horseradish sauce and au jus.
The grilled cheese sandwich also goes well beyond the basic, featuring among other items applewood smoked bacon, and apple slices with Irish bacon mayo.
The chicken wings take what is prevalent on the rest of the menu and give it a new twist, offering among their kinds of glaze the Jameson sweet sauce. It is another prominent Irish drink that stands out in the beer and Guinness pie, as that dark brew is used to make a stout gravy.
The Dubliner chicken, well named, has not only apple bites, (do we see a theme here?), but ingredients such as bacon smothered in cider sauce for a second kind of meat.
But carrying on the theme of Lent, Clarenbridge calamari is offered with the house seafood sauce.
The breakfast boxty gives you two Bailey’s pancakes, smothered with four ingredients, that are well, great breakfast food. Compare to McDonalds.
For starters, chips that are made to include Yukon potato wedges can be served with another Irish favorite Poutine, consisting of cheese curds and brown gravy.
In addition to traditional Irish fare, often with their own twist, throughout the year, Paddy Ryan’s is doing a summer menu, in addition to offering more Americana food. Also, promised is noteworthy lighter fare such as summer salads… the Rachel sandwich with turkey in addition to their traditional Reuben, and for a new take, shepherd’s pie quesadillas, goat cheese citrus salad, and more such creative items.
“We are starting to offer catering services. We feel our food is too good to not be shared with the community outside the restaurant. We also plan on doing more community events to share our food with the public as well,” Kirk said.
Paddy Ryan’s is located directly west of the truck stop in the town of Hudson, on the other side of Hwy. 12.
To see what they have brewing for St. Patrick’s Day, see this web site’s Picks of the Week department.