It was cheers all round for two Mayo pubs at the Bar of the Year awards on Tuesday night in Dublin.
Flanagan’s Gastro Pub, Brickens, Claremorris, scooped the top honour for its culinary offerings at the ninth annual national awards, while Westport’s Mapel Bar Hotel took home the overall award for outstanding customer service.
Caroline and Luke Flanagan were presented with the Bar Food of the Year award at a gala black tie ceremony hosted by Today FM’s Anton Savage in the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Dublin on Tuesday.
The pub was also named Connacht Bar of the Year.
John McNamara, Colleen Diamond, and Kevin Kennedy collected the Outstanding Customer Service award on behalf of the Maple Bar Hotel.
The awards are organised by the magazine Licensing World and are open to all licensed premises in Ireland.
The finalists were judged by a panel of industry experts from across the pub, food, and tourism sectors.
Navan pub, The Central Bar, was named Ireland’s Bar of the Year for 2014.
Tracey Carney, awards director, said the ceremony was all about recognising excellent service and quality.
“The Bar of the Year Awards are dedicated to raising the profile of the licensed trade and reminding consumers of the excellent service and quality that exists today in venues across Ireland,” she outlined.
“Given that the licensed trade industry has been hit hard in the last number of years, it’s great to see that venues are committed to constantly improving their service and quality.”
