McCreary's Irish Pub revitalizes former Vanh Dy's as newest Columbia downtown eatery

It's traditional on St. Patrick's Day to say that "Everybody's got a little Irish in them," but what if you could share the sentiment every week in historic downtown Columbia?

A downtown Franklin staple for many years, McCreary's Irish Pub recently opened its second location in Mule Town earlier this year, taking over the former Vanh Dy's location at 814 South Main St.

While the announcement that Columbia's popular Asian fusion restaurant would be closing its doors last year left many customers sad, the announcement of the new Irish pub/eatery created a buzz almost immediately.

Now operating since February, the city along with the Maury County Chamber of Commerce celebrated the business with an official grand opening and ribbon cutting Thursday. This was a chance for citizens and city leaders alike to take a tour of the two-story building, meet the staff and indulge on some warm, gourmet bread pudding. And for some, maybe a few cold pints of Guinness.

"This is an exciting day, not just for this business, but for all of downtown Columbia, and this building has a really important history that goes way back," Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder said. "The point is that [McCreary's] is now in here and able to shine brightly while being a nice asset to our downtown community and the community as a whole. I'm grateful I was able to come in today, because I tried to come on St. Patrick's Day and it was about a two-and-a-half hour wait."

Owner Natasha Hendrix, who has overseen operations at the Franklin location for more than a decade, said she had her eye on opening a new location in Columbia for quite some time, she just needed the right spot to become available. When Vanh Dy's announced its imminent closure, she knew it would be the perfect spot.

"Over the last 10 years, we have been looking to open a location in Columbia, and so it's been an ongoing starting, and stopping, process," Hendrix said. "My contractor is actually family with the Vanh Dy's people, and it all just kind of came together where they were ready to retire, take some time with family ... and we were still looking for a location. When things are right, they're right, and it all just happened very quickly."

And being a family business, Hendrix said she wanted to keep the love of Vanh Dy's alive by keeping on many of its former staff that customers have come to know and love.

Before becoming manager of the pub/eatery, Hendrix said she was initially on a different career path, one that actually brought her to Columbia many years ago as an intern.

"I was actually getting my journalism degree, and I did my internship at The Daily Herald," Hendrix said. "But then they offered me this opportunity and I thought, 'You know, I can own a pub,' and I took over McCreary's. My sister had also just graduated and came down, started waiting tables and we turned it into this sort of collaborative thing."

In addition to Hendrix taking the helm of ship, she is joined by her sister and brother-in-law, Ashley and Alex Farmer, with Ashley running the front of house and Alex overseeing the kitchen and menu.

The McCreary's menu features many Irish staples, such as cottage pie, corned beef and cabbage, loaded taters, Bangers and Mash or fish and chips. Customers can also start their meals with an order of O'Shannon salmon dip or battered cheese curds.

McCreary's also offer's non-Irish items like burgers, such as the Irishman featuring hand-patted ground beef topped with Gouda cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, mayo and mustard on a pretzel bun.

"We do have an Irish flair, but we're also in America," Alex said. "I pride myself on our corned beef and cabbage. It's amazing. The corned beef, cabbage and egg roll is to die for."

In addition to good food and drinks, McCreary's wishes to become another great gathering spot downtown, with special events and live music, which is featured every Thursday-Saturday night starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday nights are also trivia nights.

"We try to mix live music with the Irish Celtic genre, but also open it up on some nights to other types of bands, bluegrass or anything with a good, community, sing-a-long vibe," Hendrix said.

Operating hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. For more information, to view the menu and place online orders, visit www.McCrearysPub.com or call (931) 223-5248.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: McCreary's Irish Pub opening celebrates newest Columbia downtown eatery