Molly Darcy's Pub, Patio & Courtyard

I’m enjoying lunch in Molly Darcy’s court yard with my son, Russ. The puffy concoction on my plate is a superb chicken potpie. Russ has the healthy Friday special: salmon with veggies, and salad.

There are so many choices at Molly Darcy’s, the Irish pub at the Seven Gables Inn. If you sit outside at a cafe-style table on North Meramec, you can people-watch in the heart of downtown Clayton. Or you can step into the pub and down a pint of Guinness and make believe you’re in Killarney. But if you really want a break from the world, head down the hallway to the courtyard. The green oasis with ivy-covered walls and shade trees will do more for your well-being than a hour spent with your therapist.

Molly Darcy’s Celtic-style pub. That’s me reflected in the left corner while taking the photo.

Bill Cullen opened the original Molly Darcy’s in Killarney, a town in southwest Ireland, before bringing the concept to Clayton. So who might Molly Darcy be, you ask? According to a squib in the menu, she was Cullen’s grandmother, a spirited Irish woman, who sold fish and fruit from a wheelbarrow at the Dublin Fair. After a lifetime of hardship and woe, she died in 1991 at nearly one hundred years of age. Her zest for life can be seen in her sayings. One quoted on the menu reads: “Smile. I met a man today who didn’t have one so I gave him one of mine.”