Mogie's Irish Pub has been thorough some changes, but works hard to keep 'em coming in

Mogie's Irish Pub in Lower Burrell is a restaurant in flux.

“This place has been a work in progress,” says owner Dave “Mogie” Magill.

That comes as no surprise after learning the building began life more than a century ago as part of a farm about a block away. Magill says a previous owner moved it to its present location at the corner of Wildlife Lodge and Leechburg roads.

Since Magill opened Mogie's Irish Pub more than 17 years ago, the dining room and bar have been remodeled, including a recent update to the bar. An outdoor patio was added to feature live entertainment during warm weather.

The name Magill's Grill has been used, along with Mogie's Irish Pub, and Magill says he's considered changing the name to the Nutty Irishman.

He's also planning to get back into the kitchen full time and revamp the menu to feature more fine-dining options: “I'm going to go back to my roots.”

But he plans to keep the sandwiches, pizzas and dinner salads that are a hit.

He also has added on-tap craft beers.

“We get a lot of families,” Magill says. “It's casual family dining.”

It had been a while since we'd last visited Mogie's, and the dining room has a more casual feel than we recall.

Gone are the burgundy walls, faux fireplace and green tablecloths that still are featured in pictures on Mogie's website. The walls are painted a much lighter shade that, coupled with the row of windows overlooking Leechburg Road, brighten the interior.

Aside from a green carpet and some green accents, we didn't get much of an Irish vibe from the dining room. The adornments leaned more toward French Impressionist prints and fall decorations.

The space offers about a dozen tables, but we seated ourselves at a booth along the windows — to watch passers-by.

We didn't realize the bar had been recently renovated, but clearly the locals were aware it's the place to be: Although only a few tables in the dining room were occupied, the parking lot was packed and we could hear the muted buzz of music and laughter through the shared walls and closed doors.

Like the atmosphere, the menu didn't scream “Irish” to us. To our eye, the menu leaned more toward Italian and American.

For appetizers, we sampled one Western Pennsylvania standard and one more interesting offering: fried zucchini ($4.95) and potato croquettes ($5.95).

The six zucchini slices were nearly paper-thin, breaded and fried to a crisp and served with a warm marinara sauce. The three croquettes were a pleasing combination of textures with a creamy filling of shredded potato, Monterrey jack cheese and green onions formed into a sausage-link shape, breaded and lightly fried for a crisp exterior.

Magill says his pizzas, especially his Jersey Shore white specialty pizza, “have taken off.”

We can see why. We sampled a classic White Pizza ($6.50 for four-cut, $11.50 for eight, $13.50 for 12) and were pleased with the hand-tossed, thin crust topped with a tangy white sauce, diced tomatoes and blend of mozzarella and provolone cheese plus pepperoni at our request. The “small” was more than one person could eat.

The Parisian Stromboli ($7.50) was a delicious spin on the stromboli's more-Italian cousins. Chunks of chicken, broccoli and bacon were blended with Monterrey jack and cheddar cheeses and encased in pizza dough about the size of an 8-inch hoagie. We declined the offered ricotta cheese for the filling. We were worried this sauce-less stromboli would be dry inside, but the filling was plenty moist.

The grilled chicken salad ($9.50) was served Pittsburgh-style with fresh-cut french fries atop a sizable bed of greens, tender grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, red onions and cucumbers plus shredded colby and jack cheeses.

The hot roast beef sandwich ($8.95) was one of the few menu items that came close to what we were expecting from an Irish pub, and it didn't disappoint. We're glad we chose the option of having the sandwich served open-face because there was a plentiful amount of tender, shredded roast beef and gravy covering the one slice of bread and healthy serving of mashed potatoes.

The Boston Scrod ($14.95) featured a sizable Icelandic cod fillet baked in a light sauce of white wine, lemon and butter and topped with bread crumbs. The side of tartar sauce offered a nice tang. The meal was accompanied by two sides, a generously sized salad and steamed broccoli.

From the limited dessert menu, we sampled modest slices of carrot cake and cheesecake ($4.25). The carrot cake was moist and topped with the classic cream-cheese frosting. Although the menu offered a topping of cherries on the cheesecake, ours came served plain and we were fine with that — the creamy wedge of cake was a perfectly not-too-sweet ending to our meal.

Liz Hayes is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-226-4680 or lhayes@tribweb.com.