O’Mara’s Restaurant

An Irish pub is only as good as its willingness to commit, and O’Mara’s has been committing since 1994. The kitchen runs the canon — shepherd’s pie, Irish stew, fish and chips — alongside a broader American menu, so nobody in your party has to be talked into anything. There’s a separate bar for the neighborhood regulars catching a game, and a covered patio that earns its keep about four months a year.

What pulled us in from the street was the live entertainment. The lineup is more eclectic than you’d guess — Irish and folk, yes, but also jazz, comedy, and the occasional psychic, which is a sentence we did not expect to write about a pub on 12 Mile. It’s the sort of programming that suggests a room that actually enjoys itself.

We drove past and didn’t get in, which we regret, because the menu reads well and we’re periodically and sincerely in the mood for Irish food. It’s firmly on our list for the next Berkley run — ideally on a night when there’s someone playing.