An Irish Pub Inspired by Atlanta’s Past Replaces Meehan’s in Sandy Springs

Irish pub Meehan’s Public House is calling it quits after 15 years in Sandy Springs on Monday, February 3, the AJC reports. According to a Facebook post dated January 17, the pub was sold to new owners and will eventually become Thos. O’Reilly’s Public House in mid-February.

New owner, Butch Elmgren, plans to retain Meehan’s employees at the Sandy Springs location and offer a similar menu, which should also include a few new entrees like a ribeye and more whiskey and beer selections.

Thos. O’Reilly’s is named for Father Thomas O’Reilly, an Irish Catholic priest living in Atlanta during the Civil War. He’s credited with saving a handful of Atlanta churches, city hall, and the courthouse from being burned as part of General William Tecumseh Sherman’s “March to the Sea.”

101 Concepts, the restaurant group that owns Meehan’s in downtown Atlanta and Vinings, closed the Buckhead location two years ago. It became Irby’s Tavern. The Atlantic Station outpost closed last fall. The group closed longtime Southern restaurant Food 101 in Sandy Springs last March, followed by its Castleberry Hill barbecue restaurant, Smoke Ring, in December.

101’s marketing director, chef Ron Eyester, tells the AJC these closures should help “streamline” the business in order to focus on “profitable ventures.”

227 Sandy Springs Place, Sandy Springs. meehanspublichouse.com.

• Castleberry Hill Barbecue Restaurant Smoke Ring Is Closed [EATL]
• Food 101 Closes After Nearly 20 Years in Sandy Springs [EATL]
• Meehan’s Public House Abruptly Shutters Buckhead Location [EATL]