A warm Irish welcome around San Mateo County

“A lot of people that come in, they are so grateful that they finally found like an Irish breakfast they can enjoy. I’d say that’s one thing that people come from all over to have,” Sinéad McElhone, Oliver’s daughter, said. 

The authenticity of the fare isn’t the only element that draws Irish community members in, both to Fiddlers Green and the two other pubs owned by the McElhone family: Behan’s in Burlingame and more recently-opened Molly O’s in San Carlos. 

A commitment to preserving other elements of tradition, like Gaelic football — which is religiously turned on as early as 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. on game days to watch as it’s played in Ireland — is also present.

“It’s really important, especially as the Irish American new generation coming in, being able to have a place to come with our parents, [where] all of us were able to have that connection to home,” Sinéad McElhone said. “You know about a sport and know how to play it, and who’s playing, you’re able to actually talk about it … it just helps kind of tie everybody together and keep the community.” 

The McElhone family businesses embrace an Irish spirit of welcome to all patrons, especially on holidays like St. Patrick’s Day — and the Americanized version of the holiday that Oliver McElhone says he’s adopted alongside his home country. 

“It used to not be that way, because it’s a holy day of obligation, but now it’s become more commercialized, because the Americans know how to party on St. Patrick’s Day,” he said. “You can quote me on that.”

The three establishments will be hosting a Holy Trinity bar crawl in honor of the weekend, when patrons who visit all three pubs will get a prize — although they’re staying authentic to their Irish roots and remaining far away from the green beer and food. 

“It does get hectic but you have to enjoy it, it’s your national holiday,” Oliver McElhone said. “If I’m not enjoying it, send me home.” 

Oliver McElhone and Rose McElhone originally opened Behan’s in the 1980s alongside Rose’s family, the Mitchells, seeing a market for Irish pub culture on the Peninsula. 

“They were cultivating an Irish community down here. San Francisco has had the Irish communities and pubs and Irish center, you know, set up for many years, and in the late ’80s,  more people moved down the Peninsula and it just kind of made sense that there needed to be places to be together,” Sinéad McElhone said. 

Fiddlers Green was established soon after, in the ’90s. 

Rose’s brother, Gerald Mitchell, now operates Behan’s, and Oliver and Rose McElhone’s son, Ollie, is running San Carlos Irish pub and restaurant Molly O’s, a more contemporary twist on the classic Irish bar that features a DJ every Friday. The establishment, which opened May 2023, is named for family matriarch Molly Mitchell, Rose’s mother. 

The vocation came naturally, Oliver McElhone said. 

“I’ve always worked in bars and restaurants. There’s a lot of traditional bars at home, back in Ireland,” he said. 

And it’s always been a family affair in some sense, Sinéad McElhone said, although the three siblings — herself, sister Trea and brother Ollie — came into the business through different paths. Now, they’re able to work together to combine tradition with an engaging and lively atmosphere for the next generation. 

“All three of us grew up working here and helping throughout, from high school on,” she said. “We can all recognize each other’s strengths and we know when we can ask for help.” 

Fiddlers Green has found a place within the Millbrae community, the McElhones said, although they’re consistently working to reimagine ways to draw in the Peninsula’s changing demographics. 

“They’ve really gone above and beyond what their expectations were of having this really amazing restaurant,” Sinéad McElhone said, “as well as like a really strong community that enjoys coming in and knowing they have their Irish heritage and it’s actually authentic.”