Hennessey’s

Make no mistake: Hennessey's is, first and foremost, a bar. And if you should forget that for a moment, the service staff will be sure to remind you.

I guess the supergigantic pint (actually, many, many pints) glass that anchors one corner of the building's exterior should've been my first clue, but I expected something a little upmarket from the adjoining Mickie Finnz. And in terms of food, it was. In fact, if I were the chef, I think I'd find a few moments to officially take umbrage with the performance of the front-of-the-house staff.

There was, for example, the Pepper Chicken ($16.95), which could've held its own in plenty of serious restaurants around town. A riff on steak au poivre, it was big sections of chicken breast, coated with pepper, sauteed lightly and served cloaked in a brandy-infused cream sauce. With chunky skin-on mashed potatoes, a couple of carrot sticks and a few broccoli florets, it was quite a tasty entree.

And we liked the "traditional" corned-beef-and-cabbage ($12.95) dinner, the unavoidable banality of boiled cabbage notwithstanding. The corned beef was full-flavored and meltingly tender, the boiled potatoes just the right texture. But the horseradish that our waitress offered -- and remember, she offered -- didn't materialize.

All of which was emblematic of the level of service we encountered throughout our visit. We saw people on the patio eating barbecued ribs (and gnawing on them in a most satisfied manner), but were unable to find them on the menu. And when a runner tried to drop with us the entrees ordered by a nearby table, one he mentioned sounded so interesting -- but again, was not on the menu -- that I finally had to ask.

"Whiskey pork?" I asked our waitress. "I couldn't find it on the menu."

"Oh," she said, "that was an early bird." And then, with a sheepish smile, "but it's all gone now."

Except, of course, that the people at the next table had come in well after we did. And while we'd looked around, we'd seen no listing of specials, early bird or otherwise. And she hadn't said a word about them. (The front of the menu references early bird specials, but without details, and is easy to overlook if you're getting to the business at hand.) And then, on the way out, we stopped to really scrutinize a sandwich board that was posted by the steps, and found the specials listed -- on the side facing Las Vegas Boulevard, in the direction opposite from which most pedestrian traffic seemed to be arriving. Sheesh.

Our entrees were far from bar food, but Hennessey's does bar food well, too. We'd started with, appropriately enough, a couple of starters -- Irish Nachos ($7.75) and beer-battered onion rings ($5.50). The rings were great -- crisp, nearly grease-free and flavorful, and jazzed up further by the accompanying barbecue sauce. The Irish Nachos actually were sort of like thick potato chips, cooked lightly so that they were still soft and topped with melted cheese, bacon, scallions and a dab of sour cream. They were indulgent but tasty -- and also rather greasy, with those fried potatoes, the cheese and the bacon. But the runner had dropped them off without napkins or utensils, and though we requested the same from our waitress, she brought neither until after our entrees had arrived. And so we resorted to eating with our fingers and trying, mostly in vain, to wipe our fingers on the damp little cocktail napkins under our beer glasses.

The beer, at least, was served well -- nice and cold, though not overly so, and promptly. As we ate we couldn't help but noticing that a lot of people at Hennessey's at the time seemed to be there just for the beer, and I certainly understand.

At least when it came to the beer, we got good service.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.