If you’re looking for a great burger and are sick of the same-old restaurants around South High, I have a suggestion for you.

Since 1962, O’Connell’s Pub has been a staple St. Louis eatery. For more than 50 years, O’Connell’s has been going strong. According to their website, the restaurant was bought by frequent patron Jack Parker, who eventually moved the restaurant to its current location at 4652 Shaw Avenue, right next to the St.Louis Botanical Garden and down the street from The Hill.

I recently ventured out to O’Connell’s to conduct this review. The atmosphere begins before you walk in the doors. The scent of hamburgers can be smelled in the parking lot. This isn’t an overwhelming, gross, greasy smell, but more of a relaxing scent. Once you enter the restaurant you see why it’s self-described as an Irish pub. The walls are covered with portraits of prominent Irish figures and posters for Guinness. The restaurant was mostly dark, only lit by lamps at every table. Usually, this is done to hide dirt and grime, but the restaurant was one of the cleanest that I’ve visited. I was told to choose my seating. I went during the day at a decently crowded time, yet the wait staff quickly came by to take my order.

Onto one of the most important aspects of a restaurant, the food. I ordered the hamburger for $9 and an appetizer of onion rings for $5, along with a soda for $3. This brought the total to $17 before tax. The food was very reasonably priced, as well as quality.

The hamburger I received was very simple. There were no absurd amount of toppings piled miles high, requiring me to unhinge my jaw like a snake in order to eat it. The only topping on the burger were onions and condiments. You can get cheese, but that cost a little bit more. With how fancy burgers have become, it’s nice to enjoy something simple. The patty was grilled to brown perfection and the bun was nice and fluffy. The onion rings had a perfect onion-to-batter ratio. There were no hollow clumps of batter on these rings. The onion inside wasn’t soggy at all. The food may have been simplistic, but it was better than a lot of other restaurants. O’Connell’s lets the taste of the food speak for itself.

If hamburgers and onion rings aren’t your personal favorite, O’Connell’s offers a wide variety of other options. Roast beef sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, veggie burgers, grilled cheese, franks, shrimp, house soups, and salads, are just some of the options available.  

The outside of O’Connell’s, as well as when you first enter, may give off the impression of a dirty, dive bar. But if you give it a chance, then you’ll get the opportunity to have some amazing food. Next time you want to go out to eat, maybe venture outside of West County. You’ll end up with some of the best food to ever grace your taste buds.

 O’Connell’s is open Monday through Saturday from 11 am to midnight.