Gizzards and football

There’s nothing much happening at PADDY’S SPORTS BAR these days — darts, billiards, a burger and a brew, football on Sundays, of course — and that’s the way new owners Chris Carper and his father, Pat, like it.

“It’s not really an issue any more,” says Chris Carper, shrugging off the Coeur d’Alene sports bar’s tumultuous past few years.

The difficulties started when former owner Rich Hanlon opened Paddy’s Too in Post Falls, crested with Hanlon’s conviction for arson of another Post Falls sports bar, and ended (hopefully) when the Carpers purchased the bar and completed a month-long remodel.

You’d think folks had kissed the Blarney Stone, with the way rumors were flying, though. Are they going to reopen in time for football? Are they really going non-smoking? Will they still offer fried gizzards?

The answers: Yes. Yes. And yes.

This past November, Paddy’s reopened, serving ridiculously cheap bar food like the aforementioned gizzards, onion rings or mini dogs ($4 each), spicy chicken wings ($6), and Irish Nachos or French fries with cheddar and bacon bits ($7). Their regular menu includes half-pound burgers ($8-$9), assorted sandwiches like the Pork Chop John topped with Jack cheese ($8), pizza ($7-$10) and something no Irish bar should be without: fish ’n’ chips ($9).

Not only did they open in time for football, there’s breakfast beginning at 9 am on Sundays through the end of the season. Beer and wine only, but if you plop an olive and some salt in there, beer with tomato juice tastes plenty like a Bloody Mary.

Besides keeping the menu mostly intact, the Carpers’ remodel preserved the bar’s ’70s man-cave feel, only much cleaner and brighter now: kelly-green walls, dark wood paneling, a rustic stone façade, Naugahyde, Formica. Twelve television screens, nine pool tables. Sports stuff everywhere.

“We’re a working man’s bar,” says Chris Carper, adding that he and his father have no shortage of ideas for what they’d like to do, such as karaoke and more food specials. For now, though, says Chris, they’re just glad to be open. — CARRIE SCOZZARO

Paddy’s, 601 W. Appleway, Coeur d’Alene, is open Sun-Thu 11 am-midnight, Fri-Sat 11 am-2 am. Open Sunday at 9 am for breakfast during football season. Visit www.paddyssportsbar.com or call (208) 765-0701.