Jack McGarry on Redefining Irish-American Pubs Through The Dead Rabbit and The Irish Exit

10/29/24 • 76 min

#83. In this episode of The meez Podcast, Josh Sharkey sits down with Jack McGarry, Managing Partner of world-renowned, The Dead Rabbit, for a deep dive into leadership in the restaurant and bar industry. Jack shares insights on building and scaling a globally recognized brand, including how he's led The Dead Rabbit to become one of the most awarded pubs in the world, with honors like Tales of the Cocktail awards and World’s 50 Best Bars titles. They also discuss the challenges of hiring in hospitality, what it takes to lead a successful team, and how to maintain authenticity while expanding into new cities.

Beyond the operational side, Jack opens up about his passion for contemporary Irish culture and how he’s reshaping the image of the Irish-American pub. From his expertise in cocktail development and Irish spirits to his commitment to philanthropy and mental health advocacy, Jack’s story is one of passion, purpose, and leadership. And, of course, no conversation with Jack McGarry would be complete without discussing what makes the perfect cocktail.

Tune in to hear how Jack’s journey from Belfast to New York has made The Dead Rabbit a global institution, and what’s next for this Irish pub as well as other brands as it expands across the U.S.
Where to find Jack McGarry:

Where to find The Dead Rabbit:

Where to find The Irish Exit:

Where to find host Josh Sharkey:

In this episode, we cover:

(02:18): What recently has been keeping Jack up at night
(06:38): How Jack maintains quality when scaling to new locations(14:55): How Jack thinks about hiring
(35:01): What Jack has learned about hiring for the future
(40:12): What makes a great cocktail and what makes a great bartender?
(1:01:06): The Irish Exit and Celebrating Irish Culture
(1:05:53): What is clear ice?
(1:13:17): Next steps for Jack

Explicit content warning

10/29/24 • 76 min

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The meez Podcast - Jack McGarry on Redefining Irish-American Pubs Through The Dead Rabbit and The Irish Exit

Transcript

[00:00:00] Jack McGarry:

Use a not metric of four digits for a barrier. It's just a terrible metric or a terrible thing for building a team. You know, it's just not the right way of going about things.

[00:00:11] Josh Sharkey:

You're listening to season two of The meez Podcast. I'm your host, Josh Sharkey, the founder and CEO of meez, a culinary operating system for food professionals.

[00:00

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