‘Little neighborhood pub’ aims to bring people together in downtown Matthews

Matthews Social House opened this summer in an old bike shop in the heart of downtown Matthews. It’s the culmination of a three-year journey for owner Gary Murray, who modeled it after a local pub in his hometown of Limerick, Ireland.

Murray calls the Social House a “labor of love,” having done much of the renovation work himself while working part time bartending at a local country club.

“I wanted to create an Irish bar that looks like an Irish bar,” said Murray, who came to America at age 19 on an engineering scholarship. “The draft towers were imported from Ireland. The mirrors and whiskey barrels came directly from my old neighborhood bar in Ireland.”

What he couldn’t find in Ireland, he sourced through Facebook Marketplace. Lined along the back wall of the pub are refurbished church pews. The bar counter is made from 120-year-old floorboards from an Amish Mennonite Church in Ohio. The 100-year-old shelves came from a Monroe warehouse.

Murray and his business partner, Adam “Jacko” Jackson, have been planning the pub since just before the COVID-19 pandemic began. It was set to open last fall, hence the “Est. 2022” on a wooden sign that hangs by the front door, but permitting and other issues delayed the process.

It was worth the wait. Since opening in June, the pub and beer garden nestled on Charles Street just around the corner from Trade Street has taken off.

“When people come here for the first time, their eyes are just so big and their faces light up,” Murray said. “We call it a Social House because we want strangers to talk. We have the long tables because hopefully two groups will gather around and strike up a conversation.”

Inside, the 1,000-square-foot building holds about 50 people in an intimate setting with six tables and a bar. A pool table is the focal point – the only pool table in downtown Matthews, Murray said.

Matthews Social House includes a pool table and refurbished church pews.

Outside is where all of the action is. The expansive patio area has seating for 180 people, with 10 long tables, eight six-person tables and 10 high top tables converted from old whiskey barrels designed to look like pints of Guinness – dark on the bottom with creamy white tops. There’s also a food truck, walk-up beer window, ice cream stand, cornhole and large wooden swing.

As for the food and drink options, Murray says they are “keeping it simple” with the food truck by offering a selection of three burgers— a cheeseburger, a Carolina BBQ burger and an Aloha burger with the pub’s signature crack sauce and pineapple — as well as fries.

The food truck at Matthews Social House focuses on burgers.

The pub has a full bar and specializes in whiskey and bourbons from Ireland and other countries. The pints of Guinness are just like back in Ireland, Murray said, with the “perfect temperature and nitrogen blend.”

The pub is “very family-friendly,” Murray added, noting that both he and Jacko have young kids. “We wanted to create a community space where we could be proud to bring our families. It’s a little neighborhood pub in downtown Matthews, and we couldn’t be happier about bringing people together.”

Crowds gather in the evenings at Matthews Social House.

Matthews Social House

Location: 105 W. Charles St., Matthews, NC 28105

Menu

Cuisine: American, burgers

Instagram: @matthews_social_house