DINING Pied Piper a Pub for the Public

EUREKA SPRINGS — We have a reputation as a biker bar,” co-owner Fatima Treuer admits about the Pied Piper Pub in Eureka Springs.

But that only lasts until people “walk through the door and experience the friendly atmosphere,” she adds.

“We cater to families, tourists, locals, regulars - and everybody in between!”

Treuer opened the pub 10 years ago, with her father Smith Treuer’s help. The senior Treuer was also owner of Rogue’s Manor in Eureka Springs, where his daughter cut her teeth in the restaurant business. She put herself through college at the University of Minnesota working in restaurants and earned a degree in international business.

“I had studied in Ireland and fell in love with the land,”Fatima Treuer explains. “After I moved to Eureka Springs to stay, I wanted to do an Irish pub.”

The food was “a little bit of everything” at the beginning,but the menu has evolved to focus on everybody’s favorites - classic Irish fare and burgers.

“We make as much of it from scratch as we can,” Treuer says, and that goal got easier when her brother, Latigo Treuer, moved back to Eureka Springs from the Virgin Islands a couple of years ago.

“He oversees the whole operation,” Treuer says, “and in the kitchen, I have a crew that’s been there many years.”

Favorite offerings include the “world-famous” reuben,served with waffle fries ($9), and the blarney burger with bacon, bleu cheese and sauteed mushrooms, also served with waffle fries ($9).

But that’s just the beginning of the menu, lassie. The Pied Piper offers fish and chips ($9), corned beef and cabbage, served with salad and bread ($10), homestyle meatloaf, served with mashed potatoes and salad ($10), an 8-ounce strip steak for $16 and prime rib for $18 -$24, depending on portion size.

If that isn’t Irish enough, there’s bangers and mash, twomild sausages and mashed potatoes with cabbage, milk and onions ($8) or a Dublin coddle, potatoes, onions, bacon and sausage, braised in sage, clove and allspice and served with salad and bread ($10).

Patrons can also build their own sandwiches, combining a choice of hamburger, chorizo, grilled chicken breast or veggie burger with bacon, grilled onions, sauerkraut, mushrooms, barbecue sauce, hot sauce, Swiss, cheddar, bleu or pepperjack cheese, each $9 with waffle fries.

One of Treuer’s original goals a decade ago was to be open late, because “backthen everything closed at 8:30 or 9.” Thus it happens that the Pied Piper is open until midnight seven days a week, and the menu includes a wide selection of munchies - salsa and chips ($4), hummus and pita ($6), battered mushrooms ($5), hot wings ($6), Scotch eggs ($5) and more for late-night grazing. Beer, wine and mixed drinks are also available, including Guinness beer ($6), hard ciders ($4-$5) and Irish whiskey ($6).

Treuer says there will be some additions to the menu this fall, “but nothing will go away.” Pied Piper patrons like things just the way they are.