By Bernie Whitmore

Funky Murphys
305 Shrewsbury St., Worcester
(508) 753-2995
funkyandjosemurphys.com

For years, I considered Funky Murphys a place to meet friends, have a drink and watch sports. That’s how it looked from the street, and I never looked any closer. Then, the Taste of Shrewsbury Street came along; it’s always an ideal opportunity to visit restaurants I haven’t explored. And Funky Murphys was one of the standouts ~ it set up a buffet to showcase several of its specialties and, in the process, gained my respect for its menu.

Fast-forwarding past the swelter of summer, it was finally time to give Funky Murphys a try. When I joined my friend for dinner, it was a warm weeknight and all the tables in the front were taken by groups wanting fresh air, draft beer and a Red Sox game, so we were seated in a booth in the back dining room. Occupying most of the room was a large party that provided plenty of festive energy for the remainder of the evening. The vibe? Jimmy Buffet cool at 90 decibels.

Amanda, our server, brought menus and recited the list of draft beers. She was especially enthusiastic about the addition of Pumpkinhead Ale (Shipyard Brewing) to the lineup, so I ordered a pint in honor of the upcoming season. It came in a glass rimmed with cinnamon sugar. Call me a pumpkinpuss, but don’t sugarcoat my glass. Please. A quick wipe took care of that, and I had my first pumpkin brew of the season. Maybe the fruit needed more time to ripen; had this been a blind taste test, I would have rated it well, but the pumpkin flavor was barely perceptible.

To give Funky Murphys an objective measure, we started with the classic sports bar appetizer ~ Nachos. Funky Murphys were some of the best; globs of stretchy, molten jack and cheddar cheeses overflowed and were baked right on to the dish. Accompanied by cups of salsa and sour cream, there were handfuls of sliced black olives, jalapeños, meaty red beans and a schmear of spicy chili. The nacho chips were classic golden corn ~ thankfully ~ and not those scarlet ones that seem to scream “red dye!”

So the quality of ingredients and piping-hot presentation were probably the best around. But the portion? Let’s just say it was huge. We started out with big appetites and could not finish the dish; a party of four would find it plenty.

When it came to entrees, my friend had a mixed experience with his Black Pepper Encrusted New York Strip. The good-sized steak came perfectly medium rare, with juices flowing and bristling with a crunchy crust of cracked pepper.

So far, so good. But what the menu described as “mushroom au poivre sauce” was, in reality, a chubby brown gravy with big slices of mushroom. “I don’t like gravy on my steak!” he grumbled, as he scraped it to the side of his plate. To her credit, Amanda sensed his distress and offered to replace his steak with another.

In spite of the gravy incident, he stressed that the steak was delicious. It came with a perfectly formed scoop of mashed potatoes and a medley of broccoli and cauliflower florets.

Funky Murphys has a long list of sandwich plates I was interested in sampling, but then. I noticed the Rack of Ribs and decided to be a carnivore for the evening. That was a good decision, for in a world where size matters, this rack hung over both corners of one of Funky’s big square dishes.

Served with golden french fries and a bowl of creamy coleslaw, these ribs glistened a deep reddish-brown with tangy-sweet sauce. A crucial measure of ribs is that the meat falls from the bones. Funky Murphys ribs were so tender that with just a bit of prodding of my fork, the first bone sprung from the rack.

My original plan was to take home half the rack, but these ribs were so tender and delicious, I just couldn’t leave them alone, and soon, I had nothing but a pile of clean bones.

On a street renowned for restaurants, Funky Murphys holds its own and does it with a spirit of fun. The generous portions of good food at very reasonable prices made me a believer.