The Burren

What The Burren does

The Burren is a single-location Irish pub and restaurant operating since January 1996 at 247 Elm Street in Davis Square, Somerville, Massachusetts. The venue combines a full-service kitchen offering Irish and American cuisine with vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options across lunch, brunch, dinner, and late-night service, with nightly live music programming seven days a week spanning Irish Traditional, Folk, Americana, Bluegrass, Jazz, Rock, Pop, and Indie genres. Co-owned by musicians Tommy McCarthy and Louise Costello, the establishment leverages its proximity to the MBTA Red Line, Somerville Theatre, and Tufts University to drive walk-in foot traffic, while extending its reach through UberEats and DoorDash delivery, Toast Tab gift cards, and a private event venue (The Back Room) accommodating parties of 30 or more.

Revenue is generated primarily through on-premise food and beverage sales with menu items ranging from $6 (Kids Mac & Cheese) to $24 (Steak Tips, Atlantic Salmon, Roast Prime Rib), complemented by merchandise (T-shirts at $15), recorded music CDs distributed via CDBaby, private event bookings, and gift card sales. Ancillary content revenue is supported by the Burren Backroom Series, a 2011-launched partnership with WGBH Boston featuring Celtic music recorded and broadcast on Brian O'Donovan's A Celtic Sojourn program. The venue's operating cadence is broad — 11:30am-1:00am Monday-Thursday, with later closes on weekends — and its marketing mix relies on organic social (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), email newsletters via Constant Contact, and third-party delivery platforms, with no proprietary technology, mobile app, or digital product layer of its own.

The business operates as an independent private establishment with no disclosed external funding, parent company, or investor base, and no M&A activity in its history. Its strategic posture is one of community-rooted single-site operation: deep local moat through 28+ years of brand equity, curated live entertainment, and Davis Square real estate, with no signals of geographic or unit expansion.

Name

The Burren

Website

https://burren.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Burren is a single-location Irish pub and restaurant in Davis Square, Somerville, MA, operating since January 1996. It serves local residents, Tufts students, and music enthusiasts with full-service Irish and American dining, nightly live music across multiple genres, private events, and delivery via UberEats and DoorDash.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Irish Pub & Live Music Restaurant

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYCRANACAA

Neighborhood Bars & Taverns

Consumer Products & Retail/Tobacco, Alcohol & Cannabis Retail/On-Premise Alcohol Retail (Bars, Pubs & Taprooms)

Keywords

• Irish pub dining
• Live music venue
• Traditional Celtic music
• Craft cocktails and beer
• Private event hosting

Headquarters

HQ city

Somerville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Food and Beverage Sales: On-site dining revenue from full menu including Irish and American favorites, craft cocktails, extensive beer selection, and wine. Covers lunch, brunch, dinner, and late-night service.
2. Delivery and Takeout: Third-party delivery through UberEats and DoorDash platforms for off-premise consumption.
3. Merchandise and Recordings: Sale of T-shirts, gift certificates, and recorded music including Burren Backroom Series CDs and Grace Bay CD by owners.
4. Live Entertainment and Events: Revenue generation through live music performances, comedy nights, and private event bookings in The Back Room venue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Burren is an Irish pub and restaurant in Davis Square, Somerville, MA, serving authentic Irish and American cuisine across lunch, brunch, dinner, and late-night service. It operates as a nightly live music venue featuring local, national, and international acts across multiple genres including Irish Traditional, Folk, Americana, Bluegrass, Jazz, Rock, Pop, and Indie. Revenue also includes merchandise (T-shirts, CDs), gift cards, and private event hosting in The Back Room for parties of 30 or more.

Product overview

The Burren is a single-location Irish pub and restaurant offering a unified hospitality experience combining authentic Irish dining with nightly live music programming. The core offering includes food and beverage service with Irish and American cuisine, while The Burren Backroom Series represents their signature music initiative featuring recorded performances broadcast on WGBH. Additional offerings include merchandise (CDs, T-shirts), gift cards, and private event hosting capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Food and Beverage Service Full-service restaurant with Irish and American cuisine, including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, served during lunch, brunch, dinner, and late-night hours. Menu items range from $6 (Kids Mac & Cheese) to $24 (Steak Tips, Atlantic Salmon, Roast Prime Rib), with an extensive drink menu featuring Irish whiskeys and craft cocktails.
• Live Music Programming Nightly live music 7 days a week featuring local, national, and international acts across genres including Irish Traditional, Folk, Americana, Bluegrass, Jazz, Rock, Pop, and Indie. Includes weekly Irish Sessions, Open Mic nights, Kids Open Mic, and the Brian O'Donovan Legacy Series.
• The Burren Backroom Series A music recording and performance series launched in 2011 in collaboration with WGBH public media in Boston. Hosted by Brian O'Donovan and broadcast on A Celtic Sojourn, it features traditional and contemporary music from around the Celtic world.
• Burren Backroom Series CD (Volume 1) A compilation CD featuring 14 tracks of music recorded between October 2011 and August 2014 from The Burren Backroom Series, representing the diversity of traditional music performed at the venue across Irish, Bluegrass, Appalachian, Country, Blues, Jazz, and Rock genres.
• Grace Bay CD A CD release from The Burren owners Tommy McCarthy and Louise Costello, featuring duet playing in the regional styles of West Clare and North Galway. Praised by the Irish Echo as a perfect blend of regional styles.
• Burren T-Shirts and Merchandise Burren-branded merchandise including 100% heavy-weight cotton T-shirts available in sizes S, M, L, XL, priced at $15 each, sold in-person at the venue.
• Private Event Hosting The Back Room venue at The Burren is available for private parties and special events, accommodating parties of 30 or more with full food and beverage service. Booking inquiries handled by Joanne at (617) 776-6896.
• Burren Gift Cards Gift cards available for purchase through Toast Tab for use on dining and drinks at The Burren.

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• WGBHcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Collaboration with WGBH public media powerhouse in Boston to launch The Burren Backroom Series in 2011. Series is hosted by Brian O'Donovan on his weekly program A Celtic Sojourn and features traditional and contemporary music from around the Celtic world. This partnership has produced recorded music releases and broadcast content.
• CDBabyminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCDBaby serves as the online distribution platform for Burren merchandise including Burren Backroom Series CDs and Grace Bay CD. Customers can purchase online or at the bar.
• The Real School of MusicminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with The Real School of Music in Andover for student performances. RealJams Academy Advanced Summer Performance featuring students performs at The Burren.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• The Green Dragon: Boston Irish pub/bar with on-site F&B and entertainment focus; comparable to The Burren as a neighborhood-style Irish pub in the Boston market.
• The Kinsale Irish Pub: Boston Irish pub in the same competitive set, combining full food service with a bar/live-entertainment atmosphere, mirroring The Burren's bar-plus-F&B positioning.
• J.J. Gline's: Traditional Irish pub in the Boston/Cambridge area focused on Irish fare and bar service; closely comparable bar-plus-food concept to The Burren.
• Druid Pub: Cambridge Irish pub offering traditional Irish food and a full bar with entertainment — directly comparable to The Burren in concept, geography, and customer mix.
• Mr. Dooley's: Historic Boston Irish pub with a strong traditional-music and drink-led offering; directly comparable to The Burren as a Greater Boston Irish pub serving food alongside music programming.
• Cantab Lounge: Cambridge live-music venue with regular ticketed and free programming across genres; comparable to The Burren's live-entertainment-nightly side, though more venue than full pub.
• The Plough and Stars: Long-running Irish pub in Cambridge, MA offering traditional Irish fare and nightly live traditional music — directly comparable concept, geography, and live-music-plus-dining format to The Burren.
• Lir: Modern Boston Irish pub with full food and drink service; comparable Boston Irish-pub F&B-plus-bar positioning though with less live-music emphasis.
• Toad: Cambridge bar featuring nightly live music (often rock, jazz, blues) paired with food service; comparable to The Burren for its nightly live-programming-plus-F&B model.

Broad incumbents

• The Beehive: Boston live-music-plus-restaurant venue with a broader, more upscale positioning and jazz/programming focus; overlaps with The Burren's music-plus-dining concept but operates as a broader-format hospitality incumbent.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/burrenmusic
• Facebookfacebook.com/Burrenpub
• Instagraminstagram.com/theburrenbar
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-burren

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Burren