Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Work begins on former Milford’s Fish House transformation into Irish pub, restaurant

The New Transfer Market in 1925. The building housed Milford’s Fish House from 1980 to 2018 and is undergoing renovation. When done, it will be a Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill and Irish Pub. (Libby Collection/Eastern Washington University / SR)

Work to renovate the former Milford’s Fish House just north of Spokane’s Monroe Street Bridge into an Irish restaurant has begun, according to city permit data.

Improvements valued at $200,000 will remove walls and reconfigure the kitchen. When complete, the building at the intersection of Monroe and Broadway Avenue will house Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill and Irish Pub, an Everett-based, family-owned restaurant chain that has locations in Everett and Seattle.

Shawn O’Donnell Sr., the Irish eatery’s owner, purchased the building, 719 N. Monroe St., in June for $1.13 million, and the restaurant is anticipated to open in September.

The chain serves Irish-inspired cuisine such as corned beef and cabbage, braised pork shanks and shepherd’s pie, as well as standard pub fare like burgers and wraps. The chain also offers an extensive whiskey list, and the bar will have 14 tap handles, with up to five Irish beers and a rotating list of local brews.

Milford’s closed in February 2018, years after its owner, Jerry Young, said he was considering retiring. The restaurant had opened in 1980 in a building originally built to house the New Transfer Market in 1925. Anton “Tony” Held, a meat cutter who opened the market, had separate vendors for fresh fruits and vegetables, dry goods, baked goods and tobacco, and kept his doors open for just four years until a Piggly Wiggly opened next door. Held’s ads were memorable: “Don’t forget to try some of Tony’s pork sausage, made from little pigs that died happy.”