Walk through the McShane’s big wooden doors and enter a mashup of a dive bar and Pacific Northwest version of Cheers. I’m not sure that everybody knows my name, but I am damn sure they know my order is a tall whiskey ginger and the ahi tacos. 

Forrest McHarry and Racheal Hodson have been serving up whiskey, beer and good eats for many of the 20 or so years the bar and grill has been around. And full disclosure — until recently, I ordered the fish and chips so often that McHarry often had the accompanying salad ready moments after I walked in the door. 

The fish and chips — with cod, tender on the inside and crisp on the outside, hot fries and a big green salad — are still worth it, but when the ahi tacos hit the menu, I switched it up. 

Chef Rick Berger-Munson, like McHarry and Hodson, is a longtimer at McShane’s Bar and Grill. He used to work at sister-bar Flying Squirrel (Jackalope Lounge is also the same ownership) but after some part-time work at McShane’s “liked the vibe of the place.” 

Berger-Munson says the ahi is dusted with coriander and seared up “so it’s nice and rare on the inside” and served with tortillas, coleslaw and wasabi crema drizzled on top. An entrée version of the ahi comes with pineapple rice and black beans. Berger-Munson says that entrée as well as the ahi salad made with mango, wontons and citrus vinaigrette, are “phenomenal, too.” 

I can vouch for the entrée whose rice has just the right amount of sweetness to the spice of the wasabi, and Eugene Weekly reporter and photographer Eve Weston says of the salad, “Served on top of leafy greens and dried mango, this salad went above what I expected. Berger-Munson’s ahi was perfectly rare, with a golden-brown caramelized sear on the outside. A friend and I devoured this one pretty quickly alongside the tacos.”

Hodson says, “Anything tacos is good for me, and I could eat fish tacos every day of the week,” but she also points to the $7 happy hour cod fish and chips as “literally the best deal in town.”

McShane’s on a regular night is home to a host of customers from people like me relaxing or using the Wi-Fi to work while I eat, to bikers, to folks in the neighborhood. The bar and grill is just off I-5 at the 30th Avenue exit, near a couple motorcycle sales places (Harley and Indian), a shooting range and more. From the outside, the dive-feel is real. Inside, the sprawling three-story building is just beat up enough to be comfortable. When I sink into the red-upholstered seating at the booths, I know it’s time to take a breather.

Hodson says, “It’s like a big family, right? So, we have good food; we have good customers; we have a fun environment, but it’s big. It’s a big bar. There’s multiple floors; there’s video poker; there’s an outside deck; there’s pool tables and pinball, but then there’s also dining and seating areas where people can hang out and gather.”

She adds, “And I love hearing people’s stories of the day. ‘You doing a dump run today? Is your cousin getting married tomorrow? Like, what? What’s the event in your life that’s happening today?’ And I love that.”

Longtime customer Beau Blount says he’s been coming there “since I turned 21, which was 25 years ago. I really like the food, love the bartenders.” He adds, “My dad used to work here.”

McShane’s biggest night of the year reflects its Irish bar status — St. Patrick’s Day — and its bar menu does, too. Hodson points to its “huge beer selection, big whiskey” with Guinness on nitro on tap and lots of Irish whiskey — RedBreast 12, Dead Rabbit — and bourbons like Blanton’s and Eagle Rare. 

Hodson says her own favorite drink is Jameson’s and ginger beer. I, on the other hand, prefer the bartender’s hack of making whiskey ginger with 7-Up and bitters.

She says, “It’s a cool spot, and we keep it really nice and clean and comfortable, and easy mellow vibes — like really easy going, even when we have a completely packed house, like when we do prime rib on Friday night, the whole bar is packed.”

Folks might pack McShane’s for St. Paddy’s or the prime rib, but for me, it’s the weeknight ahi fish tacos for the win.

With reporting by Eve Weston. McShane’s Bar and Grill is open daily, 11 am to 2 am at 86495 College View Road. Call 541-747-4031.