Finnegan's Sports Bar & Grill

Slowly but surely, The Village shopping center (home of ) is growing. New stores and restaurants keep on popping up. One of the newest is .

Finnegan's is basically an Irish pub by way of Champs. It's an interesting mix; a little more intimate than your typical sports bar, but much larger and broader than an Irish pub.

I went there on a Friday afternoon to see what the crowd was like, and more importantly, to see how their happy hour stacks up against some of the other places in town.

The sports bar aspect of Finnegan's draws a younger crowd; when I was there, the clientele was mainly people in their 20s and 30s. There were several large groups of people in the bar who were meeting up for after-work drinks.

Space is definitely one of the things Finnegan's has working in its favor. Their bar area is large and there are plenty of cocktail tables, so it will easily accommodate a group without feeling like you're overtaking the entire place. Plus, the bar itself is 40 feet long, so there's plenty of room there as well.

I don't know why, but for some reason I wasn't expecting Finnegan's to have a great happy hour. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The card on the bar only advertised half-priced drafts, but the bartender also let us know that rail drinks were $3 and specialty drinks were discounted as well.

In terms of food, there's also a large selection of $6 appetizers during happy hour, with additional ones available on the menu for $6 to $8. We got the pub fries, and it was perfect for sharing. If you're in the mood for dinner though, Finnegan's boasts an impressive menu full of Irish favorites and more American fare, including Angus burgers.

The best part of their happy hour though? Not only does it go from 3 to 8 pm, but it's seven days a week, making it the perfect place to hang out and watch afternoon football games. Like any self-respecting sports bar, Finnegan' walls are festooned with a variety of large-screen flat panel televisions.

You don't have to be a football fan to enjoy Finnegan's though. They have different things going on every night: Tuesday night is Karaoke night, and they even have Trivia night on Wednesdays. Friday and Saturday nights are party nights, as they have a DJ on both days.

If you're looking for a high-energy bar to watch football, meet people or just enjoy dinner, Finnegan's is the place for you.