07/19/2026
Word’s out - We’re excited to be opening a new location in Bellingham!
Shawn O’Donnell’s Irish Pub Plans Seventh Location at Former Hilltop Restaurant Near Bellingham
The former Hilltop Restaurant property along Guide Meridian Road is expected to become the seventh location of Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill and Irish Pub, bringing an established family-owned restaurant group with huge success in Skagit County to Whatcom County for the first time.
Shawn O’Donnell contacted Bellingham Metro News after seeing an earlier report about the sale-pending sign at the longtime restaurant property, located at 5645 Guide Meridian Road in the Laurel area north of Bellingham.
O’Donnell said his family’s restaurant group has the property under contract and expects the sale could close within the next 60 days. The transaction has not yet been completed, but the group is already preparing for the possibility of reopening the property as a restaurant.
“We are so looking forward to getting the restaurant back open,” O’Donnell said.
Shawn O'Donnell's currently operates six restaurants, including five in Washington and one in Butte, Montana. The business began in Everett in 1990 and has grown into a family-owned group of American grills and Irish pubs.
The planned Hilltop location would become the company’s seventh restaurant and its first in Whatcom County.
O’Donnell said the rural Guide Meridian setting appears well suited for the company’s model. He pointed to the group’s Mount Vernon restaurant called 'Shawn O'Donnell's at the Farmhouse', located inside a former Farmhouse Restaurant property, as an example of a similar location that has worked well.
The company purchased the Mount Vernon property in 2022. O’Donnell described that restaurant as a strong success and said rural locations appear to be a good fit for the business.
Current Shawn O’Donnell’s menus feature a mix of Irish dishes and American pub food, including corned beef and cabbage, shepherd’s pie, Guinness beef stew, chicken pot pie, bangers and mash, fish and chips, burgers, sandwiches and Irish-inspired appetizers.
Other offerings listed on the company’s current menu include wh***ey macaroni and cheese, Irish meatloaf, fisherman’s pie, Reuben sandwiches, boxty cakes, Irish poutine and house-made soda bread. Lunch specials are offered at existing restaurants, although no menu, pricing or daily schedule has been announced for the proposed Guide Meridian location.
The restaurants also serve Irish b**r and wh***ey, along with locally sourced food and dishes prepared in-house. Some existing locations host traditional Irish music during the week, but entertainment schedules differ by restaurant and no live-music plans have been confirmed for the Hilltop property.
The Hilltop Restaurant was a familiar place for generations of drivers traveling along Guide Meridian near Smith and Axton roads. News that an established restaurant group has the property under contract provides the first confirmed indication of what could replace the former business.
An opening date has not been announced. Details involving renovations, hiring and the final menu are expected to become clearer after the property sale closes.
Bellingham Metro News was first to break this story. Article by Fernando Gonzalez, BMN.
