Where to Eat on the Real St. Patrick's Day
By Anthony Todd in Food on Mar 15, 2011 3:40PM
Despite the green river, drunken hordes and large parade, some of you may remember that St. Patrick's Day hasn't happened yet. In fact, since the holiday falls on a weekday, there are two weekends of fun, and two weekends of great food and drink specials all over the city. We're gonna focus on the places that go above and beyond with food - cheap green beer isn't news in Chicago, and we bet that you've read plenty about drink specials already. Some of these events happen on the actual day (March 17), some during this week and some next weekend. Whenever they occur, eat something new and exciting on the day of green this year.
Flourish Bakery is running an Irish-themed family dinner this Tuesday from 6-8. No reservations required, $6/person. Corned beef, cabbage and Irish Soda bread will be on the menu, and they will also be baking the soda bread every day through Thursday.
At Chicago q, a Kobe in-house Corned Beef special, served with Napa cabbage and fingerling potatoes, is available for $16.75 every day until Thursday.
Frasca Pizzeria is serving an interesting twist on beer and pizza - a Guinness Pizza! The pizza is made with a Guinness crust and topped with potatoes, bechemel and white onion, and goes for $8. Only on the 17th, from 4:30-10.
Blokes and Birds is serving up some Irish homemade specialties on St. Patrick's Day. These include corned beef and cabbage, Shepherd's pie (with Jameson gravy) and Irish white and black puddings. Each of these for under $15.
Ok, so we said we wouldn't mention drink specials. But this is too good. Chalkboard restaurant has created an Irish milkshake with Baileys and Jameson ($7) to wash down their corned beef (served with pickled sprouts, fingerling potatoes and caramelized onions. Take that, shamrock shake.
Apparently, Chalkboard isn't the only place with a special shake. DMK Burger Bar will be whipping up a green shake of their own, made with Peterson’s vanilla malt ice cream and mint, garnished with Lucky Charms cereal. They will also be serving Guinness, usually a no-no for their American-only beer list. Served from the 17th-20th.