St. Patrick’s Day Treats and Eats in Chicago Restaurants
When it comes to St. Patrick’s Day dining and drinking, it’s typically all about corned beef and whiskey. That’s all well and good, but Chicago restaurants and bars are going the extra mile with numerous offbeat St. Pat’s specials this year, from corned beef tacos to Lucky Charms milkshakes.
Not eating and drinking at The Gage on St. Patrick’s Day would be tantamount to not watching Home Alone around Christmas time. One of Chicago’s most revered gastropubs has Irish roots thanks to thoughtful owners Billy and Catherine Lawless, and no day is that more evident than on St. Patrick’s Day. To celebrate the holiday, the restaurant is cooking up a miscellany of specials from March 14 through March 17, including Irish potato-ale soup, Guinness-braised brisket pot pie, crispy rashers with brown bread croutons and pickled ramps, and pickled cabbage slaw. To drink, don’t miss The Irish Breakfast cocktail, a lively medley of High West oak whiskey, mead, tangerine juice, lemon juice, blueberry syrup float, and fresh mint. To top it all off, live Irish music is courtesy of the Fiddling Finnegans on Saturday and Monday.
One surefire way to guarantee an offbeat St. Patrick’s Day is by spending it at an Asian gastropub. Rodan is just the ticket, rolling out corned beef and steamed cabbage bao sandwiches as well as a chopstick-friendly plate of braised corned beef with taro root, fresh red cabbage, and carrot slaw. Both specials are available March 15 through March 17.
Another fun, tasty alternative to standard Irish haunts is Honey Butter Fried Chicken. The Avondale restaurant is tipping its toque to St. Patrick’s Day with a spread of Irish-inspired eats and drinks on Monday, March 17, serving dinner on a day when they’re normally closed. It’s a five-course, one-seating event that kicks off at 7:30 pm and entails feasting on coriander-cured salmon, potato-ramp soup, corned beef Reuben croquettes, curried pork belly, and chocolate stout cake. A Chicago River cocktail features Green River soda, bourbon, and fresh lemon juice.
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, Burger Boss rolls out new burger and milkshake specials for the duration of March. Start with the Irish Boss, a burger heaped with slivers of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and 1,000 Island dressing. Chase it with an Irish Cream shake.
Not to be outdone by DMK Burger Bar’s rendition of the Shamrock Shake, a noble nostalgic effort made with mint chocolate chip ice cream and Lucky Charms cereal. Since one can’t live off milkshakes alone, DMK is also offering Irish stew fries, a sort of poutine-esque amalgam of french fries doused with Irish lamb stew.
It’s Ireland by way of Mexico at Mercadito this year, with the addition of crispy corned beef tacos to the specials menu. The Guinness-braised beef finds its way betwixt housemade tortillas along with braised cabbage-potato slaw, cured onions, and horseradish-habanero aïoli. They’re available on March 17 for all your eclectic St. Patrick’s Day needs.
The Monarch makes for a regal addition to your roster of St. Patrick’s Day eating and drinking, with a variety of salacious specials on deck all weekend long. It all starts with a few brunch specials, including fried pork sandwiches and spiced pretzels with cinnamon-raisin cream cheese. Later on, let loose with whiskey shots and corned beef sandwiches.
Since drinking green is paramount on St. Patrick’s Day, Table, Donkey and Stick has the perfect solution: Green Chartreuse hot chocolate. A cold-weather staple at the Logan Square restaurant, TDS is offering their emerald cocoa at a discounted price, made with 60.5 % cocoa and torched Green Chartreuse-infused marshmallows.
For all your St. Patrick’s Day dessert needs, Magnolia Bakery is a place to try. Much of the offerings are Kermit-green, making them an ideal focal point for any holiday dessert spread. The featured dessert of the month, for instance, is pistachio cheesecake made with a brown sugar shortbread crust, joined by a roster of St. Pat’s sweets such as shamrock cookies, pistachio cupcakes, pistachio-cherry biscotti, and devil’s food whoopie pies stuffed with peppermint buttercream. The Lucky Charms box finds classic chocolate and vanilla mini cupcakes adorned with shamrock decorations.
Then there’s the Erin Go Bragh doughnut at Do-Rite Donuts. On special all weekend long, the confection is a chocolate old-fashioned doughnut laced with mint icing and crushed Thin Mint cookies.
The Gage
24 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
(312) 372-4243
Website
Rodan
1530 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago
(773) 276-7036
Website
Honey Butter Fried Chicken
3361 N. Elston Avenue, Chicago
(773) 478-4000
Website
Burger Boss
3208 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago
(773) 248-2677
7512 W North Avenue, Elmwood Park
(708) 452-7288
Website
DMK Burger Bar
2954 N. Sheffield Avenue, Chicago
(773) 360-8686
Website
Mercadito
108 W. Kinzie Street, Chicago
(312) 329-9555
Website
The Monarch
1745 W. North Avenue, Chicago
(773) 252-6053
Website
Table, Donkey and Stick
2728 W. Armitage Avenue, Chicago
(773) 486-8525
Website
Magnolia Bakery
108 N. State Street, Chicago
(312) 346-7777
Website
Do-Rite Donuts
50 W. Randolph Street, Chicago
(312) 488-2483
Website
