Friday Foodstuffs: Three and Twenty Ways to Enjoy St. Patrick's Day

If you ask me (and if you weren’t planning on asking me, just play along for a moment), St. Patrick’s Day is a drinking holiday, not a food holiday. That being said, some tasty spins on Irish classics can be found this weekend to compliment your (hopefully cellar-temperature) Guinness.

Of course, we should start with the Irish pubs, right? I mean, this is their big day and all.

Geraghty’s Pub & Restaurant in Burlington is starting off tonight with St. Patty’s eve kickoff party from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m., then will keep things going all day Saturday. The menu has all the Irish and UK delicacies you would want: corned beef and cabbage, bangers and mash, shepherd’s pie.

Meanwhile, at Dubh Linn Square in Cherry Hill, get started early on Saturday with an Irish breakfast at 8:30 a.m., then stay for the all-day buffet. Maybe even catch Ireland play England in rugby at 1 p.m.

Farrell’s in Point Pleasant Beach will start serving their Irish breakfast at 8AM (in case you can’t wait that extra half an hour), and will be serving traditional favorites all day.

You don’t have to wait to start your St Patrick’s Day celebration at The Irish Pub in Atlantic City; the place is open 24/7!

Carney’s in Cape May is having a special three-course St. Patrick’s Day meal for $20 a person.

And at Goodnight Irene’s in Wildwood, they will be having Irish dinner specials from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. as well as $4 pints of Irish brews. And if you don’t want Irish pints, the have plenty of other choices – including beers from Cape May Brewing.

High Street Grill in Mount Holly will have a tasty St. Patty’s Day brunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. that includes Bailey’s French toast which sounds wonderfully decadent.

Buckalew’s on LBI will not only be serving your favorite Irish food specials, but will have a special list of Irish whiskey choices and will also be serving Irish beer flights.

Want the Irish food fun without the alcohol? The British Chip Shop in Haddonfield will have your corned beef and cabbage, you colcannon boxty, AND an Irish cheese board! Now that sounds like a taste treat.

Looking for something sweet? Guinness cupcakes are popping up all over the place this year, so here’s a couple of places to check out for them: The Cookie Cab in Toms River and our friends at Sweet Life Bakery in Vineland. All sweet things green will be served at The Pop Shop in Collingswood, including shamrock cupcakes and leprechaun sundaes.

Saturday’s the day when even the not-so-Irish places get their Erin-Go-Bragh on. Robin’s Nest in Mount Holly will be serving a special Irish meal from lunch and dinner and will feature Irish music from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Salem City Cafe in Salem will have a St Patrick’s Day buffet from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for $19.95 a person. At Forte Unique Cuisines in Point Pleasant, it’s a complete Irish-styled dinner for $17.95 a person. All the hits, plus Irish lamb stew, will be available starting today at Filomena Lakeview in Deptford. At the Crab’s Claw Inn in Lavallette, they are serving some very non-traditional Irish fare, such as Irish tacos and Irish nachos; you’ll have to go and find out what goes into each…you’re on your own there. And then, how about Irish fun and bowling? At the Pinsetter Bar & Bowl in Pennsauken, it’s Irish fare, green beer, bagpipes and bowling all in one place.

Looking for your pot o’ gold in AC? While you try and find it, Resorts Casino Hotel will be having an Irish Festival from noon to 7 p.m. The cost is $5 per person, but is free for card members.

And you can even get your Irish on in the cooking classes this weekend: a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration will be going on at Kitchen Kapers in Moorestown on Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The class is $65 per person and $95 per couple.

For those of you with a tendency to wear orange or are just plain sick of St. Pat’s, here are your non-Irish options:

Saturday: Firkin March Madness at Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant in Maple Shade. Oyster and Ham Dinner at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church – Broad and Delaware Streets, Paulsboro. Call 856.423.5345 for info. Hearthside Dinner
at Gibbon House  in  Greenwich.

Sunday: Hammonton’s Taste of the Town event from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Hammonton High School. The cost is $30 per person. South Jersey Restaurant Week begins and runs till the 23rd at participating SJ Hot Chefs restaurants throughout Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties (four courses for $35 or $25).

Have a great weekend!