The Irish Bank Bar & Restaurant
Whether you're Irish or not, St. Patrick's Day brings about the festive spirit in just about everybody. We've rounded up the best bars, pubs and restaurants around the country where you can celebrate this merry holiday, or enjoy a pint and a plate of corned beef and cabbage any time of the year. Our picks range from a Florida pub with an on-site brewery and an 8,000-bottle wine cellar to a Philadelphia tavern that opened the year Lincoln was elected president. On March 17, even if you don't get to quaff some green suds, don't forget to don your green duds!
Doyle's Café (Jamaica Plain, Mass.)
This Jamaica Plain institution has been around since 1882. During their infamous Senate battle, John Kerry and William Weld shared a beer here, as has every major pol for decades on end. And why not? There are 29 drafts available. The food is of the square meal-pub grub genus, though a few things have been updated for the modern diet. Burgers come in beef, turkey, bison and veggie. Corned beef and cabbage is served on Thursdays. It hosts a good weekend brunch. Meanwhile, the dark wood booths, old pictures on the walls and regular clientele combine to maintain one of Old Boston's last holdouts. See more details.
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Related reading from MSN and Gayot.com:
Top 40 Restaurants
Top 40 Cheap Eats
Top 10 New Restaurants
Top 10 Heart-healthy Restaurants
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Galway Hooker
Galway Hooker (New York City)
This place in the West Village at first screams generic Irish pub, not unlike its neighborhood brethren, Fiddlesticks. And while the clientele are not really of the local variety -- for better or worse -- the Galway Hooker (named for a ship, we hope) is actually as much (or more) of a restaurant than a place to slam a few pints of Guinness. The menu, as one would expect, is crammed with Irish pub grub, but that's not a bad thing. The signature chicken dish, Hooker Chicken, is elevated with a sweet sherry sauce. The burger is thoughtfully topped with a fried egg. But if you want something lighter, the kitchen also does decent big salads, some of which are sprinkled with warm goat cheese and accented with arugula. It's anything but run-of-the-mill. See more details.
