Feature Mon Mar 12 2007

Get Your Blarney On

There will be no shortage of green food and green beer on Saturday. You can start the day with a plate of green eggs and ham, and then spend until the wee hours of the morning sampling corned beef and emerald cocktails. If the Irish peasant food grows old, there are some more eclectic offerings: a Leprauchan maki roll at Wildfire, or vegan shepherds pie at Chicago Diner.

We've compiled a sampling of dining specials and events for St. Patick’s Day. The list is in no way complete. Your corner bar is probably pouring dye into their kegs at this very moment. Slainte!

Atlantic Bar and Grill will open with an Irish breakfast at 9 a.m., and then have music, dancing and Irish food available all day. 5062 N. Lincoln Ave, 773-506-7090.

Barnaby's Family Inn will be pouring green beer to wash down their corned beef and cabbage sandwiches. 636 E. Touhy Ave., Des Plaines, 847-297-8866.

The Birch River Grill will serve Irish specialties, such as red-bliss potato skins with Dubliner cheese, corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread and Bailey's cheesecake with Irish coffee caramel drizzle. Unique Irish cocktails can be sampled all day long. 75 W. Algonquin Rd., Arlington Heights, 847-427-4242. (pictured: The Equestrienne (Absolut Citron, melon liqueur, sweet and sour, Rose's Lime and a splash of Sierra Mist).

Chief O’Neill’s is throwing up a heated tent and roasting a pig. 3741 N. Elston, 773-473-5263.

The Chicago Diner can satiate the vegetarian’s craving for shepherds pie. They’re also serving seitan hash burgers with boiled parsley potatoes. Top it off with a green vegan milkshake or a vegan mint-chocolate cheesecake. 3411 N. Halstead, 773-935-6696.

Country House's Irish specialties include corned beef and cabbage, served with boiled parsley potatoes and buttered carrots, Irish soda bread, old-fashioned Irish stew and Bailey's Irish Cream cheesecake. 2095 South Kirk Rd., Geneva; 6460 College Rd., Lisle; 241 55th St., Clarendon Hills.

David Burke's Prime House will start the day with green egg and ham clovers, then feature reuben dumplings (wontons filled with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing) later in the day, along with other Irish specialties. 616 N. Rush St., 312-660-6000.

Lawry's The Prime Rib will have a corned beef and cabbage special, as well as live music. 100 E. Ontario St., 312-787-5000.

Mrs. Murphy & Sons, an upscale Irish bistro, offers corned beef and cabbage, green beer and live bagpipe music. 3905 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-248-3905.

Mulan in Chinatown is mixing green cocktails and will offer a $25 prix fixe Green Chinatown dinner. They’re going green in the other sense of the word too: If you take public transportation there, and can prove it, you get 10% off your tab. 2017 S. Wells, 312-842-8282.

Mystic Celt will feature traditional Irish fare, like shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash, and fish and chips, and will pour green draft beer to wash it down with. 3443 N. Southport Ave., 773-529-8550.

O'Brien's Restaurant and Bar has traditional food and drink specials, as well as live music and karaoke. 1528 N. Wells, 312-787-3131.

Rockit Bar & Grill’s chef James Gottwald puts his own stamp on Irish classics. Look for Guinness cheese soup with potatoes, or corned-beef and potato sheet lasagna with cabbage and Jameson mustard-cream sauce. Finish with chocolate truffles filled with Baileys Irish Cream. 22 W. Hubbard St., 312-645-6000.

Wildfish, not an Irish place but a sushi restaurant, has created a Leprechaun maki roll, with asparagus, cream cheese, tuna and tiger shrimp. 60 S. Arlington Heights Rd.
Arlington Heights, 847-870-8260.

— Lori Barrett / Comments (0)