PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Almost exactly two years ago, just before St. Patrick’s Day 2020, Philadelphia began to shut down due to the coronavirus.
“The Monday before St. Patrick’s Day, the 5th, I think, we decided that we would not be open after that,” recalled Chris Mullins, owner of McGillin’s Olde Ale House in Center City. “It was not a lucky holiday — not a lucky year.”
But this year, he expects crowds to come rolling back in, and he’s ready to supply them with Irish drinks and food.
“The potato is what transformed Europe,” he said of the Irish staple. “It came from America and it provided cheap food.”
Related
He’ll have the essentials — shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash, corned beef and cabbage — plus a specialty Irish potato cocktail.
“We rim the glass with cinnamon and inside would be the ingredients that’s typical of the candy Irish potato, which is made with vanilla vodka and RumChata, which is coconut-flavored creamy rum,” he said.
St. Patrick’s Day is on March 17, so McGillin’s and other Irish pubs are expected to be busy this weekend.
For more on traditional Irish food, listen to the KYW Newsradio original podcast What’s Cooking on the Audacy app or in the audio player below.