Well, it’s that time again. On Saturday, March 17 we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. For some it’s an excuse to wear sparkly shamrock doily boppers. Others use the occasion to test their capacity for green-tinted beer. But for the Celtophile with a rumbling tummy, St. Patty’s is all about corned beef.
What follows is a list of places around Washington where you can sink your teeth into some salt-cured meat—served either in a sandwich or alongside some cabbage (and, in one case, on a hamburger). Enjoy. The holiday comes but once a year.
The Auld Shebeeen
This Shirlington favorite is limiting its menu and serving Irish dishes only on St. Patty’s, with food service beginning around 10:30 AM and ending around 10 PM. Among the Emerald Isle options is a slow-cooked corned beef with parsley cream sauce served alongside simmered cabbage and mashed potatoes.
BGR Burger The Burger Joint
BGR has been running a special all month called the Reuben Burger. Piled atop the patty are Thousand Island dressing, sauerkraut, and thinly sliced corn beef. You can pair that with a Thin Mint shake, which combines the iconic Girl Scout cookie with vanilla ice cream.
Capitol City Brewing Company
A corned-beef-and-cabbage special will be on offer all day long at this brewpub’s Penn Quarter location. Wash it down with $4 pints of Irish Red Ale and Irish Dry Stout.
Degrees Bistro at the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown
For those who want just a little taste of corned beef rather than the full shebang, there’s Degrees Bistro. Along with specials on Guinness, Jameson, Bailey’s, and Guinness-barbecue wings, the Ritz-taurant is offering Irish corned beef sliders on March 17.
Fado
Corned beef shows up in a boxty roll, on a sandwich, and in a traditional dish with cabbage at Fado in Gallery Place. Saturday will no doubt attract a thirsty crowd, so if you’re adverse to the idea of oversize felt leprechaun hats, green beads, and sloppy drinking, maybe don’t go there.
Ireland’s Four Fields
Every day feels like St. Patrick’s at this rollicking Cleveland Park bar (formerly known and often still referred to as the Four Provinces, or Four P’s). So it stands to reason that both a corned beef sandwich and corned beef and cabbage are permanent dishes on the menu here. The latter will not be on offer this Saturday, however, as the bar is serving sandwiches only. And good luck getting one. This is a top destination for St. Patty’s debauchery every year.
Irish Whiskey
The newish Irish bar in Dupont will serve its corned beef sandwich from noon until 10 PM on Saint Patty’s. Also on the menu: corned-beef-and-cabbage spring rolls with mustard crème fraîche.
The Ritz-Carlton’s Lobby Bar and Lounge
You can get a corned beef sandwich with fries, onion rings, or a salad for $14. The special runs from March 16 through 18.
The Majestic
Cathal Armstrong’s famed Alexandria restaurant Restaurant Eve is serving a three-course lunch, and the main event is a corned beef sandwich on a potato roll with sauerkraut. Also on the menu: a smoked mackerel salad with heirloom beets, bitter greens, young flowers, and horseradish vinaigrette. For dessert: Guinness-and-treacle cake with salted cream and a white chocolate ganache. Unfortunately, that menu is offered through Friday only, so head to sister restaurant the Majestic on Saturday if you want to partake of corned beef, Eat Good Food–style. On St. Patty’s, the Majestic has a lunch special of house-cured corned beef and sauerkraut on homemade rye bread. At dinner, try the beef and boiled potatoes with parsley, braised cabbage, and mustard sauce.
Mintwood Place
Cedric Maupillier, the chef at this new Adams Morgan eatery, has three Irish specials on Saturday: Irish kale and beef stew, rustic lamb pie, and, you guessed it, corned beef and cabbage.
Poste
Among the St. Patty’s specials planned for Saturday are a corned beef sandwich served on rye bread with mustard, sauerkraut, and corned beef broth, and a dish of corned beef and braised cabbage. The latter is served with boiled potatoes, carrots, and grilled Irish soda bread. Also on the menu: stuffed trotter, bangers and buns, and fish and chips.
PostScript in the Madison Hotel
House-cured corn beef and cabbage is on the menu from March 15 through 18.
Happy eating.
