This post was updated in March 2025.
An Irish breakfast is more than a morning meal. The fry-up typically involves eggs, grilled tomato, and baked beans—and it differs from its English cousin with a variety of breakfast meats like rashers (Irish bacon) or black and white puddings (sausages), plus Irish soda bread. So yes, it’s hearty enough to eat any time of day.
Here are nine pubs where you can get a proper brekkie around St. Patrick’s Day—or any day.
Daniel O’Connell’s
112 King St., Alexandria
This Alexandria pub boasts an entire menu section dedicated to “auld favorites,” including a full Irish breakfast ($21.95) with sausage, bacon, and puddings, as well as eggs, sautéed mushrooms, breakfast potatoes, baked beans, and toast.
The Dubliner
4 F St., NW
This family-owned Capitol Hill institution has served politicians and Irish expats for over 40 years. The “full country breakfast” ($21), served daily, isn’t for the faint of stomach. It’s got two eggs, three types of breakfast meats (rashers and puddings), beans, potatoes, grilled cheesy tomatoes, and fresh-baked soda bread. Visit on St. Patrick’s Day for a hearty morning feast.
Ireland’s Four Courts
2051 Wilson Blvd., Arlington
If you order the traditional Irish breakfast ($21) from this pub/sports bar—it’s available at brunch Thursdays through Sundays—you’ll get two of everything, including eggs, bangers, rashers, and puddings. The plate also comes with potatoes, tomatoes with melted Swiss cheese, Irish beans, and white toast.
Irish Channel
500 H St., NW
Coming in at the least expensive on this list is the traditional Irish breakfast ($18) from this restaurant housed in Gallery Place’s Fairfield Inn & Suites. The plate comes with the works, including two eggs your way, sausage, rashers, baked beans, fries, and toasts. The pub will also be open for breakfast on St. Patrick’s Day.
The Irish Inn at Glen Echo
6119 Tulane Ave., Glen Echo
The atmospheric inn is a great place to fuel up (or wind down), especially if you’re hitting nearby hiking trails or the C&O Canal. A traditional Irish breakfast with all the accoutrements ($20) is served at weekend brunch, with seating in the wood-paneled bar, dining rooms, or patio.
The Old Brogue
760 Walker Rd., Great Falls
At this Irish-American pub in Great Falls, a traditional Irish breakfast ($19) is on the menu at brunchtime. You can expect any-style eggs, pork sausage, bacon, puddings, potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, a broiled tomato, and beans. On St. Patrick’s day, a $10 cover will get you entry, plus live entertainment and festive food specials.
Samuel Beckett’s, Kirwan’s on the Wharf, and The Dark Horse
2800 S. Randolph St., Arlington; 749 Wharf St., SW; 659 Zachary Taylor Hwy., Flint Hill
Owner and Tipperary native Mark Kirwan is behind these authentically Irish gastropubs—Samuel Beckett’s is in Shirlington; Kirwan’s is on Southwest DC’s Wharf; and Dark Horse is in Flint Hill—which serve a full Irish at weekend brunch (and at Beckett’s, weekday lunch). In addition to the usual suspects—eggs, rashers, puddings, beans—Beckett’s plate ($20) comes with a potato cake and homemade brown bread, Kirwan’s version ($19) adds sautéed mushrooms and toast, and Dark Horse’s ($20) spread comes with home fries and Kerrygold butter.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
