Maureen Wallenfang
Appleton Post-Crescent
Published 8:18 AM EDT Mar 10, 2020
Plenty of local restaurants will be serving corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17.
But then there’s that handful that stretch it out to be St. Patrick’s Week.
In Appleton, Spats and Mark’s East Side start Irish menus Thursday. McGuinness Irish Pub starts Saturday. New London’s restaurants make a week of it starting March 16.
It makes sense to stretch it out because some diners will order corned beef multiple days in a row, said Spats co-owner Bill Neubert. “We’ll see some customers five or six times.”
Spats doesn’t take reservations for St. Pat’s. To avoid waits measured in hours, he says to come in Thursday through Sunday. On St. Pat’s Day, he said to have one person from a large party come early to get on the wait list.
Carry-out orders are an option, but only for those who order in person at this Appleton restaurant. It won’t take phone orders or use delivery services this week. “Orders can be ready in five or ten minutes. They’ll get their food fresher and hotter. I don’t want the food sitting in containers for 20 minutes,” Neubert said.
Some multi-day choices
Mark’s East Side is cooking 2,000 pounds of corned beef and will begin serving Thursday. Its Irish menu is available Thursday lunch and dinner, Saturday dinner and March 16 and 17 lunch and dinner. If there’s any left, they’ll serve March 18. The Appleton restaurant has bands on St. Patrick’s Day afternoon and evening, and will take reservations. “We will have Irish drink specials and the Guinness will be flowing,” said co-owner Mark Dougherty.
Spats’ Irish menu runs for seven days, from Thursday through March 18. “I have ordered about 2,900 pounds of corned beef this year and 2,600 pounds of cabbage, 1,000 pounds of red potatoes and 1,000 pounds of carrots,” said co-owner Bill Neubert. “We will also serve over 35 gallons of Irish stew.”
McGuinness Irish Pub starts its “St. Patrick’s Day Week” on Saturday with a tent party, bands and Irish dancers. Its lineup of music, whisky sampling (by ticket) and food service including Irish breakfast runs through the following Saturday. No reservations taken for food service. Info: Facebook or mcguinnessirishpub.com/events
New London – renamed New Dublin every year – is filled with Celtic music and food starting March 16 and wrapping up March 21 with an Irish fest and parade with bagpipers. Restaurants serving corned beef that week include Pup’s Irish Pub, Pine Tree Supper Club, The Waters and Hilby’s. Info: newdublin.com
Contact reporter Maureen Wallenfang at 920-993-7116 or mwallenfang@postcrescent.com. Follow her on Twitter at @wallenfang.
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