Tag Archives: St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick's Day at Chief O'Neill's.

Yesterday we decided to change things up since Ginger’s is under new management and we headed to Chief O’Neill’s which was a much different vibe. I got there a little before 11am and the next thing I knew it was me and about nine kids watching The Power Rangers on TV. The setup of Chief’s was two huge rooms and a giant outside tent where all the parents were eating as their kids watched tv in the bar. Clearly I was early.

Chief O’Neill’s slogan is ‘The bar you’ve been practicing for.’ At this point I think it should be ‘The bar you’ve been saving for.’ After 1p they started charging a $10 cover charge (hence why I showed up early), draft beer was $5 for domestic and $6 for imports, in other words a Miller Light was way too expensive not that I was drinking Miller Light. They did have a buffet setup for $14 but it was a one pass buffet, not the all-you-can eat variety. With this in mind you pretty much stacked your plate as high as it could go. In the picture above you can see my plate with pasta, pulled pork, fried cod, fries and a couple of rolls. The plate in the photograph below is Kilburg’s, he had at least 3 rolls in his pockets. All that being said, the food was great and the atmosphere, though older, was much more professional. Seasoned veterans one might say.

A good time was had by all.

St. Patrick's Day.

This past Saturday was another successful St. Patrick’s Day (past St. Pat’s: 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008). Like last year we headed to Ginger’s Ale House where Dan was able to secure our table at 9:30am. Except for the occasional pub crawl the bar wasn’t nearly as packed as was last year. We managed to last about 10 hours at Ginger’s before the crowd broke up and some of us found our way to Finley Dunnes. As in years past there was a black eye and a fish fry on Sunday.

Various parts of the day that were of interest:

Gary Busey making an appearance.
Ted ‘Million Dollar Man’ Dibiase making an appearance.
A raging makeout session at the bar in the middle of the day.
The time when Jeff insulted the honor of some woman (contrary to popular believe Chivalry is clearly not dead).
The entire afternoon when some douchbag decided to play depressing Irish folk songs for several hours and Nick Barbone kept attacking the jukebox in response.

A good time was had by all.

Below is the last photograph of James & Josh, the time stamp reads 8:59pm… there’s no telling what really happened after that point in the night.

*The rest of the photographs can be found on Flickr.

St. Patrick’s Day (or What Myles Tersnak Missed).

This year St. Patrick’s Day was spent at Ginger’s Ale House in Wrigleyville with nearly everyone I know in Chicago along with Josh, Jim and James from various corners of this vast country. Below you will find photographs of the day but there are a lot more located on Flickr.

I soldiered on by getting up at 10:00am, showering and heading to Ginger’s by 11:30am where I was met by Kelly and her friends. My strategy (which I’ve been plotting for a month) was to get to the bar before the soccer games end and then score a table. When I arrived I grabbed a seat at the bar across from one of the best ‘bar tables’ this side of the Ohio River. I was planning on staring at the occupants until they left, kind of creepy bit it usually works. Emily on the other hand decided to start a conversation with the occupants and thereby establishing a relationship built on trust to ensure the table. It worked. We didn’t leave the table until at least 11pm.

Throughout the course of the day people came and went and I manned the corner seat. We ended with what some people would consider the best waitress in the Western Hemisphere. She literally was at our table nearly every 15 minutes to serve our needs. And there were a lot of needs.

A list of things we learned from the weekend:

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro loves the Irish.
The bathrooms at Ginger’s are set at a steady 27 degrees.
When girls dressed entirely in Bushmills apparel ask you what kind of Whiskey is in the 15 shots you just purchased you should not answer Jameson.
If you’re dad forces you to learn to ‘play’ the bag pipes you’re going to be busy on St. Pat’s for the rest of your life.
Backyard hero Brett Farve decided to celebrate his recent retirement in style at Ginger’s.
Finding a hat on the street is a perfectly legit way to add to your wardrobe.
In many ways a Polish sport coat is better than an Irish one.
Don’t ever eat meat with peanut butter or it will cause you’re ear to explode.
Josh Furman & Jim Wallis have a way with words.
Myles Tersnak studies too much.