St. Patrick’s Day: Where to celebrate in Philly

Get into the St. Paddy’s spirit at Fado in Center City.

Feeling green with jealousy because you have to work this Monday? Well, there’s no reason you can’t feel the lush of the Irish this weekend instead. Philly celebrates the 17th throughout the entire month of March, so grab a pint at one of these pre-Patrick’s Day parties. Sláinte!

McGillin’s Olde Ale House
1310 Drury St., 215-735-5562
Considering how quickly bars come and go in Philadelphia, it’s impressive that McGillin’s has been serving beer since 1860. The rotating Irish food specials, stouts and cocktails make this the place to get your Irish on. And let’s not forget that they’ll be serving green beer and Irish coffee this weekend in honor of the St. Patrick’s Day parade.

The Bards Irish Bar
2013 Walnut St., 215-569-9585
Irish owned and operated since opening in 1995, it’s pretty much St. Patrick’s Day every day of the year at The Bards. This Saturday they’ll continue the celebration with Killian’s Irish Red and Tullamore Dew drink specials.

Con Murphy’s
1700 Ben Franklin Pkwy., 267-687-1128
Proclaiming to have the “best pint of Guinness in Philly,” you can expect just that at Con Murphy’s. Special Guinness promotional offers will be going down all day Saturday. You can also count on catching all the English Premiere League action there as well.

O’Neals Pub
611 S. Third St., 215-574-9495
Feed your inner Irishman with authentic corned beef and cabbage at O’Neals Irish Pub. The pre-St. Patrick’s Parade party on Saturday will also feature other Irish favorites along with assorted drink specials throughout the day.

Fado
1500 Locust St., 215-893-9700
If you really need to get your Irish fix before everywhere else opens, look no further than Fado: Doors open at 7 a.m. for European sports, English Premier League and Six Nations Rugby. If you can survive that, they’ll be airing the Philadelphia Union home opener at 4 p.m. as well.

McFadden’s
461 N. Third St., 215-928-0630
Everyone enjoys a good Kegs & Eggs party every now and again! McFadden’s will be opening its doors at 9 a.m. this Saturday, with a musical performance by Lost In Paris from 3-6 p.m.

Sláinte Irish Pub & Grill
3000 Market St., 215-222-7400
Many bars in Philadelphia claim to be authentic Irish, but not all have arched ceilings and wood furnishings built in Waterford, Ireland. Aside from the accurate ambiance, they carry the Setanta Sports channel for all your rugby and soccer needs. Oh, and they also have 25 different beers on draft.

Piazza at Schmidts
1001 N. Second St., 215-825-7552
There’s almost always a party going on at the Piazza at Schmidts, and this Saturday is no different. All the bars in the Piazza — including Crabby Cafe & Sports Bar, King Oaks Lane, PYT, Darlings Diner and Gunner’s Run — will be participating in the St. Patrick’s Day Bar Crawl, with drink specials and live entertainment. The 400-square-foot LED screen will play a live Instagram feed of photos tagged with #StPattysPiazza.