On Saturday, the green beer will flow, the Celtic music will blare and whiskey will fill the mouths of the Irish-for-a-day.
Bars, clubs and restaurants in Gainesville will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in full with food and drink specials and an all-around party mentality.
“We are going to torture our employees and open up at 7 o’clock in the morning,” said Ron Norbut, general manager at Mother’s Pub & Grill.
Mother’s will serve shepherd’s pie and corned beef and cabbage, two traditional Irish dishes.
He said the limited menu will make decisions easier for his staff and the customers.
It will take 80 pounds of lamb to make the 200 portions of shepherd’s pie, he said, and Mother’s has enough raw brisket meat to make 200 portions of corned beef and cabbage.
Mother’s has been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day since it opened.
“This is one of our hallmarks,” Norbut said.
He said customers will hear Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys and live bagpipes while at the restaurant.
Durty Nelly’s Irish Pub has been preparing since Jan. 1 for St. Patrick’s Day, mostly because it will be hosting two live music acts, said Adam Wood, manager of Durty Nelly’s.
Fear Buile, a Gainesville-based Irish band, will perform starting at 9 p.m. on Friday at the restaurant, he said.
Bobby Murray, a Scottish-Irish accordion player and singer, will perform Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Wood said. DJ Leroy from 100.5 The Buzz will be playing Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly and other bands.
Durty Nelly’s will serve Guinness for $4.50, Irish car bombs for $7 and pints of domestic beer for $3, but it will not have green beer.
“Patty’s Day is about good tradition and good beer, not about green beer,” Wood said.
He said Durty Nelly’s had to double its stock of Irish whiskey and Irish beer to prepare for the influx of customers this Saturday.
Wood said there will be an outside bar on Durty Nelly’s parking lot behind the pub to deal with the masses of people looking to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. He said only 126 people can fit in the pub.
“Because St. Patty’s is on a weekend, it makes it a whole lot crazier,” he said.
Contact Ben Brasch at bbrasch@alligator.org.
Nick Brigandi, a 28-year-old employee at Mother's Pub & Grill, pours a beer on Wednesday afternoon. Brigandi and other employees are preparing for all the business on St. Patrick's Day by wearing shirts from last year's festivities.
