Fitness
Best Bars for St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations
It’s time to iron your greenest attire and dust off your drinking shoes. We’re highlighting the best bars for St. Patrick’s Day. Covid might’ve curtailed celebrations the last couple of years, but falling caseload numbers and rising optimism means we’ll be hoisting Guinness pints together on March 17—and many other days this month.
Depending on your comfort level, you can still sit back at home and livestream the annual Dropkick Murphys concert with several solid stouts. But if you feel like taking festivities beyond your front door, here are the best bars to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Feeling lucky yet?
Best Bars for St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations
1. The Dead Rabbit
Where: New York City
Twice named the world’s best bar, the Dead Rabbit sits at the southern tip of Manhattan. It’s an 1828 townhouse converted into a transportive drinking den that elegantly drops customers into the 19th century. Founders Jack McGarry and Sean Muldoon are natives of Belfast, Ireland, and in the sawdust-strewn taproom you’ll find a peerless pint of Guinness and dozens of Irish whiskeys—served by a two-ounce pour, or added to cocktails including a warming and well-balanced take on the Irish coffee. Can’t hop over to the Rabbit? Try your hand at several cocktail recipes collected in the bar’s recently released book Paddy Drinks: The World of Modern Irish Whiskey Cocktails. St. Patrick’s Day highlights here will include numerous live Irish music “seisiuns” throughout the afternoon and evening—and a complimentary portion of Irish lamb stew upon arrival.
Guinness Open Gate Brewery Courtesy of Guinness Open Gate Brewery
2. Guinness Open Gate Brewery
Where: Halethrope, MD
In 2018, the Irish brewing giant opened this $90 million Baltimore-area brewery that’s become its American post for innovative brewing. Throughout March, the facility is hosting four weekends of Irish-centered celebrations in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, including Irish-themed food tents, performances by the gypsy-rocking 19th Street Band and other musicians, and traditional Irish dancers from the McGrath Morgan Academy. Pints of Ireland-brewed Guinness Draught and Extra Stout will be flowing, and it’ll roll out special-release beers, including an amber ale inspired by Irish breakfast tea, a porter brewed with Irish barley, and a pineapple coconut stout.
3. Irish Channel Parade—New Orleans
There’s never a bad month to party in New Orleans, especially March. On the heels of Mardi Gras revelry, the Crescent City turns its attention to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, a tradition that supposedly started in 1809. On March 12, the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Parade rolls its floats through the city, launching beads, flowers, and even cabbages at onlookers. Make sure you pop by Parasol’s and Tracey’s, two old-school Irish channel bars specializing in po’ boys stuffed with sliced roast beef soaked in rich gravy. The bars, along with Irish pub Finn McCool’s, regularly host St. Patrick’s Day block parties. This year’s edition at Finn McCool’s features crawfish, cold beer, and a “wee parade” featuring the coronation of a king and queen of St. Patrick’s Day.
4. The Dubliner
Where: Washington, D.C.
Few pubs have more Irish bona fides than the Dubliner. It’s named after the James Joyce story collection Dubliners and situated in the Phoenix Park Hotel, a nod to the Dublin park. There are few finer places to celebrate Irish hospitality than this warm, wood-filled pub, where classic Irish ales are complemented by modern craft beers, including IPAs from Other Half and Auld Dubliner Amber ale, a house beer produced by DC Brau in the nation’s capital. There’s nightly live music, featuring a special musical lineup during the week of St. Patrick’s Day, plus house-made corned beef and a deep collection of vintage Irish whiskey.
5. McGinleys’ Golden Ace Inn
Where: Indianapolis, IN
Prohibition ended in America on December 5, 1933. About three months later, Irish immigrants Ann and John McGinley opened their namesake inn, still owned by the same family. This year, the oldest Irish pub in Indianapolis will host its 89th St. Patrick’s Day celebration, a rollicking outdoor tent party highlighted by performances from area Irish musicians and Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfe Tones—a legendary Irish balladeer. Fortify yourself for the day’s festivities with one of the pub’s celebrated cheeseburgers sizzled in a cast-iron skillet.
Ferment Brewing Company Courtesy of Ferment Brewing Company
6. Ferment Brewing Company
Where: Hood River, OR
A key to a good Guinness pint is the gas, a blend of nitrogen and carbon dioxide that imparts a lustrous mouthfeel and cream-like foam cap. Of late, more and more American craft breweries are releasing roasty nitrogenated stouts that, like the Irish classic, drink dry and refreshing. Breckenridge Brewing makes the Nitro Irish Stout that’s packaged in cans, as is Left Hand Brewing’s Milk Stout Nitro—a more luscious beer thanks to the addition of lactose, a milk sugar. Ferment Brewing recently packaged its Dublin-inspired Nitro Dry Stout in 16-ounce cans. “This is my favorite recipe to brew, and it’s also my go-to shift beer,” says brewmaster Dan Peterson. At its taproom in Hood River, a wonderland for windsurfers, Ferment will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with pint specials and plenty of lamb stew and salt-and-vinegar fries.
The magical ingredient in Crooked Hammock’s Savagely Delicious triple IPA: Lucky Charms cereal. Courtesy of Crooked Hammock
7. Crooked Hammock Brewery
Where: Lewes, DE
This St. Patrick’s Day you can have your breakfast and drink it too at Crooked Hammock Brewery. The coastal Delaware brewery, which also has locations in Middletown and Myrtle Beach, SC, is releasing its second-annual version of Savagely Delicious, a potent triple IPA, that’s loaded with Lucky Charms cereal. Crooked Hammock amplifies the cereal character with additional marshmallows and vanilla beans, which complement the fruity scents of lemons and mangoes supplied by Citra and Lemondrop hops. Consider a four-pack a form of liquid gold.
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The key to 360-degree muscle: 90-degree eccentric isometrics. It might seem like we’re throwing a lot of geometry at you, but the concept behind time under tension (TUT) is simple, says Joel Seedman, PhD, owner of Advanced Human Performance: “Perform the lowering phase of a movement in a slow, controlled fashion, usually 3 to 5 seconds; pause in the stretched position, typically around 90 degrees; then perform the lifting phase in a powerful yet controlled fashion.” Believe us, a time-under-tension workout can humble even seasoned lifters…Eccentric isometrics are like the pressure cooker of training.
“Rather than mindlessly performing slow-tempo reps, you’re using the increased time under tension as a means to fine-tune your body mechanics and alignment, which requires more mental engagement and focus,” Seedman adds.
If you want to forge functional muscle mass and strength while simultaneously bulletproofing the joints and connective tissue, give this 10-move, full-body eccentric isometrics workout a go.
Directions
Perform the following moves as 90-degree eccentric isometrics following the above protocol. Use heavy weight, but not at the detriment of proper form. Rest 60 to 90 seconds between sets and 2 minutes between circuits. Perform once every 2 to 4 days for optimal results.
Best Time-Under-Tension Workout for Total-Body Strength
Circuit 1
A. Barbell Back Squat
Set a squat rack up with heavy weight, then grasp bar and step under it. Squeeze shoulder blades together, then stand to unrack bar and step back with feet shoulder-width apart. Inhale, hinge at hips and slowly bend knees to 90 degrees. Pause, keeping natural arch in low back, then extend through hips to powerfully stand. 3 x 4-6 reps
B. Renegade Row
Start in the top position of a pushup with hands shoulder-width apart on moderate-to-heavy dumbbells (shown). Explosively drive right elbow back to row dumbbell toward ribs while balancing on opposite hand and feet. Pause, then slowly lower weight, stopping a few inches above floor. Switch sides after all reps are done. 3 x 5 reps each side
Circuit 2
A. Dumbbell Bentover Row
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding two moderate-to-heavy dumbbells in front of thighs, palms facing you. Push hips back and hinge torso forward so it’s nearly parallel to floor, soft bend in knees. Dumbbells should be near shins. Drive elbows back to row weights toward ribs. Pause, then slowly lower down for 3 to 5 seconds. 3 x 4-5 reps
B. Incline Dumbbell Chest Press with Legs Raised
Set an adjustable bench to a 30- to 45-degree angle and lie back with dumbbells in either hand. Engage core and lift legs off floor, flexing feet. Press weights overhead, palms in. Slowly lower to 90 degrees, staying tight and compact. Pause, then drive weights up directly over chest. 3 x 4-5 reps
Circuit 3
A. Dumbbell Bulgarian Squat
Stand lunge-length in front of a flat bench, holding heavy dumbbells in each hand by your sides, palms facing in. Rest the ball on top (shoe’s laces) of your right foot behind you on the bench. Slowly lower your body until your front thigh is parallel to the floor. Pause, then drive through your heel to stand. Switch sides after all reps are complete. 2 x 3-4 reps each side
B. Single-leg Romanian Deadlift
Stand with feet hip-width apart holding dumbbells or kettlebells. Drive right leg up, foot flexed, knee aligned with hip, making a 90-degree angle. Hinge at hips as you slowly lever your torso toward floor, lowering weights and driving right leg back for counterbalance. Hold, then squeeze glutes to reverse. 2 x 3-4 reps each side
Circuit 4
A. Pullup
Hang from a pullup bar using an overhand grip with legs extended and feet flexed. Engage lats and draw shoulders down your back, then pull yourself up until chin is higher than hands. Pause at the top, then slowly lower. Pause at bottom, then reset before your next rep. 2-3 x 4-5 reps
B. Kneeling Overhead Barbell Press
Hold a bar with moderate-to-heavy load at shoulder level with forearms perpendicular to floor. Kneel at end of bench with feet flexed to grip edge for support. Inhale, engage your core and glutes, then press the bar overhead, pushing your head forward so it passes your face, exhaling at the top.
Slowly lower until elbows are at 90 degrees, then hold to maintain tension. Begin your next rep from here. 2-3 x 4-5 reps
Circuit 5
A. Dumbbell Pushup
Place hands on dumbbells (this provides greater range of motion) at shoulder width and feet wider than shoulder width with just toes touching the ground. Keep head neutral and hips high to increase tension on core, chest and tris and reduce stress on spine. Slowly lower to the floor. Stop
once elbows hit 90 degrees, pause, then push up to start. 1-2 x 6-8 reps
B. Biceps Curl
Stand with feet hip-width apart with moderate-to-heavy dumbbells in each hand hanging by sides. Engage biceps to curl the weights up, keeping upper arms still. Pause at the top, then lower slowly. Don’t let arms drop all the way down to keep greater time under tension on biceps. 1-2 x 6-8 reps
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