8 delicious options to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Petaluma

St. Patrick’s Day is officially Thursday, March 17, 2022, however the surrounding days are all fair game when it comes to celebrating with local Irish-American-inspired food choices.

In Ireland, they celebrate St. Paddy’s Day with traditional foods, such as stews and meat pies. Here in the U.S., it’s all about the corned beef (and cabbage, for those who dabble in that kind of thing) and several of our local restaurants are offering up some timely specials. (I am told that it is “Paddy,” never “Patty”, which is the shortening of the name “Patricia” – “Paddy” is short for the Irish name “Pádraig” which is the Anglicized form of “Patrick.”)

Here’s a closer look at what’s on tap for the upcoming hoilday - and surrounding days:

Penngrove Social Firemen (penngrovesocialfiremen.org) hosts their annual corned beef and cabbage feed this Saturday, March 12, from 3-6 p.m. Tickets will be sold through their website through Friday, March 11, and then at the door, if still available.

McNear’s Saloon & Dining House (mcnears.com) will offer food and drink specials throughout the day and into the evening, and as always, music and dancers. Irish music is provided by Kenny Somerville and Cormac Gannon and the Keenan School of Irish Dance will perform. Food specials include corned beef and cabbage, corned beef sliders, Irish spring rolls, shepherd’s pie, Irish whiskey wings and Irish cake, with plenty of Irish-inspired drink specials to wash everything down. In fact, McNear’s opened on St. Patrick’s Day, 35 years ago, making this holiday a particularly special one.

The Aquarium, 1030 Petaluma Blvd N., next to the “old” Lucky’s, is well-known for its downhome cooking, and never misses the opportunity to celebrate St. Patty’s Day with a corned beef and cabbage dinner. Impressively, the “Tank” regularly updates its Facebook page with a monthly lunch specials menu, which includes all sorts of tasty specials, from chicken parmesan and Philly cheesesteaks to calamari steak and spaghetti and meatballs, just depending on which day of the week it is. I have it good authority that their shrimp Louie is “to die for.”

Flamez Grill (flamezgrill.com), according to owner Kim Shatnawi, “will be serving a generous portion of our popular CB&C with potatoes and carrots.” If you are going to order from Flamez through Petaluma Food Taxi, as many of us do, give yourself a little extra time on a food holiday such as St. Paddy’s Day.

Brixx Pizzeria just confirmed that their John Wilson pizza will reappear as it does for every St. Patty’s Day celebration. Owner Noel Milo says it should be ready for primetime by this Thursday night, and will be around for at least two weeks. It is a corned beef pizza with a Dijon horseradish and sour cream base, Swiss and Mozzarella blend of cheeses, thinly sliced roasted red potatoes, sauteed cabbage and finished off with capers and a side of their house Thousand Island dressing.

William Tell House (williamtellhouse.com) is hosting the Tim Furlong Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser this year, on Thursday, March 17 from 4 p.m. to closing. Along with a corned beef and cabbage dinner, there will be a 50/50 raffle with all proceeds benefiting the graduating Tomales High School seniors. Donations to the scholarship fund are always welcome and can be sent to Candy Furlong at P.O. Box 47, Tomales, CA 94971.

Nom Nom Cakes (nomnombaking.com) is offering up some fun St. Paddy’s Day treats, including Irish cupcakes – “chocolate cupcake filled with Irish whiskey ganache and frosted in baileys buttercream topped with chocolate gold coins and chocolate shamrocks,” green funfetti cake pops, and shamrock and beer mug sugar cookies with royal icing or fondant. Orders can be placed through their website.

Bay Laurel Culinary (baylaurelculinary.com) has its seasonal Beef & Guinness Pie back on the menu. Made with 5 Dot Ranch pasture-raised beef and wrapped in an all-butter crust, it’s a real showstopper. Bay Laurel offers weekly meal specials, as well as a large array of high-quality freezer meals for pick-up at their Petaluma location, as well as at various local farmers markets.