St. Patrick’s Day takeaway: Where to find hot toddies, Irish stew, Guinness and green bagels

Celebrating major holidays from afar has become the norm since last St. Patrick’s Day, which fell on the same day the Ontario government first declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, bars and restaurants have fine-tuned their special-event takeout skills, which means there are plenty of ways to celebrate from home, while supporting the bar or restaurant where you might have otherwise spent it in person. Here, 10 Toronto restaurants offering special St. Paddy’s items, menus and deals for the March 17 holiday.

George Street Diner

Farrelly’s soda bread is the cornerstone of this Corktown resto’s boozy St. Paddy’s deal, which includes bread, Guinness, a mini bottle of Bailey’s and a jar of whiskey marmalade.

Brazen Head and Murphy’s Law

These pub stalwarts, located in Liberty Village and the Beaches respectively, are offering a few different St. Paddy’s Day meal kits. For the main event, an appetizer of Irish chowder is followed by a braised beef pie and colcannon mash main, and a shortbread for dessert. You can pair your supper with an Irish cocktail kit, which comes with two strong drinks: a Bushmills-based Negroni and an Irish Rose, which combines gin, maraschino liqueur, Chambord, lemon juice and simple syrup. As a bonus, the dinner package comes with a link to a curated Spotify playlist.

Maple Leaf Tavern

This east-end favourite is offering a menu that features Red Fife soda bread and butter, potted corned beef, Irish stew and roasted Brussels sprouts, plus smoked salmon and Irish cheddar. A cheeky dessert menu of Lucky Charms cookies, Shamrock Shake dips and Irish coffee round out the meal. Email info@mapleleaftavern.ca to order.

Queen and Beaver Public House

This downtown comfort food mainstay is offering a St. Patrick’s Day dinner in a box, which includes short rib and root vegetable cottage pie for two, two tall cans of Guinness, and a pair of Guinness glasses to enjoy them out of. There’s also a Guinness tee and two pairs of Guinness socks—whether you wear those during dinner is entirely up to you.

Kettleman’s Bagels

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it might not be the best time for heavy stews and hearty roasts. Luckily, Kettleman’s Bagels, the Ottawa chain with a new location in Etobicoke, is offering green versions of its chewy Montreal-style bagels for a limited time, so you can bring a little luck of the Irish to your morning meal. (There’s Bailey’s cream cheese, too.)

Whelan’s Gate

This High Park pub’s holiday offering, the Guinness Growler Kit, is just that: a 64-ounce draught growler of Guinness, offered with two glasses, a Guinness t-shirt and a Whelan’s Gate tote to carry it all home in.

Breakwall BBQ

This Beaches barbecue joint has put together four St. Patrick’s Day meal specials comprising its fall-off-the-bones ribs, smoked sausage, chicken wings and other grilled and smoked mainstays. The restaurant is also cooking up an Irish stew for the occasion, and offering six-packs of PBR for a very reasonable $13 to anyone who purchases one of their meal deals.

Old Town Bodega

Old Town, located on King East in Corktown, will be serving up bottled hot toddies on St. Paddy’s Day from 4 p.m. to 7pm.

Bloomer’s

Plant-based revelers, rejoice! These vegan pastry specialists are preparing clover-shaped doughnuts for St. Patrick’s Day, topped with chocolate ganache, green sprinkles and filled with—what else?—Bailey’s-infused whipped cream.

Parka Food Co.

Plant-based revellers, rejoice… again! Parka’s St. Patrick’s Day menu is entirely cruelty-free, and includes a mac ‘n’ cashew cheese (with or without broccoli), a “shamrock fries supreme” (fries, spinach-infused cashew cheese, pico de gallo and spinach-infused garlic aioli) and cauliflower fritters. The menu will be available until March 21.