Nightlife

Top o' the Mornin'

Your Guide to A.M. Boozing on St. Patty's Day

Since the whole city is Irish tomorrow (yes, even the denizens of the North End), you may be considering ditching work and just treating Wednesday as if it were a Saturday. Behold, our cross-section of bars opening pre-lunch to make it easier for you to start your day off right, while ensuring you're sufficiently sauced by 3pm. Sláinte!

The Black Rose

Time Opening: 6am
Food: Irish Breakfast
St. Patty's Day Bonus: First 100 people to arrive get free helpings of Irish Breakfast (eggs, blood sausage, Irish bacon, beans).
The Scene: Beers begin flowing at 8am, Celtic rock band Black 47 plays live starting at 9:30am, before a traditional Irish house band steps up around noon to carry you through the rest of the green beer and Quincy Market chaos. WFNX is broadcasting live, so if you're playing hooky from work with friends, avoid loud name-dropping.

Tommy Doyle's

Time Opening: 8am
Food: Bangers and Mash
St. Patty's Day Bonus: Bagpipes everywhere
The Scene: Set in the former home of the House of Blues, Tommy Doyle's fourth annual St. Patty's Day party is a mix of live music (DJs, rock bands), rivers of Guinness all day long and squads of bagpipers making their way through the crowds every half hour. If there were a time and place to break out your kilt before noon, this would be it.

The Green Briar

Time Opening: 9am
Food: Corned Beef Sandwiches With Guinness Mustard
St. Patty's Day Bonus: Live streaming of Irish sports all morning
The Scene: Brighton's mighty Celtic den will be pouring whiskey and Irish ale all day, appeasing throngs of Irish transplants flooding in to catch hurling (a cross between hockey and lacrosse) and Gaelic football (think: rugby, but with a round ball and more hitting). Beginning at 2pm, a rowdy Irish house band may inspire a little tackling as well.

Lir

Time Opening: 10am
Food: Corned Beef and Cabbage
St. Patty's Day Bonus: Car Bombs
The Scene: Being one of the Back Bay's more lively Irish pubs, they'll be balancing a mix of regular raucous tunes and special Irish rock on the jukebox all day, not to mention the bold move of specifically highlighting Car Bombs as the drink du jour. So to recap: hard Irish rock, Car Bombs and full-throttle boozing. Perfect mix for fireworks by 3pm.

Clerys

Time Opening: 11am
Food: Guinness Beef Stew
St. Patty's Day Bonus: Black Russians With Guinness Floaters
The Scene: Recently renovated, Clerys opens its three new bars to you and the hordes of other thirsty revelers. There'll be a DJ on hand, $2.50 Miller High Lifes and, in a move demonstrating wild ethnic indiscretion, they're pairing Black Russians over ice with floaters of Guinness and cola. Call it the Lights Out.

Matt Murphy's

Time Opening: 11am
Food: Traditional Oxtail Soup
St. Patty's Day Bonus: The Immigrant
The Scene: Besides digging into an array of Irish foods—including fish and chips wrapped in newspaper—you'll be throwing back rounds of a special St. Patty's Day-only concoction, The Immigrant (a housemade, mango-infused Irish whiskey served on the rocks), while partying at Brookline's Ground Zero for St. Patty's Day madness.