Full disclosure: Monsters & Critics received free samples of the products mentioned in this article for review. However, the opinions expressed are independent and our own.
Sunday is St. Patrick’s Day and Monsters and Critics reached out to cities across the USA to get the best new recipes to celebrate with style.
The hippest bars and newest recipes (even a refreshing non alcoholic one) are listed below… and if you cannot be there in person at least you can recreate the drink in your own bar.
Time to honor the patron Saint who converted the heathen druids and Celts to Christianity around 400 AD, now there’s a reason to drink:
Las Vegas, Nevada
Bar: Rí Rá Irish Pub
Rí Rá Irish Pub Gin Bowl Recipe
3 oz Irish Gin,
1 Bottle(6.8oz) Elderflower Tonic
5 Fresh raspberries,
5 blackberries,
5 blueberries
Method: Combine all ingredients and stir to perfection, serve in wide goblet or balloon wine glass.
Recognized as one of the most authentic Irish pubs in Vegas, Rí Rá Irish Pub is a proper pub in a comfortable neighborhood environment located inside The Shoppes at Mandalay Place. There’s even a 500-pound carved plaster statue of St. Patrick dating back to 1850.
Chicago, Illinois
Irish Creme Pie Cocktail
In Mixing Tin Add:
2 oz of a cinnamon cream rum
3/4 oz vanilla vodka
3/4 oz coffee liqueur
1/2 oz chocolate syrup
Shake and then pour in a glass. Add chocolate shavings, crushed chocolate wafers when finished
This bar is located in Chicago’s bustling Wrigley field neighborhood that is celebrating their 10th anniversary on St. Patrick’s Day this year. They opened their doors back on March 17, 2009.
Los Angeles, California
Bar: Double Take
Where’s My Supersuit? (Named after The Incredibles)
Seedlip Garden Distilled Non-Alcoholic Spirit
Add: Slice of cucumber, some basil
Bartender Sarah LM Mengoni tells us: “With its lovely green color, and real cocktail appearance, ‘Where’s my Supersuit’ is a great alcohol-free cocktail for adults who don’t want to drink alcohol, but also don’t want to feel left out of the St. Pats drinking festivities. With fresh cucumber and basil incorporated into the cocktail, it tastes like the spring that St Patty’s Day is a harbinger of.”
San Diego, California
Bar: El Chingon
Irishman Abroad
1 oz Irish whiskey
1 oz tequila
.5 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz Cointreau
4 dashes R&D house bitters
Mix in iced shaker, strain and serve on the rocks and rim glass with your choice of sugars or salts and add bitters
Say ¡salud! and sláinte at El Chingon, the “Bad Ass Mexican” restaurant is in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. El Chingon will toast to the holiday with this cocktail, priced at $12.
Bar: Bub’s @ the Beach
Pot of Gold Mule
1.5 oz. Irish Whiskey
.5 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
5 oz. ginger beer
2 dashes bitters
Splash of soda water
Rainbow gummies and chocolate gold coin garnish
Pack copper mug (or Collins glass) full with ice.
Add whiskey, lime juice and bitters.
Fill the mug/glass with ginger beer and top with a splash of soda water.
Garnish with rainbow gummies and chocolate gold coin.
Situated in Pacific Beach’s coastal neighborhood, this 20-year-old staple beloved for its loaded tots isn’t afraid to shake things up for St. Paddy’s Day in a lively and inherently SoCal spot.
Irvine, California
Bar: Center Hub at TRADE Food Hall
Sham-Pagne Cocktail
1 Sugar Cube
1 Dash Angostura Bitters
6 oz Sparkling Wine-your choice
1 Dash Green Food coloring
Saturate one sugar cube with angostura bitters atop a paper towel
Drop the saturated sugar cube into a wine glass
SLOWLY Pour 6 oz of sparkling wine into the wine glass
Add 1-2 Drops of food coloring
Gently stir and garnish with a lemon twist- easy peasy!
Charlotte, North Carolina
Bar: The Broken Spoke
Feisty Irish Margarita
1 oz. Whiskey
.75 oz. Triple Sec Liqueur
1 Lemon
.25 oz. Agave
Combine all ingredients into a shaker tin with ice and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Strain into ice-filled rocks glass….Salt for rimmed glass, if desired.
Owner Ollie Mulligan has brought his native Ireland to Charlotte, NC with The Broken Spoke, the official lounge at Great Wagon Road Distilling Co. They make handcrafted spirits in copper stills using traditional Irish distilling, plus they offer a curated selection of premium beers, fine spirits and savory bites. The Broken Spoke just celebrated it’s third anniversary this past weekend, toasting to its rich Irish history.
New York, NY
Bar: Mustang Harry’s
Forty Shades of Green
1.5 oz Absolute Grapefruit
0.5 oz simple syrup
1 oz lemon juice
drizzle of Blue Curacao & blackberry liqueur.
Fill cup with crushed ice. Pour vodka, lemon, simple syrup and top off with drizzle of Blue Curacao & blackberry liqueur. Garnish with gold powdered sugar.
Mustang Harry’s co-owners, brothers Ian and Niall Conroy are from Tipperary, Ireland.
Their drink was inspired by Johnny Cash’s ode to Ireland with its forty shades of green; a refreshing blend of Absolute Grapefruit, Blue Curacao, blackberry liqueur, lemon juice & simple syrup served over crushed ice and dusted with pot-o’-gold sugar. ($13)