IF YOU GO
Place: JohnMartin's Irish Pub & Restaurant.Address: 253 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables.Contact: 305-445-3777 or 305-445-9336.Hours: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. daily.Prices: Irish specialties $8.95-$14.95.Everyone is a wee bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day, and Coral Gables' venerable JohnMartin's Irish Pub & Restaurant has a weekend's worth of ways for you to celebrate the feast day of the Emerald Isle's patron saint.
For centuries, March 17 was a religious holiday that fell during Lent. In Ireland, folks went to mass in the morning and celebrated with music, dance and feasting in the afternoon. The first St. Patrick's Day as we know it was in New York City in 1782, when Irish soldiers in the English military held a parade.
Until John Clarke and Martin Lynch opened JohnMartin's 18 years ago, there were no public bars allowed in Coral Gables due to an ordinance dating to 1926.
Clarke and Lynch were childhood buddies from County Cavan, 50 miles north of Dublin, who had met up again in Miami while working at local restaurants and hotels. When they decided to open a place on Miracle Mile, they had to petition the city, which eventually waived the old ordinance.
The duo's Irish pub has an old church floor, a raised galley lined with stenciled pictures, a cozy library with cabinets filled with china, and a main room with both a long bar and tables beneath pillars with electric-lit lamps.
There is a small, snug room in back for people who want privacy -- not that there will be much of that this weekend, when the largest St. Pat's festivities in South Florida begin.
Live bands will entertain Friday and Saturday nights, there will be an open mike on Sunday (with prizes for singing and limericks) and more live music Monday night. Also on Monday, Aragon Avenue and Salzedo Street will be closed from 4 p.m. to midnight, with food outside -- mostly burgers and fish and chips -- and a limited menu of Irish favorites in the pub.
JohnMartin's fish and chips are flaky, moist planks in airy batter with lightly spiced, feather-light battered chips (potato wedges). There are tartar and tomato sauces for dipping and malt vinegar for sprinkling.
Irish favorites include the ubiquitous corned beef and cabbage, potato soup, beef and Guinness stew with mashed potatoes, bangers and mash with fried onions and gravy, shepherd's pie with house salad and Gaelic steak (New York strip) with whiskey mushroom sauce.
When not hosting the tribute to St. Patrick, JohnMartin's menu also includes smoked salmon platter, soups, salads, sandwiches, steaks, fish, chicken and pasta.
If you're still standing after your repast, end with bread pudding with homemade Baileys Irish ice cream. Bain taitneamh as do bheile! (Bon appetite!)
Linda Bladholm's latest book is Latin and Caribbean Grocery Stores Demystified.
