March 16, 2023

Nearly every restaurant and bar will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day on both Friday and Saturday. Here are the highlights for the big-three Irish bars:

• Blarney Stone: The downtown pub opens at 9 a.m. Friday featuring its Dinner in Dublin breakfast menu until 11 a.m. Get a free green beer with any entree. Happy hours are 3 to 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close. Opens at 8 a.m. Saturday with the same breakfast special as Friday. Happy hour is 9 p.m. to close. There will be complimentary charms and trinkets, and authentic Irish food and drinks both days. Irish fare includes corned beef and creamed cabbage, shepherd’s pie, and bangers and mash.

• McNally’s Irish Pub: The pub at 69th and Western opens at 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday and serves breakfast until 11 a.m. A special St. Patrick’s Day menu will be served from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. both days. On Friday, the Dakota District Pipes & Drums will play at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Shriners Oriental Band will play at 10 a.m., and Dakota District at 1 and 6:30 p.m.

• Shenanigans Sports Bar & Grill: The bar at 26th and Ellis opens at 7:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday, serving green beer and green eggs and ham. The Cartwright Brothers kick off entertainment at the opening. Bands and DJ’s will provide music throughout the day. See the full schedule here. There’s a $10 cover charge or $15 for both days.

A Taste of Country Catering is selling food Friday at the Old Courthouse Museum’s traditional Irish music gathering. The free event is from 5 to 7:30 p.m. It will serve colcannon, beef stew with Irish soda bread, Irish cream cheesecake, frosted shamrock sugar cookies, Guinness cupcakes with Irish cream frosting, hot dogs and brats. Entertainment includes Maggie in the Meantime, the Dakota District Pipes & Drums and the Celtic Steps Dancers.

Buy a beverage at Sickies Garage Burgers & Brews and get a free fried pickle or pretzel bites appetizer every day when there’s an NCAA men’s basketball game. The only other requirement is to be a rewards member.

Sickies also has new daily specials:

• Monday: Kids 12 and younger can get a free kid’s meal with the purchase of an adult meal from 4 to 8 p.m. If there’s only one adult, two kids can eat for free.
• Tuesday: Show a college ID to get 25 percent off one food item of choice and $3 Long Island iced teas all day.
• Wednesday: Get six boneless wings and fries for $10 all day.
• Friday and Saturday: Get all-you-can-eat traditional wings tossed in your favorite sauce and fries for $18 from 9 p.m. to close.
• Early bird special: Save $3 on a dinner entree from 3 to 6 p.m. daily.

Maribella Italian Ristorante’s featured menu for March includes the starter Tartate di Tonno con Zucca, or marinated yellowfin tuna  tartare topped with Ossetra caviar and a ricotta-stuffed fried squash blossom. The entree is Tajarin al Burro e Saliccia, a classic Piedmont pasta dish. For dessert, order the Torta di Nocciole, or hazelnut cake topped with Nutella whipped cream spread. The cocktail is the Torta Bianca, a hazelnut martini.

Roundhouse Brew Pub has a new featured menu. It starts with spinach dip and ends with carrot cake. Entrees include fish and chips, chicken nacho pizza and the Monster Burger with two beef patties, pulled pork, mozzarella sticks and honey mustard on a brioche bun.

Parker’s Bistro has reopened after completing a remodeling project that involved installing a new hood system in the kitchen, new flooring, tile work and a fresh coat of paint. The remodeling crew also created a half wall above the bar. Work continues on the expansion of the restaurant into the building to the north.

Blue Rock Bar & Grill has a special menu for Lent, with most offerings served every day until Easter. Daily entrees include scallop ceviche, mushroom tacos and a shrimp po’boy. On Fridays, there’s a fish and chips entree with hand-breaded cod and wedge fries.

Neighboring Great Shots also has daily specials for Lent: Fish and chips, shrimp tortellini and Thai shrimp.

Limited-time seafood offerings are being served at Fryn’ Pan: Garlic Herb Ahi Tuna Steak Dinner, Cajun Lobster Sensations Alfredo and Grilled Shrimp Skewers. That’s in addition to the usual shrimp and salmon offerings.

Bartender Leah at Granite City Food & Brewery has crafted three featured cocktails for March: Irish Lemonade, Shamrock Martini and Irish Mule.

Chicken fries at Burger King now have a fiery version. The chain introduced Spicy Chicken Fries earlier this month. They’re available until mid-May.

Two favorites have retuned to the menu at Taco Bell for a limited time: the Double Steak Grilled Cheese Burrito, which launched during the 2022 holiday season, and the Bacon Club Chalupa. Two flavors of freezes are back: Blue Raspberry Breeze and Wild Cherry Breeze, both updated with the addition of four tropical flavors — pineapple, mango, passionfruit and lime — in the base.

Frozen seafood entrees from Red Lobster are available now at Walmart. Shoppers will find choices like Cheddar Bay Biscuit Cod and Coconut Shrimp Bites. The popular Cheddar Bay Biscuits have been available as a mix since 2012, and a frozen ready-made version debuted at Walmart in 2021.

Falls Overlook Cafe by Stensland has reopened for the season. The restaurant on the east bank of Falls Park is starting with hours of 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. In addition to its usual offerings of soups, salads, paninis, flatbreads and, of course, Stensland Family Farms ice cream, its Downtown Burger Battle entry has earned a spot on the menu. The BCB was the runner-up in January’s competition. The BCB is a beef chuck patty, topped with melted Stensland colby jack and garlic cheese curds, pineapple salsa, arugula, bacon bourbon sauce and chipotle aioli on a toasted pretzel bun.

Oh My Cupcakes has expanded its gluten-friendly options, offering more varieties of mini cupcakes every day. With the new spring menu, customers will find Caramel by the Sea, Chocolate Peanut Butter Attack, Cloud 9, Pleasantville, Strawberry Fields and Triple Chocolate Meltdown.

The beloved namesake of Sunny’s Pizzeria died earlier this month. Sunny, the French Bulldog, lived to be almost 13, owner Jon Oppold said in a post on social media. “I don’t know how long it’ll take to get used to the empty spot at the end of our bed, but he lived a long life and was loved by anyone that met him. Luckily, his legacy will live on through the pizzeria.” When Vikings player C.J. Ham stopped by for a second time to try his namesake CJ Hammer pizza, he reached out to make sure Sunny — and Oppold — would be there.

Changes in hours, service

Sub Zero Desserts, which just opened its new year-round shop at the 8th & Railroad Center last weekend, already has expanded hours to include Sundays. The frozen treat business is open from 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

New downtown dessert shop opens this weekend

Here are other food and drink headlines from the past week.

Starbucks opens in southeast Sioux Falls

Popular ‘Taste of New Orleans’ menu has new additions for 2023

Made-from-scratch popcorn company finds fast growth in Sioux Falls