Do It. St. Patty's in Long Beach [Guest Post].

When one thinks of St. Patrick’s Day, they may conjure images of shamrocks, green t-shirts, large frosty pints of Guinness and maybe an annoying hangover the next day. You may want to add Long Beach to that list after this little writing. I know, I know, Long Beach? Not Boston, Chicago, St. Paul or New York City? But seriously, Long Beach has one of the largest collection of Irish pubs in Southern California.

I have been doing an extensive Long Beach/slight Seal Beach pub crawl for the past few years and let me tell you: 8 bars + 10-plus pints = day after with one nasty hangover and walk-of-shame back to car a mile away.

The following is a list of some of my personal favorites.

The Auld Dubliner is located at 71 S. Pine Street and has some of the best food that you will find on St. Patrick’s Day. Seriously, there is nothing worse then being four bars into your pub crawl and the only thing the kitchen is serving are Reubens. There will also be live music playing from 2-6 p.m., so get there early to avoid lines and all of that buzz kill. There usually is a $5 door cover, but that's common at most Irish bars on this day.
Next I would recommend Gallagher's Irish Pub & Grill at 2751 Broadway. This place has tons of Irish football and other homeland stuff on the walls and a large patio area. You've got to bring the party to the people right? There is live music here as well. Playing all day will be the band “American Wake.” If you like L.A. locals Flogging Molly, then you will love these guys. There’s nothing like punk-Irish music and an Irish car bomb to set the tone.

For dinner, I recommend EJ Malloy's Pub at 3411 Broadway, which is just a quick walk down the road from Gallagher's. They have over 15 beers on tab and amazing food. They also have a large patio area in the back, which is nice if you don’t want to look completely foolish in your green outfit and covered in hundreds of those beer icon green necklaces they always seem to be handing out.

And for one of my all-time faves, there is O’Malley’s on 140 Main Street, Seal Beach. I know it's not Long Beach, but it's so close I like to think that it's a cleaner side of LB. There are a ton of Irish pubs on Main Street and they all get crazy packed, so come earlier in the day if you can. This is one of those places that only serves Reubens, so you have been warned! Personally, I like the vibe in this place and the locals are always dressed to impress.

So go out and drink up some Harps or Jameson. Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!

-- Brigid McGuire

Photo credit: Gallagher's Irish Pub & Grill, courtesy of OC Weekly; bottom: American Wake fiddler Robert Keysers playing an Irish ditty.