St. Patrick's Day 2018 Preview: Pittsburgh's Premier Irish Pubs

PITTSBURGH, PA - One of the highlights of March is St. Patrick’s Day, but you don’t have to wait until the 17th to get on your Irish. Plenty of places in Pittsburgh are Irish-centric year-round.

The traditional Irish pub, short for “public house” is a place where people go do imbibe, certainly. But it’s also a place to go for camaraderie with friends, the pub staff and sometimes total strangers.

What follows is a list of some of Pittsburgh’s top Irish pubs and a map of their locations in case you’re ever in the mood for an authentic Irish pub crawl. We don’t recommend doing that on March 17 though, as these places are liable to be overflowing with St. Patrick partiers.

• Mullaney’s Harp & Fiddle, 2329 Penn Ave., Strip District

When people named Anne Mullaney, Brian Mullaney and Sean Patrick Murphy team up to open a bar, there’s little doubt as to what its theme will be. The trio opened this venerable Irish pub in 1992 and on St. Patrick’s Day usually erect a large tent in the parking lot to provide exptra space for revelers. The Notre Dame Club of Pittsburgh comes here to watch the Fighting Irish play in the fall. Draft choices include Guinness, Smithwick’s and Harp.

• Monterey Pub, 1227 Monterey St., North Side

This popular neighborhood bar’s menu includes bangers and mash, pub-style shepherd’s pie and Guinness shredded beef boxty. On draft is Guinness, Smithwick’s and Harp. The Irish flag flies outside. Need we say more?

• Piper’s Pub, 1828 East Carson St., South Side

The premier place in Pittsburgh to watch Premier League Soccer (or “football” as they strangely call it across the pond), Piper’s offers a taste of the British Isles with dishes such as Guinness beef stew, lamb and Scotch Ale stew and toad in the hole. On tap (and this should be sounding familiar by now) are Guinness, Smtihwick’s and, you guessed it, Harp.

• The Claddagh Irish Pub, 407 Cinema Drive, SouthSide Works

This is a chain of Irish pubs, but it invests locally in the community. The Pittsburgh Claddagh sponsors the local Gaelic Athletic Association team, the Pittsburgh Celtics. Claddagh also offers an all-day Irish breakfast special featuring rasher bacon, black and white pudding, bangers, eggs cooked to order and soda bread. Draft selections include Guinness, Harp and Magner’s Irish Cider.

• Riley’s Pour House, 215 E. Main St., Carnegie

A neighborhood staple under several different owners since 1979, Riely’s probably is the only bar in the state with a Yeats quote on its website : “Think where man’s glory most begins and ends and say my glory was I had such friends.” The menu includes Irish lamb stew and Jameson whiskey-marinated flat iron steak; the tap selection includes Guinness, Harp and Murphy’s Irish Amber.

• Sieb’s Pub, 3382 Babcock Boulevard, Ross

Ken (Sonny) and Judy Siebert have operated this Irish pub, restaurant and banquet facility since 2004. How serious does this place take St. Patrick’s Day? Its website says that “St. Practice Days” will begin March 10 and continue daily until the big day itself. The menu features mini corned beef sandwiches and Kennedy’s Irish stew.

• McFadden’s, 211 North Shore Drive, North Shore

This place primarily is a huge sports bar catering to Pirates and Steelers fans on their way to and from the game. But it has Guinness, Harp and Smithwick’s on tap, Jameson whiskey flights and a uniquely yinzer twist on shepherd’s pie: shepherd’s pie-rogi, which is five pierogies stuffed with potatoes, vegetables and beef and then smothered in gravy. Yum.

• Mahoney’s, 949 Liberty Ave., Downtown

The only Irish restaurant and lounge has Guinness, Harp and Smithwick’s on tap, a leprechaun on the menu and a jazz club on the second floor.

• Murphy’s Taproom, 1106 South Braddock Ave., Regent Square

This place looks like a tiny Irish pub from the outside but its cavernous inside can accommodate two bars, pool tables, a darts area and a DJ on the weekends. It’s always been a bit on the divey side, which is meant as a compliment.

• McMinn’s Irish Pub & Grille, 3925 Willow Ave., Castle Shannon

Any bar whose Facebook page features a guy in a kilt at the bar playing bagpipes is OK by us.

Photo via Google Maps.