When I was growing up in North Tampa, O'Brien's Irish Pub on North Dale Mabry was the mandatory St. Paddy's Day destination.
It's a cozy bar, but on the Great Green Holiday it turns into a drunken circus, with tents set up across the front and back parking lots to accommodate hordes of honorary Irishmen (and women). Now that I live in Tampa's SoHo district, where I relocated several weeks ago after four years in Sarasota and Bradenton, I'm facing a St. Patrick's Day choice: Head back to O'Brien's for nostalgic reasons, or check out the Irish-themed hangouts in my own neighborhood.
Of course, another option would be to lock the apartment door and stay inside till it's over.
"You won't be able to move around here next Saturday," the server warned me last weekend at MacDinton's Irish Pub and Restaurant. Like its neighbor around the corner, The Dubliner, MacDinton's will host scores of folks on St. Paddy's Day, many of whom will stumble back and forth between the two pubs or take cabs (or long walks) over to Four Green Fields, the thatched-roofed mother of them all. Both of the SoHo pubs offer traditional Emerald Isle dishes, but appear to sell as much domestic beer (especially Miller Light) as they do Guinness. Both get slammed almost every night of the week and book Top 40 cover bands. MacDinton's is a slightly larger operation and draws more patrons — probably because it has a liquor license. The Dubliner doesn't have a liquor license, but sells beer and wine. That's the main difference between the two. Many people living in the SoHo area (like myself) frequent both — but do have a preference.
For MacDinton's regulars Declan Haskins and his pal Brian Riley, it's all about the football (Brit version). I ran into them at the bar several weeks ago under the Manchester United and Liverpool FC banners.
"On Friday and Saturday nights it gets crazy here, and I try to avoid it," Haskins said, and then laughed. "But I'm up here all the other times," including Saturday and Sunday mornings. That's when Haskins — who kind of resembles the techno musician Moby — arrives around "let's just say noon" for a traditional Irish breakfast of eggs, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, sausage and pudding. "I wash it down with Guinness."
Haskins and Riley told me that MacDinton's is the place in South Tampa to enjoy the planet's most popular sport. "Even the bartenders from Four Green Fields [which sticks with Irish-pub tradition and eschews televisions at the bar] come here during World Cup," said Haskins in between sips of Guinness.
His pal Riley nodded in agreement.
"Watching soccer here has allowed me to meet people from like 20 different countries," enthused Riley, who also lauds MacDinton's open-faced steak sandwiches.
I have yet to come across any soccer diehards at The Dubliner, but the pub definitely has its proponents. Not having to compete for a drink with the guy ordering a round of eight Jager-bombs is one significant reason for choosing the usually less populated of the two establishments. "It gets so crowded over [at MacDinton's] that you can't even move," said Joe Melendez, from Lutz, who was at the bar one recent night. "It's a little more relaxed here."
Melendez and his friend Bill Welch both gave their age as 39. The latter is a SoHo citizen who swears by The Dubliner. "I come here more because the people are just so nice," Welch said.
Wherever you go for St. Paddy's Day, take a tip from me, learned many years ago at O'Brien's: It's not the Guinness and the Jameson that do the morning-after damage, it's the Jell-O shots and green beer. Avoid them at all costs.
O'Brien's Irish Pub, 1744 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa. 813-961-4092.
MacDinton's Irish Pub and Restaurant, 405 S. Howard Ave., Tampa. 813-251-8999.
The Dubliner Irish Pub, 2307 Azeele St., Tampa. 813-258-2257.
Four Green Fields, 205 W. Platt St., Tampa. 813-254-4444.
Know a good bar? Have a favorite dive? Wade Tatangelo and Bar Tab will be barhopping Tampa Bay on a regular basis. Tell him where to go at wade@cln.com.
This article appears in Mar 14-20, 2007.