With St. Patrick’s Day less than a week away, we have visions of Guinness and Harp dancing in our heads. But experience tells us that St. Pat’s pints can add up fast. Of course, there are always ways to celebrate on the cheap. We tasked our Deal Breakers with finding them. The challenge: Get primed for St Patrick’s Day with an Irish-themed night on the town—and don’t forget the beer. *** Last week, this just-married couple from Andersonville wowed us with a whirlwind night out that included competitive Rummikub, Skee-Ball and turtle races, plus plenty of PBR and pizza along the way. They return for a second week to defend their title and their Irish pride. Food: Irish-owned and -operated, Irish Oak has a leg up on some of its Wrigleyville competition when it comes to authenticity, so that’s where we started our day. We took advantage of the Saturday food and drink specials, ordering 20 25-cent hot wings and two $3.50 Harp pints. Total spent: $14.50, including tip
John and Jackie McCloskey
Status: Newlyweds
Drinks: After filling up in Wrigleyville, our first stop for drinks was Trinity Bar, a tri-level Lincoln Park pub with a variety of great specials, including $2.50 domestic bottles and pints (Saturdays) and $3 Guinness pints and $3 Jameson shots (daily). We settled on $2 Bud Light bottles. Total spent: $4.75, including tip
Entertainment: To help us get back to our Irish heritage, we paid a visit to the Irish American Heritage Center to view the free "Irish Eyes" exhibit in the art gallery (1-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, through March). We considered sticking around for drinks at the center’s 5th Province Pub, but headed to Lincoln Park tavern Paddy Long’s for some Irish tunes and cheap drinks instead. We ended the night listening to a live Irish band and sipping from $2.50 Iron City cans while getting to know our neighbors at the bar, who surprised us with two Jameson shots. Total spent: $5.75, including tip
Best deal of the night: Specials at Trinity Bar. This place has such an array of drink options and daily deals, anyone can find something on a budget.
Total time elapsed: 4.5 hours
Grand total spent: $25
***
Matt Reilly and Colin Hogan (pictured)
Status: Roommates
These two Lakeview guys have been roommates since their freshman years at the University of Maryland, and it seems to be working fine—they stuck together when they both moved to Chicago last year. Reilly’s a grad student and Hogan’s working as a tour guide while he takes classes at Second City, so thriftiness is a necessity. They’re also both Irish-American, but is that enough to give them an edge over our reigning champs?
Drinks: Our night began at Durkin’s Tavern, a comfy Lincoln Park spot that offers $3 U Call Its every Sunday. Naturally, we went for Guinness pints to start off our St. Patrick’s-themed evening. Next we stopped by the Hidden Shamrock, where there’s a traditional Irish session every Sunday from 3-6 p.m. Several Irish musicians entertained with Celtic tunes while we downed two $2 PBRs, Sunday’s draft special. Total spent: $13, including tip
Entertainment: Our next stop was Galway Bay Pub for $1.50 cans of PBR and a chance to relive our childhoods by playing Blades of Steel and NBA Jam on the pub’s free Nintendo and Sega Genesis systems. After defeating Bowser in Super Mario Brothers, we made our way to another cozy pub with Galway in its name, Galway Arms, for another free Irish session, which takes place every Sunday at 9 p.m. Total spent: $8, including tip
Food: To end our night, we made our way to Wellington’s Tavern for cheap but filling $1 burgers (available daily) and some free shuffleboard. Total spent: $4, including tips
Best deal of the night: Drinks and games at Galway Bay. Cheap drinks and free nostalgic video games and darts make this small pub a great deal any day of the week.
Total time elapsed: 5.5 hours
Grand total spent: $25
WEEK 4 WINNERS: Matt and Colin. They came, they saw, they drank—and drank. Beer was a big part of this duo’s strategy, and leading up to St. Pat’s, that’s the winning recipe. Next week, we're bringing back one team from Weeks 1-4 to challenge Matt and Colin based on your votes. Voting ended at noon Friday; get the results here Wednesday!
