Five years ago, Bridge Street in Phoenixville was not the fiery scene it is today. The borough barely had four decent bars to support a night on the town. After a full week crunching keys at my 9–5, weekends consisted of painting the town red in West Chester or Manayunk. But all that has changed. As of today, Bridge Street has a grand total of ten (maybe eleven?) bars. This is more than enough to support a successful Pub Crawl and the last two weekends, the folks around town were able to paint the town green.
The one thing, and possibly only thing, unfortunate about Saint Patty’s Day is it won’t always fall on a weekend. Next year, a slight case of the Mondays will be cured with late night festivities, but who wants to struggle with that mess Tuesday morning? Come on, who are we kidding? St. Patty’s is when you party hardy and Advil can only nurse a hangover so much.
Pause. I’m actually hoping to see some comments with people’s hangover remedies. Hmmm… maybe a future article? Hmmm, indeed. Un Pause!
Fear not, the bar owners of 19460 have crafted a solution, locked down every weekend before March 17 and henceforth, the Pre-St. Patty’s Day Pub Crawl was born. The St. Patty’s Celebration that always falls on a Saturday!
It may not be on the grand scale of Philly or something as popular as Erin Express, but Phoenixville makes it work and brings out an amazing crowd from all over, whether it’s around the corner from Bridge or Royersford. Plus, the free giveaways are pretty fantastic. You can find crawlers up and down the block sporting clover necklaces and Guinness hats. Whether or not you began the day wearing green, that’s sure to change by day’s end. Mom always taught me if you’re not wearing green, you will get pinched. Boy, did I learn that lesson the hard way…
But does this Crawl discourage people from going out again on the 17th? Not at all. St. Patty’s is a time honored tradition and whether it’s a Tuesday or Friday, people are going to celebrate. The crawl just gives those who want to celebrate the luck of the Irish without experiencing that rough March 18 weekday morning an opportunity to do so.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Guinness and you’ll find me with a Green Coors Light to be festive, but this is a crawl that recognizes breweries from all over the globe. You could find locals such as Sly Fox Brewing Company at Molly Maguire’s or Maryland’s beloved DuClaw Brewing Company at Pickering Creek Inn. And who doesn’t love scoring a free souvenir glass from their favorite microbrewery? Bistro on Bridge handed out some nifty mason jars from Rogue to anyone who ordered the brewery’s line up on tap.
This year may have been the best crawl yet! With the addition of Sips Bistro & Bar, we had a grand total of eight participating restaurants. I personally would like to see Phoenixville host an Erin “Esque” Express one day that explores Phoenixville’s Bar Scene in its entirety. Let’s be honest, there are some great spots all over and this little town could surely compete with the best of them. Who knows? Maybe one day.
With that all being said, I’m polishing off my coffee, heading to the gym and will conclude my evening with Red Ales and Stouts. Yepper. To make this Phoenixville Dish Official, I am tackling this recap on St. Patty’s Day. Hope everyone had a great time this past weekend! Be safe and most excellent to each other!
Sláinte!
Photographs credited to Kevin Dragone.
