March 1999 RETURN TO HOME PAGE FEEDBACK

When Vince Hogan opened the Dubliner bar at 3838 24th St. and celebrated his first St. Patrick's Day there 12 years ago, he was still homesick for Dublin but happy to be where the grass seemed greener. "We who came over in the 1980s came for economic reasons," he notes, "but those coming now are just coming for adventure."

Irish immigrants and non-Irish alike will be seeking adventure on March 17 at the Dubliner and a handful of other neighborhood pubs set to spread out some midweek spirits, food, and fun.

Starting around 2 p.m., there'll be tin whistles, pipes, and drums at both the Dubliner and the Rover's Inn (4026 24th St.), Hogan's other establishment. He says the twin taverns will also serve potato salad, egg salad, and corned beef but no cabbage, because "it gets too slippery on the floor."

To find cabbage with your corned beef, you'll have to slide over to Noe's Bar at 24th and Church, which will start serving the stew at lunchtime. By midafternoon, Kennedy's pub at 1300 Church St. (near 25th) promises to step out with some traditional Irish step dancing.

In the meantime, O'Greenberg's at 1600 Dolores will live up to its name by serving corned beef and bagels, the latter possibly tinted green.

Noe Valleons willing to wander a piece may want to check out O'Donoghue's Bar at 716 Monterey Blvd. On St. Pat's Day, the bar will entertain with Irish step dancing and what's arguably the juiciest corned beef and cabbage in the city.

"It's Joe Mulkerrin's recipe," points out publican Bridget O'Donoghue, who has preserved the late chef's culinary standards and will be displaying them from noon to night.