After a year’s hiatus due to COVID, the beloved Forest Park St. Patrick’s Day’s Parade is back on March 5. Hosted by the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce, the parade will have 60+ entries including bagpipers, marching bands, Irish dancers, local business entries, Medinah Shriner parade units, local police and fire departments and more.
While the kids are filling their bags with candy along the parade route, we invite you to stop by one of the many local restaurants along Madison Street to grab some amazing food. Whether you are in the mood for Italian, BBQ, Mexican, Cajun or Irish, our local restaurants are celebrating all things green.
Last time we counted, your options for a corned beef sandwich on parade day are at least 10. Here are some other fun options.
Something Irish
Slainte, 7505 Madison St., will be serving Irish Coffee, Irish mules and corned beef sandwiches. Doors open at 11 a.m. For more fun, their resident DJ will be playing on both floors.
The Brown Cow, 7347 Madison St., is also joining the fun by selling corned beef and potato hand pies. These are great to-go items to grab as you watch the parade.
DuckFat, 7218 Madison St., is offering traditional favorites including a corned beef sandwich with hand-cut fries, corned beef and cabbage and, the less traditional, Irish nachos.
Small Batch, 7441 Madison St., is a parade day favorite serving up their world-famous smoked pastrami sandwich. These are also a great grab and go option.
Make sure to stop by O’Sullivan’s Public House, 7244 Madison St. They are one of the parade’s title sponsors and are sure to have some amazing Irish food on the menu.
Something green
The Forest Park Bakery, 7332 Madison St., will be giving away mini green donuts. Make sure to grab one while they are available. They are also sure to have many other sweet treats as well as Irish soda bread.
Looking for some more sweets?
Make sure you stop by The Brown Cow, 7347 Madison St., for some sweet ‘green inspired’ treats including Mint chip ice cream sandwiches, Green River floats and mint chip shakes.
Don’t forget the Twisted Cookie, 7401 Madison St., to get your sugar fix. They are offering shamrock marshmallows dipped in chocolate, green sprinkle, green sugar cookies, shamrock hot chocolate and leprechaun crunch. We’re not sure exactly what leprechaun crunch is but anything that owner Joana makes is amazing so make sure to try it!
Looking for a hot drink? Look no further than Kribi Coffee, 7324 Madison St. Their Irish themed drinks are 20% off on parade day and include Dublin the Fun Mocha, Life of the Mardi Spritzer, Paddy It Up Shake, RBG Matcha. The kids can enjoy a 12 oz hot cocoa for $2. To celebrate their new partnership with Oak Park’s Onion Roll they will be sampling green bagels.
Something healthy
If you are looking for something healthy, make sure to check out newcomer Smoothish, 7415 Madison St. They are rolling out a new drink just for parade day named the O’Green. This juice will consist of celery, orange, kale, apple, and ginger.
Not all parade menus are finalized so please follow Explore Forest Park on Facebook for updated information.
We can’t wait to see you on Madison Street on Parade Day!
