Revisiting My Favorite St. Patty’s Day Lunch (and the best Onion Rings in Midtown)

If you’re looking for a St. Patty’s Day Midtown Lunch, there really is only place to recommend…  The Blarney Stone on 3rd Ave. btw. 44+45th.  An Irish Bar, to be sure, but not one of those typical Midtown pubs, where the food is mediocre, overpriced and served to you by a waiter.  It’s a dive in the best sense of the word, with a bar on the left, steam table/grille on the right, free for all wooden tables in the back, and some of the cheapest, most delicious lunch food in Midtown- no menus required.

When I first wrote about the Blarney Stone in January of last year, it was for the burger.  1/2 a lb. of fresh grilled meat, on a gigantic roll for only $4 is easily the best burger deal in Midtown ($6, gets you the works + fries or onion rings), but with the influx of Five Guys, the new Goodburger location , Pop Burger, and standbys like the Burger Joint, I feel like the Blarney Stone is still largely under the radar when it comes to burgers (although you wouldn’t be able to tell from the long lines between Noon and 2pm every day).  The burger is still great, and amazingly they haven’t really raised the prices yet.  But on St. Patty’s Day, a burger may not be exactly what you’re looking for…

Corned Beef porn, and the best onion rings in Midtown, after the jump. 

 

If you’re an Irish Pub, burgers is not necessarily what you should be known for… and their corned beef is top notch (especially for the price).  Get it served as a sandwich, or on a plate with two side dishes.  One bite, and you can tell the Blarney Stone has more going for it than the prices, the fact that you don’t have to order from a waiter, and the giant portions.  Everything is done in house- and you really can tell.  They brine their own brisket to make the corned beef, and $6.50 will buy you a warm and massive sandwich that puts every overpriced generic Midtown deli offering to shame.  It comes on rye bread, without even having to ask, and for $1 more you can get the best onion rings in Midtown- settling the question I posed in June.

 

Midtown Lunch’er “DDR” had emailed me about the rings awhile back, and I have to say, a better suggestion has never been offered.  Handmade every morning from freshly sliced onions (not too thick, not too thin), they are battered with breadcrumbs, herbs and salt, and are really delicious.  For the price, I feel comfortable saying, without hesitation, you will never have a better ring in Midtown.

So head on down to the Blarney Stone today for St. Patty’s Day.  I’m sure it will be a relaxing Monday lunch, that’s fun for the whole family!  

(Disclaimer:  There are many Blarney Stone’s in NYC, but at this point they are all owned by different people.  This is only about the one on 3rd btw. 44+45th.  Oh, and don’t take your family there… ever- and certainly not today.  I was being sarcastic, and can’t be held responsible for your 7 year old being vomited on.)

19 Comments

  • Ooooo that looks so good!
    So how many of us are going to be seriously hungover at work tomorrow? ;-)

  • Run into Katz and scream corned beef is Irish,waving the tri-colour and doing a jig.

    St.Paddy .btw was prolly welsh or lancastrian.kidnapped by the vikings and sold into slavery.

    Thank you history channel.

  • My favorite Blarney Stone is the one on 32nd, between 6th and 7th. Great, old school atmosphere. It’s still 1978 in there.

  • Its pretty much still 1978 in this Blarney also.

  • Thanks for the shout out, Zach. Took you long enough!
    I think they put a bit of parmesan cheese in the breading as well. Not 100% sure, but either way – these are excellent rings.

  • Can anyone refer me to a place that has garlic & cheese fries, here or beyond? Do they do that sorta thing around here?

  • I think Nathan’s does garlic fries…

  • I love this city. Half the people that work in my building at 47th and 6 are drunk, and it’s only 2pm.

  • Forknewyork

    is that the building of the govenors office?

  • Sarge’s does a pretty good Corned Beef and Cabbage, but not exactly Irish.

  • Vishal,

    Corned beef isn’t really Irish at all. They got it from the lower east side Jews.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corned_beef

  • Oh I know Corned Beef isn’t Irish, I just figured people would be looking to go to a more Irish place on St. Patty’s day rather than Sarge’s.

  • Corned Beef is one of the most vile foods on this planet. Blarf. Missing St. Pat’s day New England boiled dinners was the best thing about moving away from home once I became an adult.

    Mamacita, Kate’s does disco fries with garlic, cheese and gravy, and they’re open late so you can eat them drunk!

  • In Ireland, its Bacon (more like canadian bacon) and cabbage instead of the corned beef. I know its true because Bobby Flay said so.

  • I’m late on this, but it’s ST. PADDY’S DAY. Patty is a girl’s name.

  • @J – I thought St. Patrick = St. Patty. It’s not St. Paddrick. (And this is why Jews shouldn’t write about Irish drinking holidays)

  • @Tim: Sad to say, but the location you mentioned is no longer there. That entire block is now vacant, probably for a major renovation/new building to come. It sucks, because that’s where I stopped before all the Rangers games I would go to. Still, I need to try this one and see how it compares to my now gone favorite.

  • Last Blarney Stone Left In The City, I Believe…

  • I think there is another one on 45th or 46th just West of 8th Ave. (but probably not owned by the same people)

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