St. Patrick’s day gets really crazy in north beach. People will take pretty much any excuse they have to drink copious amounts of liquor, so tons of people come out to celebrate their non-Irish roots. It’s kind of comical and bizarre how popular holidays like st. Patrick’s day and cinco de mayo are in the US. Half the people celebrating them don’t even know what they mean, but hey, I guess the more holidays the better, yeah? Anyways, driving up through north beach, there were throngs of people milling about in the streets and stumbling from bar to bar. Everyone was wearing green. Green shirts, green crazy hats, and shamrocks everywhere. I’ve never seen this area get so crazy.
We decided to try out this place called Kennedy’s. this place is a very bizarre combination of an Irish bar and an Indian restaurant. I really have no clue who could have come up with that idea. I know curry is crazy popular in the UK (apparently curry beat out fish and chips as the most popular food last year), but I don’t think the Irish have ever been associated with it. Really though, if you think about it, it’s a great combo. Beer goes great with Indian food and there’s nothing like having a restaurant right there inside the bar in case you get hungry after a bunch of drinks.
If we thought that north beach was crazy outside, it was even more nuts inside the bar. The place was completely packed and there was practically no space to walk through. Li and I waited for what seemed to be ages at the bar to order our drinks. The place had run out of pitchers, and the bar tenders seemed to be getting pissed at the constant barrage of drink orders, but luckily eventually fresh pitchers were brought out and li and I got served. I stumbled and almost dropped a whole pitcher when my foot got caught in someone’s sweater on the way to my table, but luckily I kept my balance.
The staff forgot to bring our food out to us and so our food was pretty cold by the time we went back to the counter to see why our food wasn’t brought to us. Oh well, what can you expect on such a hectic night? The food was pretty good though… at least the chicken tikka masala was.
Overall, I think this place was a good place to start the night if you’re hungry. Or maybe if just some people you’re with are hungry… that way whoever wants to eat can eat, while others can start drinking. Plus, the place is right across the street from Bimbo’s so it would make a great place to have a pre-concert drink/snack. The place is also really big so (other than st Patrick’s day) there’s plenty of space for tons of people to hang out. They have a pool table, air hockey table, and a foosball table plus an outdoor smoking area too, so basically you can eat, drink, smoke, and play games all in one place. Not bad!
Kennedy’s is at 1040 Columbus Avenue in San Francisco
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So some of us spent a Sunday afternoon at this particular bar… had a good relaxing time. Not crowded at all, good food for a decent price… and they had a happy hour of 2 bux for Beamish and Guiness pints or 5 bux for a pitcher of pbr.
yes! even more reasons to go this place!
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