Where to go for St. Patrick’s Day near Fort Worth, and to eat corned beef and cabbage

Bud Kennedy

Coahuila gave the world nachos.

But Arlington made them Irish.

More than 40 years ago, J. Gilligan’s Bar & Grill owner Randy Ford spread a layer of cottage-fry potatoes across a skillet and topped them with cheddar, jalapenos, tomatoes and onions, just like nachos.

When somebody asked what the dish was named, he blurted, “Irish nachos!”

J. Gilligan’s Bar & Grill in Arlington popularized “Irish nachos” served on cottage fries instead of chips.
J. Gilligan’s Bar & Grill in Arlington popularized “Irish nachos” served on cottage fries instead of chips.

On the verge of another huge St. Patrick’s Day downtown Arlington block party, Gilligan’s, 407 E. South St., is ready to serve hundreds of orders of potato nachos.

Now, they’re such common bar food that even Spanish cookbooks in Mexico, where nachos originated in Piedras Negras, list “nachos irlandeses.”

Nachos and cheeseburgers will be served by the hundreds at Gilligan’s 44th annual downtown Arlington St. Patrick’s Day block party. from 4 p.m. to midnight March 17 in the 400 block of West Abram Street.

Bagpiper Don McCloud, a former Ford classmate, is back for his 44th year. along with four bands, food and drink deals and children’s face-painting and balloons.

A bagpiper at J. Gilligan’s in Arlington March 17, 2001. The party had already gone on annually for more than 20 years.
A bagpiper at J. Gilligan’s in Arlington March 17, 2001. The party had already gone on annually for more than 20 years.

Gilligan’s opens at 11 a.m. daily and also will have live music at lunch March 17.

The menu is basic, inexpensive grill-and-draft-house food: burgers, a Philly cheesesteak, chicken sandwiches, quesadillas and salads.

It’s an old-school downtown Arlington change of pace from the newer Urban Union restaurants to the north such as Cane Rosso and Hurtado Barbecue.

“Arlington has really just blown up,” Ford said on the Eats Beat podcast on iTunes.com and other podcast sites. “It makes you nervous at first — these new people coming in. But at the end of the day, they’ll come to Gilligan’s and they’ll go to the new places.”

J. Gilligan’s opens at 11 a.m. daily; 817-274-8561, jgilligans.com.

The Angelo’s chopped beef sandwich, shown here on dark bread.
The Angelo’s chopped beef sandwich, shown here on dark bread.

More St. Patrick’s specials

▪ Angelo’s Barbecue, 2533 White Settlement Road, will have a bagpiper March 17 to celebrate the restaurant’s 65th anniversary; 817-332-0357, angelosbbq.com.

▪ Chef Point Cafe, 5220 Texas 121, Colleyville, will serve corned-beef-and-cabbage along with corned-beef hash; 817-482-5030, chefpointcafe.org.

Eatzi’s Irish bread
Eatzi’s Irish bread

▪ EatZi’s, 1540 S. University Drive or 1200 Texas 114 West, Grapevine (also four Dallas-area locations), will offer corned beef, cabbage and red potatoes March 16-17 along with Irish soda bread; 817-945-9095 or 817-527-4007, eatzis.com

▪ Thirsty Lion, 1220 Chisholm Trail, Euless, is serving a seasonal menu through March 17 featuring shepherd’s pie, corned-beef-and-cabbage, a Reuben, bacon-cheddar potato cakes and whiskey-cherry bread pudding; 817-283-9000, thirstyliongastropub.com.

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