12-03-2025
Time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, spring break, IU graduation at area restaurants
It's almost spring in Bloomington. The calendar is ramping up with St. Patrick's Day followed by graduation at Indiana University, which is on the same weekend as Mother's Day. That means special menus abound at area restaurants. It also means you'd better get reservations soon if you haven't already.
Here's some of what's happening at area restaurants.
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Chef Mike's St. Patrick's Day specials, available 3-9 p.m. March 17 at Lennie's. Special appetizers include Dublin coddle, an Irish stew with potatoes, sausage and onions; potato cabbage soup; and Irish smoked salmon served with caper cheese spread, pickled cucumbers and bread.
Special entrees include another stew, Stout Beef Stew with beef, potatoes, carrots, parsnips and peas served with mashed potatoes and cabbage; corned beef and cabbage served with mashed potatoes; and a fisherman's pie with gently poached cod and shrimp in a creamy white sauce topped with mashed potatoes browned in the wood-fired oven. Irish whiskey cake, topped with hot fudge and Chocolate Moose vanilla bean ice cream, is the special dessert.
Lennie's is at 514 E. Kirkwood Ave. Reserve a table by going online to Open Table or call 812-323-2112 during business hours.
The Tap will offer some Irish fare along with special drinks March 14-17. Customers can order a Dublin stew of beef, carrot, peas, celery and potatoes in a thick beef gravy; Irish egg rolls with corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, served with a side of Thousand Island dressing; a Reuben sandwich; and a mint chocolate chip cookie skillet.
The Tap is at 101 N. College Ave.
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Upland Brewing will offer some Irish specials March 14-17 at its Bloomington brewpub at 350 W. 11th St. The special fare will include apple cider pork belly, Bad Elmer's Irish stew and Irish sausage and peas.
Upland's small batch brews, available only at Upland locations, will include The Parting Glass Irish Stout, which will be tapped on March 14 and available at a special price on St. Patrick's Day.
Uptown Cafe is still putting the finishing touches on its special graduation brunch and dinner menu, but now is the time to reserve a table.
The special graduation dinner menu will be available 4-10 p.m. May 8, and 3-10 p.m. May 9 and 10. A special brunch menu will be available 9 a.m.-2 p.m. May 9, 10 and 11. Find the graduation brunch and dinner menu details on Uptown's website, in the coming weeks.
Reservations are highly recommended whether you're celebrating a graduate or a mother. Make reservations online at Uptown Cafe is at 102 E. Kirkwood Ave.
FARMbloomington will offer a taste of the Caribbean during spring break week, which is March 17-21. One dish will be Chef Daniel Orr's spicy goat curry that he learned to create while working three years in the Caribbean island of Anguilla. The curry is a spicy Jamaican style served with coconut rice and peas.
FARMbloomington is at 108 E. Kirkwood Ave. Go online to or to Open Table to make reservations.
Contact Carol Kugler at ckugler@
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: St. Patrick's Day Mother's Day IU graduation at Bloomington restaurants
