How To Celebrate St. Patrick's Day in NYC

The world's oldest and longest parade turns 260 this year.

By izzy baskette

Published on 10/03/2021 at 09:46 PM

As NYC’s historic festivities continue to adapt during COVID-19, this year, New Yorkers can still experience the revelry and tradition of the iconic NYC Saint Patrick’s Day Parade-but just in a different setting.

Keeping true to our times, on Wednesday, March 17, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade organization will host a virtual parade in lieu of the traditional IRL event. According to their website, starting at 10 am, the event will consist of a “composite of past parade marching groups,” in addition to a live stream from within the city “honoring a number of select First Responders and Essential Workers” (time has yet to be announced, check their website for updates). At 11 am, the organization’s Facebook will stream a live event featuring political figures, community leaders, and entertainment, along with special greetings from members of the American armed services stationed abroad. And at 7 pm, NBC will air a televised special titled St. Patrick’s Day: A Celebration For All.

Considered to be the world’s oldest and largest parade, this year marks the 260th anniversary of the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Pre-pandemic, the parade route traveled up Fifth Avenue-beginning on East 44th and ended on East 79th-with 150,000 people marching and drawing an average of 2 million spectators. But in line with other famed city parades such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, virtual live streams have replaced the usual in-person celebration.

Although the parade experience will be largely different in 2021, New Yorkers can also still take full advantage of plenty of St. Patrick’s Day events and food happenings around the city.

Photo by Alexander Stein for Bubby's — Photo by Alexander Stein for Bubby’s

Where to Eat

At the legendary Katz’s Deli, customers can order hand-carved corned beef by the pound or purchase the St. Patrick’s Day Special Reuben Package (two full pounds of corned beef or pastrami, Swiss cheese, tangy sauerkraut, and house-made Russian dressing). At chef Diana Manalang’s Long Island City eatery, Little Chef Little Cafe, order corned beef and cabbage through a special dinner plate or sliders, along with Guinness beef stew. On parade day, Bubby’s in Tribeca will offer a special menu featuring green eggs and smoked ham; lamb shepherd’s pie; and corned beef and cabbage.

Where to Drink

With St. Patrick’s Day falling in the middle of the week this year, the Saturday before, March 13, is the day to throw on some green and frolic with friends. With over 50 bars participating throughout most of Manhattan’s neighborhoods, the St. Paddy’s Luck of the Irish Pub Crawl is the perfect excuse to continue a long and messy holiday tradition you might (understandably) be missing through COVID. If bar crawls aren’t your thing, hit up the Kips Bay Irish rock bar, Paddy Reilly’s, for a pint of their only drink on tap: Guinness Beer. And if you’re looking to score a deal in the East Village, McSorley’s Old Ale House, the oldest tavern in the city, offers two house ales for $5.50.

For a more high-tone option, Event Cruises NYC’s St. Patrick’s Day Cruise offers a boat ride around Manhattan with Irish-style drinks, green beer, and panoramic views of the city. Or for parade day only, book a reservation in advance at The Greens on The Rooftop at Pier 1 for traditional shepherd’s pie and their St. Patrick’s Day specialty cocktail, the Irish Whiskey Buck, compliments of Dante.

Where to Get Treats

Magnolia Bakery’s signature St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes are available by the dozen. Cookie destination Chip City is offering a special Lucky Charms cookie available at all 6 of their locations, while Upper West Side eatery Good Enough To Eat has a Lucky Charms Cake with Irish Cream frosting coated with the marshmallow cereal. And at Black Tap in SoHo, go for the very adult Jameson Irish Coffee Classic Shake with vanilla ice cream, coffee, and Jameson with a cherry on top.Sign up here for our daily NYC email and be the first to get all the food/drink/fun New York has to offer.

Izzy Baskette is an editorial assistant at Thrillist.

New York

Scavenge for Peeps Cookies and More Fun Treats in NYC This Easter

The best Easter desserts in NYC this spring include Easter Bunny Churros and Carrot Cake Macarons.

By alaina cintron

Published on 03/04/2023 at 09:05

As spring makes its way through New York City, not only do we get to enjoy beautiful weather, stunning cherry blossoms, and cool activities priced at $Free.99, but it’s also the perfect time for some limited-edition desserts.

With Easter fast approaching, bakeries are filling their shops with tons of chocolate eggs, carrot cake-flavoured everything and all types of flavours that offer both nostalgia and innovation within the city’s dessert landscape. After you’ve picked up a cake from the city’s best new bakeries, from Easter Bunny Churros to Carrot Cake Macarons, here are 8 Easter desserts to try in NYC right now.

Magnolia Bakery

Throughout April
Various locations
There’s great news for devotees of Magnolia Bakery’s Classic Banana Pudding: For Easter, the spot is mixing up the iconic dessert’s vanilla pudding with some carrot cake. The Carrot Cake Pudding is filled with freshly grated carrots, coconuts, pineapples, raisins, and walnuts. And if both bananas and carrots aren’t your thing, they’ll be offering their Classic Vanilla Cupcakes in pastel colours with a Cadbury chocolate egg hidden inside.

Funny Face Bakery

Through Easter Sunday
NoHo and Seaport
Known for their celebrity face and meme-worthy decorated cookies, fans of Funny Face Bakery know that a new fun design is always just around the corner. For Easter, they’ve created the adorable Hoppy Easter decorated cookie that resembles a classic box of marshmallow Peeps. Along with that, they also have the return of their fan-favourite Caramel Pretzel Chip cookie flavour, plus a set of three mini-decorated cookies perfect for gifting.

The Doughnut Project

Friday, April 7 through Easter Sunday
West Village
With the ever-changing flavours at The Doughnut Project, it’s super easy to miss out on trying out a new debut. But this Easter weekend, there will be two new flavours available. One is of course, a carrot cake doughnut topped with a cream cheese glaze, and the other is known as the Doughnut Nest-a French cruller “nest” with a cream-filled doughnut hole “egg” in the centre.

The Fragile Flour

Wednesday, April 5 through Easter Sunday
East Village
For stellar vegan desserts this holiday, head to The Fragile Flour, a plant-based bakery and dessert wine bar. They’re known for going all out for each holiday with a variety of new pastry options that you can pair perfectly with a glass of wine. This Easter, they’ll have a whole dessert menu that’s both delicious and gorgeous for posting on IG. The menu includes Stuffed Carrot Cake Cookies, a Lemon Cake (whole or by the slice), some festive cupcakes, and specialty macarons.

Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolate

Through mid April
Midtown
For a luxurious take on Easter chocolates, browse the selections available at Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolate. You can even pick the Easter Signature Chef’s Selection for a special box curated by award-winning chefs. For something other than chocolate, choose between the Carrot Cake Macarons or the cake flavored Easter Marshmallow Trio, both of which are almost too cute to eat.

La Churreria

Throughout April
Nolita
This churro-centric spot is putting the cutest Easter spin on their crispy cinnamon churros by twisting them up into bunnies and bunny ears. At Churreria, choose from a Bunny Churro Lollipop topped with your choice of chocolate or dulce de leche and sprinkles, or the bunny ear churros in the Ube and Matcha ice cream sundae or the Ube Milkshake, both of which are made with ice cream from il laboratorio del gelato.

Lafayette

Throughout April
NoHo
You’ve surely seen this croissant tons of times while scrolling through IG or TikTok, whether it’s the Pain au Chocolat one or the latest of the month. Known as Suprêmes, these filled croissants went viral and continue to live up to the hype each time a new flavour comes out. April’s flavour-sour cherry amaretto with a Luxardo custard and toasted almonds. While you’ll have to be super early and wait in line during one of their three drops of the day to get a taste, we promise you it’ll be worth it.

Levain

Seasonal
Various locations
We all know the iconic cookies from Levain-they’re gigantic, perfectly crispy and chewy, and well worth the long lines. For spring, the shop is launching a new flavour: Caramel Coconut Chocolate Chip. Filled with gooey caramel chips, fresh shredded coconut, and melty dark chocolate, it’s one you’ve got to try while it’s still around. To further celebrate the new season, all of Levain’s storefronts will be decked out in spring floral displays, serving as the perfect backdrop for pictures.

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Alaina Cintron is an Editorial Assistant at Thrillist. Her work can also be found in Westchester Magazine, Girls’ Life, and Spoon University. When she’s not at her desk typing away, you can find her exploring a local coffee shop or baking a new recipe.