Readers' Choice: Favorite Spot to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day Is...

Call it the luck o’ the Irish if you wish, but is the winner of our Readers’ Choice for favorite place to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Apple Valley, Lakeville and Rosemount.

Given it’s St. Patrick’s Day pretty much every day at Celts, luck probably had little to do with it. The establishment won with 63 percent of the vote.

Celts is decidedly green, with its familiar emerald signage beckoning those with a thirst for Irish beer and a taste for corned beef to its downtown Rosemount location since 2001. For lovers of all things Irish, Celts Pub is like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

“Good food and good service is the key,” said General Manager Justin Lecher about the pub’s success.

Since opening, the pub has expanded its true green concept to Inver Grove Heights, Farmington and Hastings.

The food includes a number of traditional Irish favorites that are available year round—favorites other establishments might pull out only for St. Patrick’s Day. 

“We’ve got corned beef and cabbage, bangers and mash, Shepherd’s pie and our fish is really good, too,” says Lecher.

And though the establishment has garnered a loyal following throughout the years, on St. Patrick’s Day a bevy of green-clad revelers who will be drawn to the pub almost as if it were a true pot o’ gold.

“It’ll be busy, I’ll tell you that,” Lecher said.

Celts will have plenty of green beer in addition to seven Irish beers on tap, and a treasure of Irish whiskeys and other libations to go along with all that Irish food. Lecher guaranteed the corned beef would be “flying out the door.”

Karaoke will provide entertainment during the evening hours. It’s probably a safe bet that a rendition or two of "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" will prompt a bar-wide sing-a-long.

Babe’s in Lakeville and the in Apple Valley also . Those establishments also have plenty of green beer and specials planned for Saturday.