Despite this year s St. Patrick s Day parade in downtown Topeka being postponed until later in the year, downtown businesses are still embracing the holiday by offering specials through the weekend and into next week.
The Iron Rail, The Pennant, Brew Bank and The Celtic Fox will offer a variety of food and drink specials.
Iron Rail Brewing, 705 S. Kansas Ave., is cooking up some traditional Irish dishes, including corned beef and cabbage, corned beef hash and shepherd s pie. The menu items will be available March 13 and 14. The restaurant will also be serving two specialty cocktails that can be purchased March 13 and 14.
For some downtown Topeka businesses, Kansas lawmakers coming to town for the state s legislative session each year often results in a bump in business.
That s typically the case at least for The Celtic Fox, a restaurant and Irish pub that has operated in downtown Topeka for nearly two decades. It is normally an extremely busy time for us, a time that we rely very heavily on to kind of sustain us getting through the rest of the year when things are a little slower and quieter downtown, said Katie Turner, the restaurant s general manager.
Though that spike in business is even more crucial this year given the losses downtown establishments and businesses across the capital city have seen throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Turner isn t optimistic this year s legislative session will be The Celtic Fox s saving grace. And other local establishments could be in a similar boat.