EAT
UIC Forum 725 W. Roosevelt Road 312-413-9875
Kick off a food-lovers' weekend at the Localicious party (7-9:30 p.m. Friday; $75-$90) featuring food and drinks from 40 local spots and live bluegrass music. Saturday (9 a.m.-5 p.m.; $10-$15), take in exhibits from 150 urban farms, artisans and restaurants, plus chef demos with Rick Bayless, Carrie Nahabedian and others, DIY seminars, workshops ($35-$45), a chefs' kimchee challenge and more. Tickets: goodfoodfestivals.com.
Pizza, Beer and Beanbags
Pizzeria da Nella 1443 W. Fullerton Ave. 773-281-6600
The beer garden opens for beanbag tournaments—and $3 green Miller Lite draft pints—at this Lincoln Park restaurant, which also features authentic wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas including the Fiorentina, a white pizza made with mozzarella, spinach, ricotta and shaved parmigiano—for $7 (regularly $12.99). 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
Bridge Bar 315 N. LaSalle St. 312-822-0100
Head to the riverfront veranda to watch the traditional river-dyeing over a buffet breakfast featuring gourmet scrambled eggs, corned beef hash, potatoes O'Brien and more, plus your choice of two drinks—green beer, Guinness stout, Magners cider, bloody mary or a Jameson Jell-O shot duo. 9-11 a.m. Saturday. $30.
DRINK
St. Patrick's Day Specials
Municipal Bar & Dining Co. 216 W. Ohio St. 312-951-2125
Toast the luck of the Irish at this new River North bar with $5 Jameson whiskey shots, $7 Irish car bombs and $3 Miller Lite Chirish aluminum cans. Satisfy a corned beef fix with $8 reuben bites and keep your energy up with $6 grilled cheese bites and $10 short rib sliders. 10 a.m.-3 a.m. Saturday. 10 a.m.-2 a.m. Sunday. No cover.
Cup Tasters Challenge
Counter Culture Coffee Training Center 177 N. Ada St. Unit 106
Think you know your beans? Taste multiple sets of three cups of coffee and attempt to identify which in each set is different at this competition where the winner takes home the door proceeds and earns a spot to compete in April at the Specialty Coffee Association of America conference in Boston—along with finalists from seven other cities. 6 p.m. Friday. $5 to compete; free to watch.
Various locations Division Street between Dearborn and State Streets
Six bars on the block—Mother's, Mother's Too, She-nannigans, The Lodge, Bootleggers and The Hangge-Uppe—team up for festivities including $4 regular and green Miller Lite drafts, live music, roaming Irish pipers, drummers and leprechauns on stilts and unicycles, kegs and eggs brunches, live radio broadcasts and two lucky charm scavenger hunts with $500 Pot O' Gold cash prizes. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (bars close 2-4 a.m.). Sunday. No cover. Schedule: rushanddivision.com.
DO
(Free!) BYOH (Bring Your Own Heels) Workshop
Vaudezilla Studio 3614 W. Belmont Ave. 773-403-9020
Boylesque dancer Mister Junior leads a 45-minute workshop with tips to help you strut, sashay and twirl your way across a runway (or dance floor) in your platforms, pumps and sky-high stilettos. 3:30 p.m. Sunday. RSVP: vaudezilla.com.
"Leprechauns on Acid!"
Dolphin 2200 N. Ashland Ave. 773-750-8090
Chicago acid-house pioneer DJ Pierre hits the decks with a "Leprechauns on Acid!" set amid a large-scale St. Patrick's Day installation featuring video-mapped projections, four-foot spinning clover aerials and more at this bash which also features resident DJs Gene Farris, Diz, Dustin Sheridan and Martin Stoy. 10 p.m.-4 a.m. Sunday. No cover till 11 p.m.; $5-$10 thereafter.
REDEYE TIP OF THE DAY
At 11 a.m. Friday, purchase a ticket at the Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn St.) for the "The Jungle Book" and get a free Baloo bearclaw made by Do-Rite Donuts.
Julia Borcherts is a RedEye special contributor.
