Chug, chug, chug at the Long Beach pubs

Tracy's Bar and Grill

By Kim Morgan, Staff Writer

Tracy's Bar and Grill is a medium-sized pub center on Spring St. It offers fun for all ages with pool tables, arcade games and live entertainment. Bar goers can tune in to sports and watch movies on any of the 15 televisions.

The pub, which opened in 1994, welcomes visitors in a unique way. Before heading through the long entry hallway, a sign outside the door says, "Come in peace or don't come at all!"

Inside the bar are three rooms: one devoted to the restaurant portion and the other two for the bar area. Large lit up racecars hover over the pool tables in the middle room, while arcade games like "2005 Golden Tee" hug the back wall.

Guinness posters, photo collages of past events and memorabilia hang on the brick walls. Three giant landscape paintings that evoke Ireland cover the walls in the dining area.

Tracy's welcomes all ages to its restaurant portion. The bar crowd contains all adult ages, but seems to attract more young adults.

Tracy's has its own special happy hour called "555," where five items from the menu cost $5 each. These discounted items include Tracy's sliders, corned beef tacos, garlic fries, BBQ pork sliders and New York deli corned beef sandwich.

A fun event happens at Tracy's everyday. According to the calendar on the Web site, karaoke will take place Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays this month, and live entertainment from bands such as the Johnnies and Corday will usually occur on the weekends. The pub also welcomes disc jockeys — DJ White Chocolate will spin tracks on March 20.

What stands out the most at Tracy's is the menu. Nearly every food item has a creative name. The bar serves "cluckers," or chicken sandwiches, including the "Hot Chick Clucker" with spicy mayonnaise and peppers, and Carolyn's "Mother" Clucker, which contains bacon, avocado and Swiss cheese.

Tracy's hot dogs are named after dog breeds, like the Boston Bull, which contains baled hams and mustard. There is also the Mutt, which is what the bar calls the "plain lonely dog."

There are only a few Irish dishes on the menu, but they are the traditional items one would find at a pub. The Irisher is a sandwich filled with corned beef, mustard and pickles, while potato skins come with a variety of toppings including grilled chicken, cheese, onions and barbecue sauce.

Tracy's will celebrate St. Patrick's Day the traditional Irish way by serving corned beef and cabbage. The Johnnies will perform at 8 p.m.

Tracy's Bar and Grill is located at 5511 E. Spring St.

Quinn's Irish Pub

by Jacqueline Aguirre, Contributing Writer

Don't be fooled by the small size of Quinn's Irish Pub. This small, yet remote pub has everything to offer on St. Patrick's Day. The pub will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and will serve food and drinks all day.

Traditional corned beef and cabbage will be sold as well as their famous green beer, which is a combination of a light beer with food coloring.

For the stronger drinkers, besides national and international beer on tap, Quinn's also offers a variety of hard alcoholic drinks including lemon drop shots, margaritas and cape cods to name a few.

For other Paddy's Day specials you can get two corned beef tacos or a corned beef sandwich for five dollars, a jumbo hot dog steamed in beer for three dollars and potato salad for two dollars.

Manager Audrey Brecht said Quinn's is packed every Paddy's Day with a line out the door. With over 800 wristbands sold last year, it's no wonder why this place is such a hit.

The pub has a quaint yet sophisticated feeling with a wall decorated with photographs of different Irish and English pubs taken by the owner's husband, an electric train on the ceiling and lit-up green shamrock lights around the pub.

There are also video games like Miss Pacman and a bagpipe player who sing Irish folk songs and classics like "Amazing Grace." Each employee will be dressed up to represent their Irish pride and Brecht says there will be dancing by both the employees and the customers.

Ladies, be cautious for there is only one bathroom and one porta-potty, so make sure you spread out your drinking. There is no cover charge but this pub is only for those 21 and over. Once you're in, you will be greeted with a set of beads and a ton of happy faces.

Quinn's Irish Pub is located at 200 Nieto Ave.

Murphy's Irish Pub

By Jacqueline Aguirre, Contributing Writer

Upstairs through the "Hall of Hops" on 2nd Street, you will find Murphy's Pub. Though a bit of a climb for the average pub crawler, Murphy's provides you with a casual bar setting complete with a fantastic view of 2nd Street.

The pub will be open from 11 a.m. to midnight on St. Patrick's Day and will serve the Irish corned beef and cabbage. Beer is sold on tap as well as in bottles. Green beer will also be sold this year.

The pub will sell Patty's Day T-shirts that cost $17. If you sport this T-shirt on the day of, you get a dollar off any beer and move to the front of the order line, which is like VIP in a bar.

Murphy's is famous for their "Hall of Hops" card that lets you try all 70 of their beers. After you get each number stamped, you get your face on the wall of fame.

Englishman and regular Steve Hotchin is proud to have just made it to the wall of fame. He says he likes Murphy's because "it feels like a real English pub." Leave it to a native from England to certify its authenticity.

Murphy's is located at 4918 E. 2nd St.

Gallagher's Pub & Grill

By Anni Saastamoinen, Assistant News Editor

Gallagher's is a handsome pub in the scruffy, intriguing way Irish men are represented in TV shows. And this pub has a very strong, charming Irish accent to go with the look.