BUTTE — St. Patrick’s Day can mean big business for Uptown storefronts, but according to some shop owners, the day after St. Patrick’s Day can also be really good for business.
"You know, Butte has wrapped their arms around us and they’ve embraced us," says Irish Johnny of Sean O'Donnell's American Grill and Irish Pub. "I wouldn’t say they rolled out the red carpet; they rolled out the green carpet."
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Sean O'Donnell's is in its second year of operation during the annual St. Paddy's celebration in Butte. Johnny says he opened his doors at 10 in the morning on March 17 and there was a steady stream of customers throughout the festivities.
"Today’s the day after but we’ve noticed that there was lots of people visiting Butte from out of town, out of state, and we even had some visitors from Ireland this year. So, we stayed late last night, got the pub restored to its glory so that we could open these doors this morning and welcome all these folks that you see here today that are from out of town."
A few blocks away another business was also handling a steady stream of customers on March 18.
"We’re not out of food. I mean, but we’ve been doing this a long time and so the nice thing about for us is, if we over order it’s not the end of the world; we'll sell it the next day. You know, so it’s great," says Carrie Fisher, the owner of Taco del Sol and Pita Pit, located on one of the parade route's busiest corners.
Fisher has been through 11 years of parades and she knew people from out of town would need a place to eat before heading on the road home. She says she anticipated revenue would be down this year compared to last simply because March 17 landed on a Monday, but she says she is pleasantly surprised by the turnout.
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"It was a good day for being a Monday. I was surprised. Weather and it being a Monday made it a little slower than years past; we were under our revenue from the year prior, but last year was huge."
As the last of the lunch crowd trickles out of Shawn O'Donnell's, Irish Johnny thanks his customers.
"St. Patrick’s Day in Butte is not a one-shot deal. We celebrate it all week long," he says.
