EVERETT—Those seeking to get in touch with their Irish heritage tomorrow for St. Patrick’s Day can look no further than Shawn O’Donnell’s in Everett, for an entire day of authentic Irish dancing, live music, imported Irish beer and spirits, and of course an extensive menu of delicious Irish food.
This will be Shawn O’Donnell’s 20th annual ‘Irish Day’ celebration, and it’s expected to be its biggest one yet, attracting an estimated 2,800 people throughout the day, with approximately 400 in the establishment at any given time.
Attendees can expect traditional Irish Breakfast to be served beginning at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, March 17, until the Irish Buffet rolls out at 11 a.m. The first musical performance, by Cavort, begins when the buffet starts, continuing with the Snohomish County Pipe and Drums, the Rowan Fae Irish Dancers, the Kenmore Pipes and Drums, Stumbling Fiddlers, Cascadia Pipe Band, Penk O’Donnell Dancers, and Stark Raving Plaid. Throughout the day there will also be Guinness giveaways and facepainting spanning until 10 p.m.
In addition to the Irish buffet, some of the restaurant’s crowd favorites will be available for purchase all day long including corned beef and cabbage, Guinness beef stew (which is a six-hour process), traditional shepherd’s pie (made from lamb and parsnip), fish n’ chips, boxty, and soda bread.
The traditional, authentic, Irish food is curated by Head Chef Peter Ryan, who worked many years at Metropolitan Grill in Seattle and Emory’s in Everett prior to joining the O’Donnell’s team seven years ago.
O’Donnell’s is preparing for tomorrow with thousands of pounds of corned beef and 32 kegs of Guinness. Other available Irish beers include Smithwick’s, Harp, and Kilkenny. For Irish Whiskey, Dingle is the preferred spirit.
The festivities have been carrying on since last Wednesday, March 11, with daily live music, Irish dancing, Irish comedy shows, and an annual soda bread making contest which concluded on Sunday with 22 contestants (the largest participation pool yet, in over 15 years of the tradition).
Shawn O’Donnell has six locations in total (Pioneer Square, Fremont, Spokane, Mount Vernon, and Butte, Montana) but Owner Shawn O’Donnell says the Everett location, specifically, will be “the biggest party of them all” and maybe even the “biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Snohomish County”. O’Donnell’s Everett location is the first location of the six total.
“The party grows every year, we try to figure out what worked and what didn’t,” said O’Donnell. “There’s nobody who throws a bigger party anywhere than our location in Everett.”
Owner Shawn O’Donnell’s (66) small business and food service career began in 1982 when he opened a sandwich shop in South Everett (called The Lunchbox). As a second-generation Irish American, O’Donnell had always loved being in the food service but wanted to open a larger restaurant more focused on celebrating his Irish heritage.
The first Shawn O’Donnell’s opened on 41st and Hoyt in South Everett, where it remained from 1987 through 2003 before O’Donnell built a bigger location in Everett’s Silverlake neighborhood.
“The more Irish we do, the more authentic we try to become, the better business is. It’s been great for business to lean hard into the Irish and now we have great relationships with distilleries, and breweries, in Ireland and anytime we can hire someone with an Irish background we do it,” said O’Donnell.
Both O’Donnell and his wife are from Snohomish County, born-and-raise, with O’Donnell attending Mountlake Terrace High School and his wife attending Lynnwood High School.
Shawn O’Donnell’s is a family-owned business, through-and-through, with his children, wife, niece, and family friends helping – his daughter-in-law handles Marketing and Communications, his daughter works Event Coordination, and so on. O’Donnell’s son (also named Shawn O’Donnell and has a child named Shawn O’Donnell) is gearing up to take over the restaurant once his father decides to retire.
“We’re enjoying the journey and having a blast. A lot of buddies my age are enjoying retirement but I refuse to do that because I’m having such a great time,” said O’Donnell.
Tomorrow’s St. Patrick’s Day Irish Fest is family friendly and open to all ages (though the bar area in the banquet hall is reserved for 21+). There is no cover for the event, and the restaurant does not take reservations.
O’Donnell is also emphasizing control and safety, employing a total of eight security guards (as well as one Snohomish County Deputy), and cutting off the entertainment by 10 p.m. though the bar (and late-night bagpipers) will continue until midnight.
“We’re going to continue learning about our Irish heritage, our Irish culture, and promote things that are all Irish culture,” said O’Donnell.
Shawn O’Donnell’s also offers an on-site banquet room and offers catering for events. For more information visit: https://www.shawnodonnells.com/everett
Author: Kienan Briscoe
