It was just after St. Patrick’s Day a couple of years ago when Patrick’s Gaslamp Pub closed its doors, slammed shut by the pandemic. In fact, it was one of the last Gaslamp bars to close during that time.
So it’s only natural that it would reopen in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
Only now it’s under the ownership of Good Time Design, the San Diego and Nashville-based hospitality group which has a huge portfolio of bars in the Gaslamp Quarter, among them Blind Burrow, Tequila Jack’s and the soon-to-be-open Happy Does on lower Fourth Ave.
Patrick’s has long been a locals’ favorite watering hole and it was the first bar in the Gaslamp to have live music. The format of this bar won’t change much (tho I suspect drink prices will increase a bit; previously you could get a beer for 5 bucks) and the bands will remain on the small stage. It is one of traditional bars in the Gaslamp nightlife scene.
There’s not much to the place, really, and that was a big part of its appeal. Show up in shorts and a t-shirt, hear jazz and other good bands, slam down a few with other long-time locals and occasionally meet new people. There’s a small balcony (which was the domain of smokers in its heyday) and sit at the long wooden bar or in one of its half-dozen high wooden booths.
The place is small – a postage stamp compared to some of the larger bars and nightclubs in the Gaslamp – and there’s just the one level. What you see at Patrick’s is what you get. Despite it’s name there’s really nothing Irish about it and Celtic bands are rarely – if ever – on the music calendar.
The new Patrick’s is just one of many revamped and new places opening in what suddenly is a booming part of the Gaslamp. Just around the corner, The Prestige Magic Lounge & Showroom has recently opened and by the end of the month Nick Canon’s Wild & Out restaurant and bar will swing open its doors a couple blocks away on Seventh Ave., between G and F streets.
Plus, there are many changes coming to Fourth Ave., between G and F streets, all detailed in PubClub’s Gaslamp nightlife news update.
But for now, longtime locals are just happy to have “their” Patrick’s back open, serving up drinks and live music.
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