SALEM, Va. – Restaurants are packed for St. Patrick’s Day from Downtown Roanoke to Salem.
Mac and Bob’s is one of the businesses where lots of people came out today.
When 10 News checked out the restaurant this afternoon, its General Manager, Bobby Reynolds, said they’ve been busy since 11 am.
He said that during the holiday, a lot of people usually show up.
“We always have a good turnout on St. Patrick’s Day, even though we just have music playing, but that’s the only thing we have going on, and we have a lot of good Irish spirit in the house,” said Reynolds.
Reynolds said the surge is especially welcome after winter weather impacted business. He said they were closed for two days due to ice.
“I’m so happy that we are this busy and hopefully we’ll continue this busy the rest of the week,” said Reynolds.
He also said that St. Patrick’s Day festivities started this Saturday, and sales were great.
“Pretty much almost two, three thousand up from last year, so it was a really good job we did. We had a lot of fun, we had two bands playing Saturday, we have a lot of drink specials, our average food specials, and average music playing, so yeah, it was pretty great day on Saturday,” said Reynolds.
In Downtown Roanoke, businesses are also counting on St. Patrick’s Day crowds.
Jason Martin, who owns Martin’s, Sidecar, and Jaybird Tavern, said the holiday is a major boost — especially after snow closures earlier this year.
“It’s quite the relief. I mean, we’ve been thinking about this day for six, eight months,” said Martin.
Martin said that with some downtown businesses closing and others being closed due to the weather, the holiday helps provide momentum and financial breathing room.
“It propels us forward and hopefully puts a little in the bank account to keep us, you know, safe for any more slow times or maybe around the corner or repairs need to be done. So yeah, we count on this big day to kind of keep our businesses staying healthy and strong,” said Martin.