Local Flavor: Green shakes and restaurant week

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and my favorite way to celebrate this holiday as a kid was to get a Shamrock Shake.

The Shamrock Shake was created in in 1967 by Hal Rosen, a McDonald’s restaurant owner and operator from Connecticut. The fast-food chain debuted the green minty shake nationally three years later and it was an instant hit.

I remember as a kid anxiously waiting for my mother’s return after running some errands, as she had promised to pick up the beloved shakes for me and my sister. She returned home with shakes as promised, but they were vanilla. The local McDonalds was out of shamrock syrup. We put green food coloring in our shakes and made the best of it, but it wasn’t the same as that magical treat that’s available for a limited time each year.

Fast forward a few decades and the adult me, feeling a bit nostalgic, decides to indulge in the beloved green shake. I wait my turn in the drive-thru only to find out that the local McDonald’s was out of Shamrock shakes. Once in a lifetime is bad enough, but twice? Really?

Well, I’ve got some great news for those of you who have also driven to the Golden Arches only to get their shamrock dreams crushed. You don’t have to go to McDonald’s to get a delicious green minty shake this month. And even better, you can support a local business while sucking down that cold dairy treat.

There are a few places locally that have their versions of the Shamrock Shake. The Saco Scoop, at 209 Main St. in Saco serves the Lucky Leprechaun shake, and just over the Saco border, Gonneville Farm Ice Cream and Homestyle Cookin on Route 5 in Dayton serves the 4 Leaf Clover Frappe. Both are good choices, so why not try both?

Restaurant Week 

It may seem like I only have green shakes on my mind, but I’m also looking forward to the Biddeford + Saco Restaurant week.

The event, which runs from March 13 – 19, celebrates Biddeford and Saco’s thriving restaurant scene. It’s sponsored by Heart of Biddeford, the Biddeford + Saco Chamber of Commerce + Industry, and Saco Main Street.

Participating restaurants are running meal, drink, dessert and coffee specials. There are too many to list here, so check out the locations on the Biddeford + Saco Restaurant Week website and learn how you can enter to win a $100 gift card.

Liz Gotthelf is the publisher of Saco Bay News. She also loves to eat – and support local businesses. If you have any local restaurant or food news, she’d love to hear from you. Send her an email at [email protected].