海角大神

St. Patrick鈥檚 Day may nominally be about St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland who banished all of the snakes from the Emerald Isle, but really, it鈥檚 all about food and fun, and Irish culture.

Corned beef and cabbage? Fuhgitaboutit. To keep you nourished through all of the parades, clogging, and general revelry, here鈥檚 a handy guide to the St. Patty鈥檚 Day promotions going on at fast-food chains around the country.

We鈥檒l take you through it, meal by meal. Because if there鈥檚 one thing that鈥檚 more fun than wearing green, it鈥檚 eating green food that isn鈥檛 a vegetable.

Breakfast

Massachusetts is the most Irish state in the United States by population percentage, so why not start your St. Patrick鈥檚 Day in a Boston-based institution?聽 Dunkin' Donuts is celebrating the Irish with two limited edition doughnuts. There鈥檚 the 鈥淟ucky Mint鈥� 鈥� a glazed chocolate cake doughnut with chocolate icing and green mint chocolate bark shavings sprinkled on top. If you aren鈥檛 in the mood for chocolate, you can opt for the Green Shamrock Donut 鈥� a plain doughnut topped with Kelly green frosting and green and white sprinkles. The pastries are available through the end of March. Prices vary, but plan to pay about 89 cents per doughnut.

Lunch

In case you get to lunchtime thinking you haven鈥檛 seen quite enough green this St. Patrick鈥檚 Day, Burger King has you covered. The burger chain is giving away a free serving of fries to every customer that walks in on March 17 and 18, and they come with bright green Heinz St. Paddy鈥檚 sauce for dipping (green ketchup, more or less).聽

After your Burger King meal (eat something besides the free fries, please), you can stop by competitor McDonald鈥檚 for the king of St. Patrick鈥檚 Day promotional treats: The Shamrock Shake. Like the elusive McRib sandwich, the scarce availability of the bright green milkshake has generated somewhat of a cult following. It appears only occasionally, at select McDonald鈥檚 locations on or around St. Patrick鈥檚 Day.

The shake made its first appearance in 1970, and has a colorful, turbulent history, including a failed 1980s marketing campaign with the Uncle O鈥橤rimacey character, and a poorly selling Shamrock Sundae. In 2010, McDonald鈥檚 began selling the shake under its McCaf茅聽line of relatively upscale shakes and coffee drinks. This year marks the first nationwide rollout of the Shamrock Shake, which will be available for a limited time depending on location. The shakes run from $2.09 to $3.19, depending on size. The current version is made with lowfat vanilla ice cream, the characteristic plutonium-green Shamrock Shake syrup, whipped cream, and topped with a maraschino cherry.

Dinner

Bright green treats can be fun, but Arby鈥檚 is going a different route and celebrating St. Patrick鈥檚 Day with traditional Irish cuisine (sort of). From March 16-18, the chain, which has temporarily renamed itself O鈥橰B鈥檚 in honor of the holiday, is offering聽Buy One, Get One Free coupons on its Deli-Style Fresh Reuben sandwiches. They come on toasted marble rye bread with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing, and the most Irish of all sandwich meats: corned beef. Give one sandwich to a loved one, or just eat both yourself.

And cap off your St. Patrick鈥檚 day of gorging at Dairy Queen, with a limited edition Mint Oreo Blizzard. The ice cream聽 concoction, mixed with Oreo crumbles, will be available all through March, and promises to be mintier than the Shamrock Shake (just the thing for your breath after all those Arby鈥檚 Reubens). With an online coupon, you can buy one at regular price and get another of equal or lesser size for 99 cents.