St. Patrick's Day falls on Sunday, March 17, but the celebrating has been going on for weeks. 

Recent parades commemorated the Irish heritage of Essex County residents in Nutley and West Orange, and the Newark parade will step off on Friday. 

Meanwhile, local restaurants have added a touch of green to their menus for those looking to feast on corned beef and cabbage, shephard's pie and other Irish classics. 

The Cloverleaf Taven will offer a special menu from Thursday through Sunday, including corned beef, cottage pie, Irish stew and green beer, and Irish soda bread went on sale earlier this week. The festivities start at 9:30 a.m. on St. Patrick's Day with a "breakfast of champions" and there will be live music and bagpipers throughout the day. 

The Train Diner in West Caldwell is serving St. Patrick's Day specials from now through Sunday. Stop in for corned beef and cabbage served with boiled potatoes or on rye bread. 

They say everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, which explains why Sushi Cafe in West Caldwell is getting in on the act. The St. Patty Roll includes white fish tempura and cucumber inside topped with salmon, brown sauce, jalapeño sauce and masago! The special roll is $6 this week only, according to the restaurant's Facebook page.

In Fairfield, Tierney's Copperhouse has replaced The Merchant House at 4 Little Falls Road. Co-owned by a Caldwell family, the newly refurbished restaurant and bar plans a grand opening this weekend in time for St. Patrick's Day. View the Tierney's Copperhouse menu.

Where do you go for your St. Patrick's Day fix? Take our Patch Poll.