Pub

Southwestern-themed bar Dark Horse Saloon and Irish Pub Finnegan's Wake, the improbably conjoined bars at the former Canton Arts & Entertainment complex, have switched owners. The pub is poised to close afterSt. Patrick's Day, says Marc McFaul, who after nine months at the helm sold the business to Kenny Der, a regular DJ at Dark Horse. Finnegan's is likely to be turned into an extension of the Southwestern theme at Dark Horse next door. The switch gives McFaul's tenure the sprawling complex's second-longest run. It lasted a little over five months as Canton Arts and Entertainment , which at one point included a bar, an oyster bar and a restaurant.  CAE opened in September 2009 and closed the next March.

Here's a round-up of our week at Midnight Sun: Erik and I wanted to aid in your romantic endeavors so we handcrafted Valentine's Day Spotify playlists. He went with Maxwell, Janelle Monae and Robyn. I chose The-Dream, Jeff Buckley and Ghostface Killah. Just because it's no longer V-Day doesn't mean these won't help set the mood. Erik's is here . Click here for mine. We also ran down the Best Baltimore bars for the "holiday," including Vino Rosina and Pazo. In need of a good date spot or a place to spend an anniversary dinner?

To promote nightlife in swanky Harbor East, Cross Street Partners is organizing what it bills as the neighborhood's " first pub crawl , a progressive event perfect for foodies and fun-loving city dwellers. " "People come here and they eat in the dining rooms but a lot of times they don't go to the bars," said Jo Ann Stallings, marketing director at Cross Street. "This is a way to introduce people to the bars. " As always, Cross Street, the company made up of the fallen pieces of Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse , has its finger on the pulse of things.  No neighborhood in Baltimore screams pub crawl quite like Harbor East.

Victoria Gastro Pub has posted its Valentine's Day menu. It's an a la carte affair with a handful of items added into the regular menu. Those special items include cornmeal-fried oysters; Madeira onion soup gratinee with braised short rib; roasted sea scallops pancetta; leeks and Beluga lentils; veal tenderloin and, for dessert, raspberry truffle cake. Victoria Gastro Pub is also debuting a few items on its regular menu, starting Friday, Feb. 10. They include sauteed shrimp with crispy speck ham, spaghetti squash and rosemary tomato; a Camembert pizza with balsamic cremini mushrooms and marinated roasted peppers; escargot with roasted garlic lemon brown butter; roasted Duroc pork loin with winter vegetable and Yukon potato hash and a grilled Creekstone Farms fillet.

Since the first Looney's Pub opened in Canton in 1993, co-owners Bill Larney and Steve Litrenta have been aggressively expanding the brand. The newest Looney's opened in College Park in October, following locations in Bel Air and Maple Lawn. But for Sunday's AFC title game, only the original will do. Fans will mob the Canton bar just as they did in 2010, the last (and only) time the Ravens have beaten the New England Patriots. You can count on the crowd being young, wildly enthusiastic and head-to-toe in purple.

Since Charles Village Pub & Patio in downtown Towson was devastated by a two-alarm fire last January, customers, Towson students, and neighbors have been asking owner Rick Bielski when the popular hangout would re-open. This week, he finally had an answer: "We'll be up and running mid-to-late March," he said. That's what he's shooting for anyway. Bielski had said before the bar, which was heavily damaged after an afternoon fire January 29 , would re-open March 1 at the latest.

An Poitin Stil offers the least expensive bison burger I've seen in these parts, at a penny under 10 bucks. I planned to check it out during this trip to the Timonium Irish pub. But then I saw the Backyard BBQ Burger ($8.99). The Backyard offers two types of cheeses, bacon, caramelized onions and homemade barbecue sauce for a dollar less than the bison burger. Those extras can cost you 75 cents apiece if you add them to the Stil's bison or angus burger. To keep this meal under $10 and still enjoy the civilizing effects of cheese and bacon, the Backyard was an easy choice.

Mick O'Shea's already plays two roles in Baltimore: Traditional Irish pub — maybe the most traditional — and after-work watering hole. For a lot of people who work in the downtown and Mt. Vernon area, it is the de facto happy hour spot, with live music, weekly specials and an unpretentious beer and wine menu. Among Irish pubs, it may have the best spot on the St. Patrick's day parade route, and a rotating cast of Irish bands second only to J. Patrick's. Like any Irish pub, Mick O'Shea's attracts a boisterous crowd, none more so than on Ravens game days.

"Mr. Beverage" is back at the Midtown. Nathan Beveridge, who owned the Midtown Yacht Club in Mount Vernon from 1998 to 2005, is back at the helm, the interim operators having been pushed overboard in November. And that's the last of the nautical references, because the Midtown Yacht Club is now Midtown BBQ & Brew. You can just call it "Midtown," Beveridge says. Many folks always did anyway. In the 1990s, Beveridge earned a following, along with, inevitably, the "Mr. Beverage" nickname, at the bygone Conservatory high atop the Peabody Court Hotel, where the views of Mount Vernon were giddy.

Depending on your level of sobriety, potcheen can be your best friend or your worst enemy. This strong spirit (90 proof) is found at only a few bars in Baltimore but Blarney Stone in Fells Point is where I learned to love it. Blarney's house shot, Bunratty Potcheen is used as a celebratory drink as well as a way to get obnoxious drunks out of the bar who can't handle their drink. Only recently legal in Ireland, where it is produced, potcheen is basically Irish moonshine. A clear liquor that has an initially harsh flavor which mellows out to notes of green apple, it's a unique liquor.