Top O' the Mornin' at James Hoban's

Want to know the secret to celebrating St. Patrick's Day without the crowds? Well here's your pot of gold: it turns out St. Paddy's revelers aren't morning people. At least that's my assumption after checking out the nearly empty scene at James Hoban's at 8:45 a.m.

The Irish bar on Dupont Circle has quite a day planned. The kegs-and-eggs party started at 8 and by 2 p.m. the place will offer a heated tent and Guinness for $5. The bar will be more than doubling its staff from a typical Tuesday with six servers and six bartenders, according to manager Bethany Durham.

The added help wasn't so necessary this morning, since there was a grand total of seven customers, including a couple of guys who were just there for breakfast on their way to work.

Another customer was actually doing work, his laptop resting on the bar beside his Irish coffee. Of course, this is just a typical day at the office for a guy who works at Hoban's on a regular basis and claimed his name was "Tony -- oh wait no -- something more Irish. Paddy!" Isn't he concerned that when he leaves for a meeting this morning that the influx will begin and he'll lose his spot at the bar?

"Nah. This corner's mine," he said. And at the moment, no one would dispute it.

-- Stephanie