St. Patrick's Day started early at McBob's Pub & Grill, 4919 W. North Ave., Tuesday morning. It also started without great fanfare.

Moments after the doors opened at 8 a.m. at this West Side favorite, a couple dozen people were already at the free Irish breakfast buffet, which lasts until 10 a.m. and included scrambled eggs, soda bread and Irish stew.

A plate of this hearty fare certainly made good company with perhaps the earliest Guinness I've ever had (beating the previous record, set in England, by a couple hours).

By 8:20, the bar population had already nearly doubled.

But because this isn't Marquette, Water Street or North Avenue, the crowd at McBob's skews older and this morning consisted of 30-, 40- and 50-somethings adorned with everything from green trousers to green Mardi Gras beads. Most, however, kept it simple with a green shirt or hat.

"We just opened and already it's crazy in here," said a bartender named Taylor, who was so busy serving customers he couldn't stand still long enough to give me his last name.

While the bartenders and the cooks back in the kitchen who were refilling the buffet trays had an active morning, the crowd was having a mellow good time to a soundtrack of Irish music.

The bar stools were full by 8:15 and the tables in the small corner pub (not actually situated on a corner, however) were filling fast with small groups engaged in quiet conversation.

If rowdiness wasn't on tap, good times certainly were and everyone wore a smile. Some sported green beer mustaches.

One couple was happy to let me photograph its pitcher of green beer, but was leery of being photographed or sharing names. They'd just finished work at their third shift jobs -- one of them is a McBob's regular, especially on weekend mornings after he leaves work -- and stopped in to celebrate the wearing of the green.

Most people seemed to think they weren't in for the long haul and I overhead many saying, "I'm just here for one."

We'll see.