NORWICH — There’s always been a way to get a beer on Broadway during the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Green Budweiser bottles and shots of Jameson at Billy WIlson’s Ageing Still are already as essential a part of the 6-year-old event as the bagpipes and politicians.

But as Norwich’s empty storefronts slowly fill in with businesses, the crowd filling downtown streets Sunday had a few other options.

Beverly Jones stood close to the door of Craftsman Cliff Roasters Coffee & Cacao, clutching a hazelnut latte that owner Matthew DuTrumble made for her. The coffee shop, not usually open on Sundays, was packed for its first St. Patrick’s Day parade after it opened last spring.

Jones, who lives in Norwich, said she planned to stop at the coffee shop before finding a spot to watch the parade. She talked to DuTrumble with the ease of a regular, ribbing him about the time it took him to make her latte.

“I’m glad he’s here,” she said.

DuTrumble knew what to expect — he prepared for the day with “a couple push-ups and a slap in the face” and was buzzing around the shop exchanging “happy parade day” shouts with customers more than an hour before the fire trucks even turned on their engines.

A sign hanging near the door encouraged people to pep up their coffee with a shot of whiskey from Billy Wilson’s across the street.

“On days like this, you can see what it would be like if everything downtown was filled in,” he said. “You’re seeing the energy and you’re seeing the budding interest.”

Claire Marchand, the owner of a photography studio downtown, said she’s become active in organizations such as the Norwich Community Development Corp. that have been pushing for more downtown development and encouraging new businesses.

Marchand said she’s encouraged by the number of people she sees walking downtown during the week and by attendance at events like Sunday’s parade.

“Everyone’s doing separate things, but they’re pushing toward the same goal,” she said. “We want people downtown.”

Inside Epicure Brewing, Nancy Isa and her mother Ann spent the afternoon serving corned beef and cabbage hand pies and fielding the same question from everyone about the restaurant they plan to open on Broadway.

“They all say, ‘when, when when?’” Ann Isa said.

Nancy Isa doesn’t have an answer for them yet. “It should’t be much longer,” she said. But as a couple of green floats and one enormous Irish wolfhound walked by the window overlooking Franklin Street behind her, she said she has been encouraged by the support of other city businesses.

“The buzz is insane,” she said.

The owners of older downtown businesses said they would welcome the company.

Scott Capano, the owner of the Harp & Dragon Pub on Main Street, wandered over for a beer at Billy Wilson’s on Broadway before the parade started. He said he knows about several businesses planning to open downtown this year, and he expects more to follow.

“I’ve been there for 14 years,” Capano said. “Most of them we’ve been alone.”

Billy Wilson’s owner Paul Siefert agreed. He said the new places to eat and drink — like the two new breweries that have opened around the corner in the last three years — are bringing new people downtown, and not just on the day of the parade.

“When I walk into Epicure or These Guys… I don’t recognize 75 percent of the people in there,” he said. “That’s a good sign.”