A night at J.J. Dolan's Pizza Pub

The people

Patrons of both Murphy's and O'Toole's are frequently seen in J.J.'s, but there's really no telling who you'll come across. It's one of those places where everybody goes. The night we were there, college students sat side-by-side with grizzled bikers, Downtown professionals, clubbers, bookworms and service industry workers.

You won't find any of the normal bar diversions, like darts or video games here. But that just encourages people to talk to each other. It's the kind of neighborhood place where you can comfortably make friends with total strangers, and where the entire bar sings "Happy Birthday" to someone celebrating their birthday. The owner also circulates, saying hello to everyone and giving out slices of free pizza from a tray.