Pizza and a pint at J.J. Dolan's

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MAYBE WE SHOULD START calling the space between Bishop Street and Nu‘uanu Avenue "Little Dublin," because on that small parcel of downtown land, there are now four Irish pubs.

The latest addition to the Irish pub sector is J.J. Dolan's, which opened Friday on Bethel Street in the space that used to be Cafe Peninsula. Co-owners Jay Niebuhr and Danny Dolan are Irish pub veterans — Niebuhr made a name for himself as Murphy's New York pizza guy and Dolan managed O'Toole's before opening a place of his own.

On Saturday night, J.J. Dolan's, whose slogan is "An Irish pub with New York pizza from two guys in Chinatown," was quiet, which probably had something to do with the fact that the pizza oven had malfunctioned, rendering the pizza pub pie-less. But word in the pub is that the oven will be heating properly by this weekend. So, needless to say, I didn't get the full J.J. Dolan's experience, but I know enough to know that I'll be back.

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J.J. Dolan's Pizza Pub
1147 Bethel St.
537-4992

Here's the quick and dirty:

The concept: It's an Irish pub that specializes in New York-style pizza. Beer and pizza. Otherwise known as perfection.

The ambience: The place has been redone in the typical wood-and-brass of U.K.-inspired pubs, but this one is an updated version of the classic. There's plenty of pubby atmosphere, but it's accented with sleek modern touches that make it feel more urban chic than its classic counterparts.

The crowd: It's too early to tell, but judging by the folks trickling in and out of the place Saturday night, it's going to be a bar of the people. That is, everyone's welcome, regardless of where you fall on the cool scale.

The service: Again, it's a little too early to tell, but we had a great experience Saturday night. The bartenders were friendly, and our server, Nicole, was warm, friendly and attentive. But she had me at the super sick tattoo of a pirate ship on her left shoulder. 

Entertainment: For now, it's just a TV tuned to ESPN and KPOI on the radio. But we brought a game and settled in for an evening of Rummikub (the best game ever) and beer. It's the perfect setting for hanging out. It's not too hip to be comfortable and it's not too comfortable to scare away the cool kids. It's just right.

P.S. Games should be a common bar activity (BAR activity, not CLUB activity. There are enough games being played in clubs without us adding a round of Uno to the mix). Let's make it happen, people! And that lame "but I can play chess at home" line is missing the point. The point is, you're not doing anything constructive while you're at a bar (drinking doesn't count ... neither does hitting on people), so you may as well drink and play — and do your part to encourage public displays of intelligence. Since when is that a bad thing? And come on, girls. A guy who can hold his liquor AND play Scrabble? That's hot.

Note: Playing games that include cards and dice is apparently against Liquor Commission regulations (something about gambling...as if you can't gamble with other games or not gamble while playing card games, but whatever). Stick with board games.

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