JJ Dolan's

JJ Dolan's is a pub in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii. According to many locals and tourists, JJ Dolan's serves the best pizza in Hawaii.

Pizza menu

Specials on 6/17/11

I went to JJ Dolan's with three college buddies. We split two pizzas: (1) a Giacomo (pepperoni, sausage, salami, and olives for $17) and (2) a custom pizza consisting of chicken, tomatoes, bell peppers, and jalapenos (about $22).

Giacomo

Made our own 4-topping pizza: chicken, tomatoes, jalapenos, bell peppers

Now this is pizza, folks. Thin, crispy crust, fresh vegetables, succulent meats, and gooey cheese. The pizza sauce was very good as well, as the herbs and tomatoes worked in harmony to bring everything together. I think it's one of the best pizzas I've ever had.

The place was packed to the gills, with an extremely lively atmosphere. Despite the legions of people at lunchtime (roughly 11:30 a.m. to 12 noon on a Friday), the service was quite good. Friendly staff + fresh food = awesome.

I personally did not care for the sports bar and pub look. I found it too loud and dark to enjoy a good conversation with my friends. But I guess that's a sports bar/pub for you.

It may also be hard to find parking in this part of town. There is a parking lot nearby, but, of course, you will pay to park there because it's downtown Honolulu. Luckily for me and my friends, a friend's father can park in a nearby parking structure for free, so parking wasn't an issue this time.

Overall, JJ Dolan's lived up to the hype. A massive thumbs up on the pizza alone. It will be hard to top the pizza here (a virtual perfect score on that), but I can't see myself staying in that place long because it's just not a place for me to talk with people in general (I don't like raising my voice just to talk loud over other people or the TV). I may consider ordering pizza to go the next time I go there. 8/10