Hawaii’s latest Irish pub, Black Shamrock Tavern, opens fittingly on Saint Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2022. It’s the latest iteration of an Irish pub within the historic T.R. Forester Building in Downtown Honolulu, which has been a part of the Irish Nook within the Chinatown Arts District for many years.
The Black Shamrock’s proprietor Jay Neihbur is a former active-duty US Marine and has lengthy been a well-recognized and beloved determine in Chinatown. The New Jersey native is the mastermind behind the award-winning pizza and former co-owner at J. Dolan’s Irish Pizza Pub and is he a associate at Ferguson’s Irish Pub on Bishop Road.
Black Shamrock Tavern is the previous residence of O’Toole’s Irish Pub, which was compelled to shut throughout the pandemic (bars not serving meals have been shuttered for months). The distinctive, red-brick structure of the Forester Constructing has attracted many Hollywood movie and tv productions over time, together with Hawaii 5-0, LOST, North Shore, and Mike and Dave Want Marriage ceremony Dates.
Opening the Black Shamrock in downtown’s Irish Nook brings Jay full circle: his first job out of the armed companies was as a bar-back throughout the road at Murphy’s Irish Pub almost 20 years in the past. He was quickly making pizzas there on Friday nights earlier than changing into a full-time bartender.
“Again then, Don (Murphy) stated to me, ‘You don’t wish to get into this enterprise’,” Jay laughs. Now they’re companions at Ferguson’s and across-the-street neighbors in one among Hawaii’s most well-known and historic neighborhoods.
The rework on the Black Shamrock was difficult as a consequence of its historic standing, however the pub/restaurant now options two “pizza home windows” for sliding scorching pies from the kitchen. The famously lengthy bar-top has been rigorously and expertly reconditioned.
As Jay is a genius with dough, sauce, and toppings, the menu on the Black Shamrock will probably be pizza-centric, with different dishes like pasta and East Coast impressed fare. His obsessive analysis into water high quality, dough-sourcing, pizza sauces and toppings choice when opening J. Dolan’s is known amongst downtown restauranteurs.
“Pizza-centric?” Jay says. “Yeah, I like that. Pizza-centric.”
His Jersey accent is robust, however his aloha runs deep. He has quietly however strongly supported a wide range of worthy charities over time, together with veterans’ teams. His generosity is a mannequin for a profitable restaurant being a useful member of its group. It’s one thing he discovered from Don Murphy, whose charitable giving to childhood most cancers analysis and Hawaii literacy is nearly incalculable. Jay understands service. The colours of the brand new façade on the Black Shamrock are a nod to the colours within the flag of the US Marine Corps.
Thursday, Saint Patrick’s Day, will probably be Black Shamrock Tavern’s first official day of enterprise, though a non-public occasion for household and buddies was held lately. The ambiance was full of pleasure and disbelief: the closing of O’Toole’s was disorienting and saddening for a lot of. The opening of the Black Shamrock affords hope for Hawaii’s rising from the pandemic, and for the regeneration of small companies within the Chinatown Arts District, a lot of which have struggled mightily or succumbed to the challenges of Covid.
The Black Shamrock Tavern could also be Hawaii’s latest Irish pub, however the house itself and the place it holds it the hearts and minds of Honoluluans (and numerous guests) stays one among Hawaii’s oldest. Slainte!
Posted by: Jamie Winpenny
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