JJ Dolan’s

Wow, I’m surprised I haven’t written a review for JJ Dolan’s yet. Whenever I am craving pizza, this is the spot. I usually like call-​in for take-​out orders, because this pizza pub/​bar can get pretty crowded. There’s a lot of street parking around the area, but usually all taken (unless you park couple blocks down or at the municipal parking lots), which is another reason why I rather do take-​out.
My favorite pizza is the Scampi Pie, but to be honest, they are all excellent! I really love the thin crust because it makes it a lot easier to eat more, which can be dangerous too haha. If you’re ordering a whole pizza, you could always do a half-​half if sharing with friends.
The ambiance of this bar is very dark, and loud. If you have a large party, it may be hard to get a table if you’re here during the evening. I don’t think I’ve been here during lunchtime, but I think its awesome that they are open from 11 am to 2 am! And although they do get busy, they are pretty quick when whipping up our pizza. Servers are always making checking up on you regardless how crowded it gets. Definitely my favorite pizza place!

My favorite pizza place hands down. Simple, fresh ingredients and outstanding thin crust are what stole my heart.

JJ Dolan has that pub/​bar vibe when you enter and I love it because you don’t see this much in Honolulu. This place gets busy so come early to grab a seat!
All their pizzas are amazing and a must try. Their portions are HUGE and delicious. One the few trendy places where I would definitely go again
We got the «White Pie» that has that cheesy mozzarella and ricotta goodness and the savory «Boardwalk Pie.» Hands down the «White Pie» is a must have!

JJ Dolans has really great Chicken Wings and pizza. It has a clean bar vibe and has nice friendly staff. We have been celebrating a birthday party with about 10 – 12 ppl, so has the space for small group parties. Parking is based on luck around the block or pay bout $ 5 for public parking across the street. They don’t sell pitchers of beer but has a decent selection. Forgot to take picture but food looks amazeballs.

This place is good for a slice of pizza and some beers. They have a good selection of beers and spirits; but they have a good slice of pizza. I would recommend the pepperoni and jalapeño. Besides the food it’s a good spot for groups to drink and eat. The atmosphere is friendly and the service is pretty good.

Pizza joint serving up hot pizza, wings, salad, and ice cold beer. The pizzas are above average and way better than chain pizza (looking at you, pizza hut) The crust is ultra thin and crispy, and the cheese they use is delicious. On my more recent visit, we opted for half spinach garlic and half bacon with banana peppers. YUM.
Service is quick and the food is too. Many people walked in to get take out-​also popular. However, the ambience there is very loud so I do not recommend it for anyone trying to have an intimate date. You’ll have a shouting match with the rest of the room. I got seated at 6:30 on a friday with no problems, but the line by the door definitely started to form after that.
Price point-​$ 19 a pizza for 6 large sliced. $ 1.50 for additional toppings.
Parking: street parking free after 5:30pm or one of the nearby municipal lots. I like the underground one where the entrance is on beretania just past the new hope church and the exit of the structure is only a few blocks from JJ Dolan.

I thought I wrote a review for this place before, but I guess not!
I was introduced to JJ Dolans during a work lunch. The lunch was to get to know the new hire, so we were going to a place that served his favorite food… pizza!
It has the atmosphere of a pub with dark lighting, tables and bar stools. It is the ideal place to go for happy hour if you work in town. One con is that it does get crowded, so there may be a wait for a table.
The food and drinks are amazing here. My absolute favorite pizza is their spinach and garlic pizza. It’s $ 18.50 for a whole pizza from heaven. The pizza is a white pizza with spinach, garlic, and ricotta cheese. Not too heavy with toppings and the toppings work well together.
Last time I went, I really wanted a Moscow mule, but they don’t have ginger beer. However, the waitresses suggested getting vodka and tonic with a lime. While the drink didn’t satisfy my craving, I appreciated how the waitress provided a substitute.
The other downside to this place is that it gets busy and the last time I went there, the waitress forgot about our table. We had to flag down the waitress a few times to order the food.

Everyone raves about their pizza, but it was just ok for me. We were there on a Wednesday night around 7:30. I had a meeting around that area and wanted to have dinner when the meeting was done. I called ahead and asked if it was alright for my seven year old to come along, since it’s also a bar. They said it was fine, as long as he was out of there by 9.
I met up with my son and hubby. When we got there, the place was full. We had a couple that was on the wait list ahead of us. We didn’t have to wait that long. We were seated within 10 minutes at a table by the window. We sat down and the hostess handed us the menus. The plates and utensils came after we were seated.
We ordered the calamari and a Jersey White Pie. The pie consisted of mozzarella, chopped garlic, and ricotta. It was a decent size with eight slices. Their pizzas are thin crust and not crispy. On each slice of pizza were big dollops of ricotta cheese. It was overwhelmingly rich. After a while, we ended up just scraping off the ricotta. Maybe I ended up ordering the wrong pizza. I heard the shrimp scampi pie is really good, but the hubby doesn’t like seafood.
I shared the calamari with my son. We both thought that it was pretty good. Portion wise, it was on the smaller side. It was a mix of tentacles and rings served with cocktail sauce. The calamari was fried slightly crispy on the outside. Inside, it was tender.
It’s strictly street parking here, so it can be a pain. Luckily, when my hubby pulled up, a space just opened up.

if you’re looking for really good, authentic, freshly made, hand-​crafted pizza this is it! JJ Dolans is located on Bethel Street in downtown Honolulu, one block Mauka of the Hawaii Theater. Parking is on-​street, however, there is a municipal lot on Beretania Street sandwiched between Nuuanu Avenue and Bethel Street as well as Marks Garage for a nominal fee.
The bar area is a good size if you are dining alone, chilling with friends or just catching sports on their flat screen TV’s. I like to occasionally patronize after work now and then for a cocktail or just to catch a game. And although the restaurant appears small as you first walk in, it can actually hold a lot of people.
The staff are great! The white pizza is mouthwatering (personally my favorite), although I have tried all their other pizza selections and all are delicious! Other items on the menu include a wide variety of pastas and pupus such as chicken wings, onion rings, calamari and fries to name a few!

Really great sports bar, each TV has a different game/​sports on. I came here during happy hour on a Tuesday, and it wasn’t the packed, which was great! The pizza pies are pretty tasty as well. We tried a regular cheese pizza with black olives, and it came on a thin crispy crust. We were also greeted by some Pacifico promoters who gave us free swag and booze! Not bad at all!
Great food and great place to catch up and watch sports.

Everyone who works here is so nice! The owner, Jay, is fantastic as well. Shout out to the great bartenders (Lisa, Derek, Heather, and Pierre). We came here twice during our vacation and would honestly have sat our butts down at this bar the entire trip if we didn’t spend so much money to be here. ;) All the employees are fun to talk to and the atmosphere is great.
Most importantly — the pizza is AMAZINNNG. Thin crust, perfectly crispy on bottom, and great topping combos. Highly recommend the «Lt. Dan» — a margerita pizza with Portuguese and Italian sausage on it.
Anyway — if you live here, become a regular. If you’re visiting, take time out of your day to come here. You won’t regret it.

Great to end a First Friday, grab a quick slice anytime, or simply to hang out.
Tons a seating, wait staff friendly, healthy mixture of alcohol and great pizza. Televisions above the bar for watching sports.
Orders pizza by the slice or a whole pie. Enjoy them all but had the Giacomo my last visit. Pizzas are New York Style (the good kind; though I’ll enjoy an occasional Chicago slice at other places).
Great pub feel and the owner, JJ, is a good guy to talk to if you get a chance. Great owner and supporter of the China Town community in prolonging the First Fridays. Be sure to thank him for the festive monthly events if you see him.
Food — ⁵⁄₅
Staff — ⁵⁄₅
Atmosphere — ⁵⁄₅
Owner — ⁶⁄₅ (not a typo)

4.9 stars for the entire experience. 5 stars for the pizza. And an A+ and a smiley face sticker.
All you need to know about JJ Dolan’s, besides that it’s real live hand tossed throw it up in the air crust by real live pizza boys who look like they’re all from Boston, is that they have a real live brick oven in the joint. Die with me. Let’s just trap ourselves inside of it and go straight to heaven. A little much? OK, sorry. Just call me Pizza Face. Oh god I just realized that makes me sound like I have an oily pizza face, but no it’s more like there’s always pizza being stuffed into my face. So now that you know how much I love pizza you can trust me and my word. GO HERE. Just don’t ask any questions, pass GO, collect 200 thin crust pizzas and thank me later. You gotta love that thin wood fired crust though. And if you don’t, whoooooooo are you?
I will eat all of their pizzas in one sitting if this were a perfect world, but alas, it’s not and beer takes up tummy space too. GET THE BEER. GET THE WHISKEY. GET THE BLACK AND TANS. I love the white pizzas along with above mentioned. Or without. Or with a salad and water if I’m doing takeout and trying to be healthy. But seriously don’t be boring and do takeout your first time. Go to the bar and wish you were Irish or drink until you are. Then EAT the red sauce pizzas if that’s your thing, and definitely get their sausage if you like sausage. You can add stuff too.
Cocktail, food and bar service are more than great but my vocabulary is limited at the moment to PIZZA-​LICIOUS. Atmosphere and ambiance is really fun. Parking is a bitch because it’s downtown. If you go during First Friday, good luck breathing and having that intimate moment with your pie that I know you want to have. I know you by now. So come here during an off night and really feel the place, carve out your home in it. Then come on a weekend and have some fun with a group of friends. You’ll be stoked, because remember you trust me now.

100 Unilocal Review Challenge 2015: ¹⁰⁴⁄₁₀₀
Decided to go for a late lunch thinking there wouldn’t be a crowd, but at 1:45pm on a Friday workday, JJ Dolan’s is packed! The only seats available were at the bar where my coworker and I ordered up a slice of pizza ($ 3.50/each). The slices were super thin, my coworker informed me it’s «east coast» style pizza, but if I were really hungry I could eat at least 3 pieces by myself and trust me, I am NOT a big eater. I piled more Parmesan cheese on top of my cheese pizza and enjoyed the crunchy pizza with every bite. Both the menu and service was pretty straight forward. After finishing our slices and downing a refreshing, ice cold glass of water we headed back to the office.
To satisfy your pizza cravings at work in downtown, this place is a great option! Next time I am not in the middle of my workday, I will definitely return to try some beers!
side note: For all you shorter legged peeps, like myself, the bar has 2 foot rest ledges one of which caters to us (:

Yep this place is legit to get pizza. I’ve read enough reviews to know that I had to experience it myself. I was hoping that it was not overly hyped up leaving me disappointed. The only thing that went through my mind was, which one am I going to get? Can I be a glutton, and order two pies and say I’m having guests? Hmmmm…
Well it was packed when I entered the bar. A football game was playing, and the place was dimly lit. I caught the attention of the bartender and placed my order. One half of my pie was Molto formaggio, six cheeses, havarti, Brie, Gouda, fontina, shredded mozzarella, and Parmesan. The other half was Giacomo, pepperoni, salami, sausage, and black olives.
It took about twenty minutes for my order to be ready. Once I paid, and brought it home I dug in. It was AWESOME! Thin east coast pizza that I miss. The dough was rolled perfectly creating a wonderful crust. My favorite, the giacomo was meaty, salty, cheesy, and held well when I folded it into my mouth:) The formaggio was not bad at all. I’ve never had six cheeses in one sitting. Lol
Well it definitely lives up to their reputation of making quality delicious pizza! I can’t wait to try the others!

JJ Dolans — How does one describe thee?
Beer — A
Pizza — A+
Service — A
Venue — A
The Beer. Because beer selection matters. I was quite impressed with the diverse selection of beer from near and far. Mostly from far. I AM an Anchor Steam lover! Seeing that one tap MADE my night. They also had Lagunitas IPA and Deschutes — which are other great beers!
The Pizza. I just can’t. Literally. I cannot think of words to describe it. I went with some friends (Richy R. Caitlyn G. and Danny C.) and we decided to get two pies: 1 whole Molto Formaggio and one half Boardwalk Pie and the other half Margherita.
Let me just say that we should of just gotten 3 pies of just the Molto Formaggio. Let me describe this pizza: six beautiful cheeses including havarti, creamy brie, smoked gouda, fontina, shredded mozzarella, and parmesan. It was phenomenal. It was extraordinary. It was literally heaven. It was so deliciously amazing, that our table fought over every single slice down to the last bite. The bf and I almost got into a fight over sharing the last piece. Yes, I would have died to have the last bite of that pizza. Ugh, I am still dreaming about it.
The Service. The waitresses and bartenders here are on top of it! Very pepping and attentive.
The Venue. Also, parking is always a pain in the butt, we were able to grab street parking on the other side of Chinatown and ventured through the streets. I love that you can grab a beer and wait for your table.
Who wouldn’t want to have Italian Pizza at an Irish Bar in Chinatown?!

[Location & Parking]
Parking is tough. There is no designated lot to park at. You will need to find street parking or park in a private lot. I usually come around 5:30pm which is when street parking is free and the tow away zone ends.
[Interior & Ambience]
There are several tables. Most tables fit 4 people but there are only 2 – 3 tables that sit 6. The interior is very dark and setup like your typical dive bar. There are couple tv’s where you can watch games. This bar is really popular with the downtown crowd for their pau hanas so it can get very noisy.
[Service]
Service is really quick. The two times i’ve been here, my server was fast and attentive. I don’t know how they pop out such delicious pizza in such a short amount of time lol.
[Food]
Onion Rings ($ 6) — One of the most crispiest onion rings i’ve ever had
The Scampi Pie ($ 18.75) — If you’re a fan of shrimp scampi, I highly reccomend this pizza. It’s one of my favorite pizzas from here because it’s a nice blend of garlic and they’re generous with the shrimp.
Giacomo ($ 18.50)-For you meat lovers, this is the pizza for you. Its topped with sausage, pepperoni, salami, and olives
Spinach & Garlic Pie ($ 18) — Just like the name says and it comes with ricotta cheese
All pizzas are thin-​crusted. Each comes with 8 slices and 1 pizza is enough for 2 hungry people.
[Overall]
This is my favorite place on Oahu to get pizza. Yes, the price is a little more expensive than your typical pizza but the quality is well worth it. If parking wasn’t an issue, I’d be here more often.

I’m from NJ so I hold my pizza to a pretty high standard, but this place might be one of the best pizzas I’ve had on the island.
We got half scampi pizza and half margherita and both were good (scampi pizza was by far the best though!) the crust was on the thinner side (which helped make enough room for eating more pizza!) and it was a good combination of crunchy yet chewy crust. My boyfriend and I shared (and finished) the pie, and we left feeling pretty full and satisfied.
Next time we come here, we will have to try the other favors!

Arguably the best pizza on the island! I can’t believe I haven’t written a review in all these years…
Atmosphere: pizza and bar set up in Chinatown. Plenty of bar seating and tables. They also have a pizza by the slice window.
Service: they are often very busy and in the evening it can be hard to get timely service. That said everyone is super nice. Accepts credit cards.
Food: thin slice pizza, every one loves the white pizza but I like all the pizzas and haven’t found one on the island that compares.
Intangibles: If you haven’t tried JJ’s get over there and grab yourself a pie!

There’s few foods in life that I’m really picky about, but pizza and bagels are the two that I’m kind of a stickler on. Yea, I have eaten a Lenders here and there in an emergency and done the whole «its not delivery its Digiorno» thing, but when the sweet essence of good bagels and/​or pizza touches your taste buds, something magical happens and you just want to scream from the rooftops that you’ve fallen in love.
Although they don’t take reservations, if you’re crunched for time like we were, you can seat yourself at the bar, or you can add your name to the list which is on a chalkboard next to the door when you walk in.
JJ’s serves thin crust New York style pizza which truly brought tears to my eyes. While we were looking over the menu I was tempted to reach out and grab slices from the pies that went by. My friend and I decided to share the Margherita Pizza and it was phenomenal. Fresh ingredients, perfect crust and the perfect toppings ratio. JJ’s offers several specialty pies as well as the option to design your own pie (though they suggest not picking more than four toppings) and you can order cheese and pepperoni pizza by the slice. For those not feeling in a pizza mood there’s also salads on the menu and a variety of pupus to choose from. A full bar is available and they have several beers on tap.
Just an FYI to avoid paying an arm and a leg for parking, park further up the block on Bethel where its only $ 3 to park closer to Walmart versus some of the other places.
Service was friendly and attentive and we sat at the bar, so that definitely says a lot about a place. I will without a doubt be back.