Murphy's Bar and Grill - Honolulu, HI

Not a dive, Murphy's Bar and Grill is on the contrary, a very nice Irish restaurant.  It seems kind of out of place in the south pacific.  In the United States, I usually think of Irish Bars as being a New England down to say Baltimore kind of thing.  Their website says "Murphy’s has been a haven for mariners, businessmen and locals since 1891."

Our waitress had an Irish accent.  I guess that it shouldn't be too hard to lure Irish workers to Honolulu.  They played WW2 music over the speakers. The booths were very nicely upholstered.  They used nice old furniture.  This was absolutely not a dive in any way.  In fact there was not a single spec of dust or dirt to be found anywhere.

We went there for lunch.  The crowd consisted mostly of business people trying to do business over lunch.  The business uniform for men here mush be chino pants and nice Hawaiian shirts.

I ate a really nice blue cheese burger with tempura potato fries. I could have washed it down with any number of Irish beers and stouts but, I chose a Maui brewing IPA instead.  It looks like if you want to go Irish all the way, then they have the menu items to accommodate that.  Their slogan is "where everyday is St. Patrick's Day."  If you want to go a little more mainstream, then that's okay too.  The IPA was really enjoyable.

Points off for being out of scope due to the fact that this was not a diner, drive-inn or dive.  Still, this is a really good restaurant worth visiting.  It even is part of the local history.  I would rate this one 9.0.

Murphy's Bar and Grill
2 Merchant St
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 531-0422
http://murphyshawaii.com

Gatsbys Diner - Sacramento, CA

Gatsby's Diner was kind of a fusion of American diner meets Japanese cooking.  There were old Japanese hibachis inside which makes me think that it might have been a Japanese steak house in a previous life.

So, The chefs cook out in open which is kind of cool.  You can chat with them as they go about their work.  Instead of cooking Asian food, it could be anything the diner serves but they still do that spatula slap on the griddle thing..  My chef ask me as I passed by when I was leaving how I liked my buger.

They serve cold beer in frozen mugs which struck me as a thing of beauty for some reason.

I ordered the fire burger.  It had thick cut bacon and avocado on a really good quality bun.  They describe their own food as American comfort food with a twist and I would have to agree.  As the hamburger juices are dripping down one hand while your fingers are frozen by the frozen beer mug in the other, it definitely seems decadent and comfortable.  Luckily, they give you a wad of paper towels to clean yourself.

This was not a dive at all.  I was impressed that everything they did, they tried to do with a flair. Even the way they arranged the buns on griddle in a nice ring.  They make their own deserts.  I didn't try them but one in particular that looked interesting was a strawberry rhubarb tort cooked and served in a Ball jar.  People obviously care.

The atmosphere was pretty good.   I appreciated that all the people who work there really seemed to care about my experience.

I would rate Gatsb's a 9.1.  They had good food and good pizzaz.  Definitely worth a trip back.

Gatsby's Diner 2598 Alta Arden Expy Sacramento, CA 95825 (916) 977-0102 gatsbysdiner.com

Hackneys - Glenview, IL

What kind of a dive has live Christmas carolers in Victorian costumes?  Guy might have visited here but, this was no dive! It was a really good restaurant with very good food and atmosphere.  It was all done up very nicely for the holidays.  So, not being a dive was not really a problem.

The carolers were actually very charming.  I was alone around Christmas time away from home, so I found the music comforting.  You can hear the music by clicking on the video clip below.

I was chatting with a couple at the next table. I turns out that their daughter was singing that night but, they had walked in just after she left the room. The music director was at another table. I thought that they were professional but, they were from the local high school.

I ordered the pretzel burger. The menu says that their own butcher prepares the meat and their own baker bakes all of their bread.  All I can say is that it tasted like they were telling the truth. 

Their beer selection seemed pretty good.  They had Spaten beer but I wasn't in much of a drinking mood.

Kind of an older crowd. Average age in the room was probably in the 60's.  It was very conservative; lots of Christmas sweaters that the kids make fun of but older folks don't care.  This is not very Triple-D like.

Service was good but not great. Nothing worth mentioning. 

I'd rate Hackney's a 7.5 on the triple-D scale.  It was a nice place with good food and mediocre service but, it wasn't really a triple-D restaruant in my opinion.  It wasn't a diamond in the rough.  It didn't have quirky or edgy aspect to it.

1514 E Lake Ave
(b/t Cariann Ln & Harms Rd)
Glenview, IL 60025
(847) 724-7171
http://www.hackneys.net/locations/glenview-lake/

Burger Bar - Roy, UT

The burger bar was a little out of the way,  29 miles outside of Salt Lake City. It is across a parking lot from a trailer park and about a mile from the gates of Hill Air Force Base.

It looked like an old dairy queen with only a walk up window. The only outside seating were a few cement benches. The employees shout your order number out over a much too loud loudspeaker.  Still, there were people lined up deep to wait for their food. The sign said "since 1952."

I got the elk burger. They claim that it is locally grown along with the buffalo that they also serve. The elk was really good. It comes on a single patty with their special sauce.  I found out that the special sauce was just mayonnaise and catchup. They also give you two little containers of the sauce to dip your fries in.

I showed up in mid September. They already had their seasonal pumpkin shake out but, I didn't notice the sign in time and just had vanilla. It was really more like soft ice-cream.  They piled it about three inches above the top of the Styrofoam cup.

I thought that Burger Bar was a 9.6. The food was unique and good and the atmosphere was sufficiently eccentric.

Burger Bar
5291 S 1900 W
Roy, UT 84067
801-825-8961