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

Nico's Pier 38 - Honolulu, HI

I don't know what Guy was doing here. Nico's was not a diner, a drive-in or a dive. It was still a cool place. Nico's also has a fresh market. They are located in the industrial end of Honolulu across the street from the water on Pier 38.  This is Hawaii, so the view is still a 10 compared to almost everywhere else in the country.

They had a live band playing Hawaiian music and a swanky bar in the middle of the place. Even though you ordered at the counter then took a buzzer back to your table, this was no dive.

I got the mahi-mahi sandwich with the salad. The salad was a nice mix of fresh garden greens with an aioli sauce. Wow, we'll done! It's usually hard to get me that excited about a salad. The fish sandwich was equally good. I added a bit of soy sauce to spice it up a bit.

I would give Nico's an 8.5 because the food was great but it didn't fit the DDD model.


Nicos's Pier 38
1133 N. Nimitz Hwy
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 540-1377
www.nicospier38.com

Rainbow Drive-In - Honolulu, HI

The rainbow diner is supposedly President Obama's favorite place to eat in Honolulu.  There was a picture of him chowing down here on one of his visits here.  

I don't know what the President ate, but I had the mahi mahi sandwich with tarter sauce and some fries. The Rainbow Drive-In is most definitely a dive and most definitely a drive-in.  Although oddly enough, there is no drive up window.  You have to park and get out of your car.  Most people seemed to be doing take-out when we were there. I like it.  I was not blown away with the food but, it was pretty good.  It is an old time fast food place.  Your food comes wrapped in paper and in a paper bag.    

It was very popular with the local population.  The line to order was probably a good 15-20 minutes. It was also raining on the day that we visited here which doesn't seem to happen much.  They seemed to do a pretty good business selling t-shirts with their logo on it.  I'm guessing that they have a mini cult following here.

The atmosphere was even more laid back than the rest of Hawaii, which is saying something.  

I would rate the Rainbow Drive-In a 7.0.  The food was okay and the atmosphere was okay.  

Rainbow Drive-In
3308 Kanaina Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 737-0177
http://www.rainbowdrivein.com/