Dorrian's Red Hand. Jersey City, NJ.

555 Washington Blvd

Price for a Guinness: $9 | Overall Rating: 8.70

When you find yourself walking along Washington Blvd in Jersey City then you certainly need to stumble into Dorrian's. This is a proper pub that caters well to the white collar crowd. If you happen to stop by for lunch during the weekday; good luck finding a spot at the bar. This place fills up nicely during rush-hour lunch and dinner.

The bar itself has its own pleasant identity and what I mean by that is that it sits about 2 or 3 feet above the dining room, which provides a nice touch to the overall atmosphere when you're hanging out and looking around. One noticeable thing about the bar staff is that anytime a patron leaves their barstool, someone is quick to re-adjust the stool back to a welcoming position for the next guest. When that next guest walks in the bartender is almost certainly one to give whoever that person is a nice warm welcome, rather than the typical "what'r'ya having". Mmm... hospitality is nice!

One gripe about the bar staff would be about the way they handle their TVs. They actually don't tend to their TVs at all, which leaves you watching soap operas or weird local channels showing the Price is Right or Judge Judy. If you're hoping to tune into a soccer match or a game of some sort then you'll probably have to request it. Small potatoes.

Speaking of potatoes... Dorrians has good looking and good smelling food for what seems to be moderate prices for the surrounding area. We only tried some spring rolls but they were delicious. I can't imagine the entrees being under par. When it comes to drink prices; plan to open your wallet as a few pints of Guinness will set you back an easy $30 and that's not including the tip. Their whiskey selection will impress most while leaving the whiskey snobs wanting just a pinch more.

Dorrian's knows how to pour a Guinness the right way and they are surely the type that won't let your glass run on empty. Once you're 2/3rds of the way done you may find yourself with another pint unless you yourself have cut them off, which is my kind of service right there.

Getting back to the atmosphere, the place also offers a seperate dining room for private events. It looks like they also use that space for comedy shows on the weekends which is convenient for those who have no interest in a comedy show; they can simply not enter said room and stay alongside the bar. The bathrooms are very well kept, however, when I walked into one of them at 11:30am on a weekday I found myself in the pitch dark! I began flailing my hands in the air to perhaps set off a motion sensor which to my embarrassing surprise did not exist; so that was a nice 10 seconds of my life for me to think back on.

At the end of the day, Dorrian's is a beautiful and proper pub, especially when you go during the slower hours of roughly 1pm and 4pm (if you ask me, that's always the best time to go to a pub). The white collar patrons and the extremely heavy rush hour crowd can take a bit of coziness away from the overall experience and if you're looking for a bunch of Craic; you won't be overwhelmed. However, there's certainly a touch of Craic and a good touch of warmth that will make every Irish Pub enthusiast happy enough to stay for multiple pours.

This one gets a recommendation from me as well as a great score of 8.70. It may not square up to The Mallard, but it didn't disappoint in the slightest!

Slainte!