Murphy's Bar & Grill

You could accurately describe Murphy’s Bar & Grill as several things. It’s a family restaurant. It’s an authentic Irish pub, owned and operated by proud Irishman Don Murphy. It’s a sports bar, fully equipped with multiple screens and just about every satellite TV sports package available. It’s a neighborhood bar for innumerable Downtown workers. It’s also a historic building, built during the whaling boom of the late 19th century.

Murphy’s hosts a yearly block party each Saint Patrick’s Day, shutting down two city blocks to accommodate the estimated 20,000 revelers that turn up each year. It is the largest such Saint Patrick’s Day celebration anywhere in the Pacific.

It’s also the headquarters for a number of charitable events throughout the year, supporting causes such as pediatric cancer treatment and research, literacy and University of Hawaii and high school athletics. Murphy’s has helped raise millions of dollars over the twenty years since it opened, and owner Don Murphy shows no signs of slowing down with that noble work.

The walls in Murphy’s are festooned with countless souvenirs, both sports related and authenticm mementos from the Emerald Isle of Ireland. The bar staff is widely recognized as among the most friendly and knowledgeable in Hawaii, and the service staff is always cheerful and accommodating.

The fare at Murphy’s ranges from simple burgers and sandwiches to traditional Irish fare like corned beef and cabbage, to more sophisticated dishes like miso salmon. Murphy’s a wide selection of domestic and imported draft beer, and although things like Guiness you’d expect from an Irish pub are on hand, other less usual choices are available, Smithwick’s, Boddington’s Ale and Murphy’s Stout among others.

The clientele at Murphy’s represents a wide demographic. The lunchtime crowd usually consists of the business set doing power lunches in the seated rooms, and a more casual sort seated at the bar sneaking a quick peek at “the game” while gobbling up a quick lunch. Mainland visitors are frequent at Murphy’s many of whom are regulars during their stays. All are welcomed as family.

Murphy’s is entrenched in downtown, and looks forward to many more years of providing a taste of Ireland, island style.