Moran’s at 501 Garden Street “Your Neighborhood Bar”

Friday night. It was a long week of work and after grabbing a little dinner I was all tucked into my couch set to root on some NCAA basketball games. Buzz, Buzz, Beep – the familiar alert of my Blackberry BBM with one of my best friends asking… “Want to go out for a few beers and catch the basketball games.” I was comfortable, nestled up in my favorite hoodie and had a cold beer in my hand, but what kind of bar reviewer would I be if I didn’t jump on this opportunity…so off to Moran’s I went and thus it’s the subject of this week’s review.

As with many of the bars in Hoboken, I have been to Moran’s before because it’s one of the good neighborhood places in Hoboken, just a mere 2 blocks off the main drag. Tucked away on the northeast corner of Church Square Park (5th & Garden) it’s just a stone’s throw from 7-Star Pizza, a regular pit stop on the way home for bar revelers (and yours truly – I am sucker for a good white slice).

Moran’s fits the mold of a typical Irish pub, but is actually far bigger than you would think when looking at it from the outside. In addition to bar seating, there are 4-5 tables that allow you to sit down for a few pints and catch glimpses of the park out the window. Move on down from the bar and you get a standard jukebox and a dartboard and a quasi-hidden backroom.

One of the first things that struck me as I walked into Moran’s was that it sounded like a bar, a real bar. No base thumping, music blasting or sports announcers echoing in decibels so loud you couldn’t hear – just conversations, glasses clinking and music in the background. After grabbing a pint of Guinness I played a few games of darts, besting my friend with a dramatic finish of bull, double bull (pure luck I guarantee you, but here’s some photo proof!)

Following my darts domination, we grabbed a table to catch some of the basketball games. The crowd at Moran’s is generally a little older (mid-20’s and up), but in good spirits. The bar got crowded as the night went on, but it never got out of control. I was always able to move around with relative ease to grab a few beers from the bar.

Moran’s has the regular selection of mixed drinks, but does very well with its draft selection which includes Carlsberg (a personal favorite), Guinness, Sam Adams Noble Pils in addition to the standards. The bartenders are friendly and even employ the nearly extinct practice of the buy-back after a few rounds. Hidden from me even after 10+ visits, was the Moran’s cash register, which although bookended by countless bottles of vodka and whiskey, looks like it hails from the prohibition era. If you do make it Moran’s definitely check it out.

Next time your friends ask “where should we go in Hoboken tonight to watch the game or just grab a few” – try Moran’s. It may not have the mobs of people that frequent bars downtown, but it is definitely a fun alternative.

Finally, I need your help! if you have any suggestions for bars to review next please post them in the comments below. With the 100+ bars in Hoboken there isn’t any shortage, but I’m always looking for good suggestions from my readers.

The Drunken Polar Bear.

(more…)