Drink Beer and Cocktails on Tap at Mō‘ili‘ili Gastropub, Pint + Jigger

2015 Hale ‘Aina Awards: Best Cocktails and Best Beer Program, Gold — Pint and Jigger

IN 1984, HONOLULU MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED ITS HALE ‘AINA AWARDS AS THE ISLANDS’ FIRST LOCAL RESTAURANT AWARDS. OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS, THE HALE 'AINA AWARDS ARE THE MOST PRIZED DINING AWARDS IN THE ISLANDS. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.

 

 

Pint + Jigger co-owner Dave Newman. 
Photos: Olivier Koning 

 

Pint + Jigger gives equal emphasis to a triumvirates of cocktails, craft beer and elevated pub fare.

If you’ve ever wondered how cocktails fare against beer at Pint + Jigger—the Mō‘ili‘ili gastropub that won first-place Hale ‘Aina awards for both—ask Dave Newman how many cocktails are on tap. That’s right, on tap. “You go to some bars and it can take five to 10 minutes for each drink,” the Pint’s part-owner and resident mixologist says. “We try to make it so people don’t have to wait. As soon as we put the cocktail into the keg, there’s no air, so it will stay fresh and taste exactly the way I want it to taste. The bartenders just have to add the vanilla whip, and it’s ready.”

 

Of 21 taps spouting the likes of Breakside Brewery’s Passionfruit Sour and Belching Beaver’s Peanut Butter Milk Stout, odds are at least two are given over to cocktails. That the Pint gives equal emphasis to a triumvirate of cocktails, craft beer and elevated pub fare is a main reason behind its rapid success: Two and a half years after opening amid a slew of gastropubs including Salt (since closed), Real, Bevy and Brew’d, it’s set to expand in two directions. A second location at Kapahulu’s Hee Hing Plaza, delayed by extensive renovations to the building, should open mid-year.

 

And cocktails will graduate to their own space at what Newman calls a speakeasy, next door to the Pint. Harry’s Hardware Store, named for no actual Harry or particular hardware store, starts buildout this month and is slated to open in March. The owners are the same crew that opened the Pint: Hideo and Grace Simon, Daryn and Nicky Ogino, and Newman, recently re-elected president of the Hawai‘i chapter of the U.S. Bartenders Guild.

 

Harry’s cocktail menu will be tiny—maybe five choices that change nightly, either new or pulled from the Pint, plus bartender’s whimsy. “You could have a conversation with your bartender and say, ‘I normally like really strong whiskey.’ The bartender asks a few questions and makes something for you that might be a classic cocktail with a backstory, or it could be something the bartender just created,” Newman says. “When we opened Pint, we took craft cocktails up a notch or two. This will elevate that to the next step—a full-blown cocktail bar like the ones opening up on the Mainland, except not pretentious.”

 

It’s hard to imagine getting pretentious in the old Kochi restaurant space next to Jimbo’s noodle shop, especially with cocktails on tap. That fresh vanilla whipped cream, by the way, goes atop the Talventi, one of several new cocktail and food items debuted in celebration of Repeal Day last Dec. 5. In true gastropub style, Newman recommends pairing Talventi’s cold-brewed Kona coffee, rye whiskey and Campari with the brandy-and-bacon strawberries. Cheers!

 

Pint + Jigger, 1936 S. King St., pintandjigger.com