Juneau Food: JuneauMusic Visits the Newly Opened Island Pub in Douglas

First Impressions

Flames dancing 2 feet high from within and reflected upon a giant, shiny copper wood stove. Real wood floors strecthing out to warm burgandy, butterscotch and deep blue walls with hunter green accents. A very cool cage/apparatus containing bottles of alcohol and glasses glinting in the low soft light as the hang over the centrally located bar. Red leather bar stools with generously diametered seats, and of course big, bay windows looking out on the channel. My first impression: These guys / gals set out to do this remodel right. A lot of planning and research undoubtably went into the design of this place and I am quite greatful for it.

Take the 42 inch plasma screen TV. I am not a fan of these as it usually means I am uncontrollably darting mezmorized glances at it and insulting my conversation companion but, the Island Pub placed it is a way that it is at once present and yet not distracting. The screen is situated on a wall far from any of the tables and was not distracting at all. Even though I was facing in its direction I was not once assaulted by it. However when my date left the table I had to just tilt my head to be entertained until she returned. Nice touch.

The Kitchen is open air style and most seats in the house give you a nice view of flame licking inside large copper armored ovens.

There were a nice assortment of places to sit at as well. A large bar towards the back by the windows, barstool / tables lining the bay windows, table and chairs to seat 4 or many more in the center and in clear view of the open, entertainging kitchen.

And They Did Come, Oh Yes They Did
By 7 o'clock the joint was jumping, even though it has been open only four or five days. It was full of people and conversation but did not feel too packed. It was easy to manuever around the bar and yet there was an electricity in the air. Where did they come from? How did they know? One thing was for sure: Everyone seemed very happy to have a new place so inviting and fun.

Service
The service was excellent. Our waitress was courteous, professional and, most importantly to me, sincerely happy. Rick, who is one of the owners (and maybe the only owner. I don't know. Remember, JuneauMusic is just your friendly neighborhood wall crawlers doing this thang for fun), was darting here and there serving drinks and obviously caring very much about his customers. I felt well taken care of.

Food
Kari and I ordered a Vegitarian Pizza. I am from New York. Among other things, I am a pizza snob. I liked this pizza. I would order it again. That is much more than I will say for most pizza I have had outside of the Big Apple (Pizza Roma is another place I am pizza-happy) . The Island Pub's crust had a great flavor and generous crunchy corn meal dusting its bottom. It did not have the "chew" I love about good New York pizza, but I have not found any place east of the Hudson that does. It was topped with a nice assortment of veggies including perfectly cooked asparagus (cooked to a bursting crunch) and flavorful eggplant. Veggie Pizzas often suffer from excess moisture from eggplant or mushrooms but those giant fire breathing stone ovens must be for more than just show because these toppings where juicy but not at all watery.

Smoking Section

There is a decently sized enclosed room designated for smokers. It is nicely decorated with a large window looking out on the main room. I can see this woring very well for people who smoke and, after sitting in the main room, can take a quick smoke break.

Conclusion

This is a great place to go with a large group or just a single friend. I am happy happy happy. Now, will they have music?

1 Comments:

At 6:20 PM, Red Hat said...: So I'd like to do a taste-off, does this place have calzones by the way? Pizza Verona is the hands-down favorite among *my* friends, espially on account of the tasty, chewy crust. Vito and Nick's for calzones, no problem, but if you're downtown and maybe not in the right condition to drive, then Pizzeria Roma calzones are tasty, the crust works much better in that format than for flat pizza, and the fillings are good for the money. IMHO. You buying?

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Juneau Food

Friday, April 01, 2005

JuneauMusic Visits the Newly Opened Island Pub in Douglas

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