Something new: eight50 at Leeward Bowl
A new craft bar is opening its doors today inside Leeward Bowl at the Pearl City Shopping Center. It has a dozen craft brews on draft, nearly 100 bottles of highly curated beers from around the world, and whisky lovers will be drooling over its selection of rare bottles.
Leeward Bowl owner, Richard Akimoto took an interest in the craft beer movement happening across the United States and wanted to create a comfortable, upscale environment to enjoy great brews and food.
It’s rare to find a bar that has a bottle of Rip Van Winkle, four E.H. Taylor’s, Angel’s Envy and Stagg sitting on a shelf for public consumption. These bottles are only allocated to a lucky list of distributors and bar owners.
I sat down with manager Kelly Jeffers to learn more about eight50’s beer and spirits program. “We have something here for everyone,” Jeffers assured me when I asked what he would recommend to a novice craft beer drinker. His staff has undergone 20 hours of intense beer training, so don’t be afraid to ask for a recommendation.
The Vito Corleone ($9) is a sweet cocktail made from blended scotch whisky, amaretto, lemon and ginger ale. It was a cool and refreshing sip that I’d order again. It tasted like a lemon lime gummy candy.
The training was very apparent during my latest visit; our servers were attentive, knowledgeable and very friendly. I look forward to returning and trying a bunch of new brews.
The bar was packed on Thursday night during its soft opening.
Eight50 offers a small gastropub food menu that ranges in offerings from a steamed clams in white wine ($15) to beef tenderloin with a balsamic reduction ($16).
The bleu cheeseburger ($13) is small in size but packs a ton of flavor. The patty is juicy and well seasoned, but it is pricey for the portion.
The parmesan truffle fries ($10) is a large plate of thin cut fries with shavings of cheese and spritzed with truffle oil.
The bar has a movie theme and will play classic movies on its flatscreens and a giant projector with alternative music playing over the speakers. Plans for taco and trivia Tuesdays are in the works, so stay tuned.
The beer list is impressive with many bottles that I’ve never even heard of. The Thornbridge Hall is a $41 bottle that is one of the rarer finds of the collection.
The grand opening celebration starts at 4 p.m. today. There is ample parking in the lot for the shopping complex and bowling alley.
eight50
850 Kamehameha Hwy.
Monday-Saturday 4 p.m. – 1 a.m.
Sunday 4 p.m. – Midnight
eight50 on Facebook
