Driving down Marin Boulevard just minutes from Jersey City’s City Hall, a traveler might stumble upon Katie Ryan’s. Easily missed at a speed of 40 miles per hour, the restaurant is quietly tucked away in a residential neighborhood in the city’s historic district.
Twinkling lights glitter in the window, beckoning hungry street dwellers to join the happy crowd inside. From the street, one can hear patrons’ voices rise in conversation from a small, yet cozy bar.
The crowd is diverse. Near the back of the room, twentysomethings crowd around a small table next to a brightly lit jukebox. Closer to the door, a cluster of Baby Boomers assemble, partaking in a political debate that pauses when the bartender approaches to refill their dwindling drinks.
We decide to enter, a mixture of hunger and curiosity pulling us in. Bob Burakiewicz, the owner of the restaurant, politely holds the door for us.
Stepping into the bar is like stepping into the middle of a conversation. Suddenly, we are part of the action. We search for a table and find them all taken. We inquire if there was additional seating, and to our surprise, we are quickly led to an unobserved staircase next to the door. We follow our host, best known simply as “Bob,” to a second floor dining room that is empty, except for a hovering busboy.
Almost as if stepping back in time, we find ourselves staring at a room reminiscent of the Victorian era. The intimate space is sprinkled with antiques. A train set sits prettily along a wooden shelf spanning the far wall. The room is wonderfully old-fashioned and charming.
Was a speakeasy
Katie Ryan’s charm comes with a history. The first floor was once a “speakeasy,” Bob said recently, while the second floor was used as living quarters. The space has since housed “legitimate” restaurants, transferring into his hands in 1998.
We were seated at a corner table at the far end of the room, next to a faux fireplace and a window overlooking the street.
We glanced at our menu and asked Bob for his suggestions and he offered a few recommendations. For an appetizer he suggested the bar pizza ($4.95), the fried calamari ($6.95) and the mussels with bruschetta ($7.95). We ordered all three.
For our entrees, we decided to taste a bit of everything the restaurant had to offer. We ordered the house pasta ($10.95), the flank steak ($7.95) and a 10-ounce Angus steak ($11.95) which, we were informed, could also be cut to order.
We then sat back for a quiet conversation and wondered aloud: “Why are we the only ones sitting upstairs?” Bob smiled as if he expected this question all along. He explained that while the bar has always proven to be popular, particularly with politicians and the lunch crowd (including deliveries, they serve about 300 lunches a day), the upstairs remains under-utilized. The primary reason for this, he believes, is that the customers do not realize that the bar is, in fact, only the first floor of a two-story restaurant.
He hopes to rectify this situation through renovations, which may include replacing the current staircase with a repositioned grand staircase. This, he anticipates, will pull the customers’ attention upward.
Delicious!
When our appetizers arrived, we began with the bar pie. Although ordered as a starter, the bar pie is a meal. This particular pie (they boast a variety) was topped with fresh marinara sauce and enough oregano to add just the right amount of flavor. The mozzarella was sprinkled on lightly, complimenting the extremely thin, crispy crust. The taste was spectacular. After two slices my mouth experienced welcomed aftershocks from the fresh marinara sauce.
By contrast, the fried calamari proved to be ordinary, which is somewhat disappointing after the bar pie, but was quickly made up for when we tasted the clams and mussels with bruschetta.
The bruschetta, a garlic and olive oil topped bread, quickly took second place to the mussels and clams, which were so tender they practically dissolved in my mouth, leaving only savory juices coursing down my throat. When the main course arrived, we were still fighting over the last clam. I won.
When the entrees arrived, I zeroed in on the house pasta, which was drenched in a pink sauce. This entr