One of the main drags of Downtown Jersey City has a new elevated dive bar from the owners of a Hoboken mainstay, as Dagda has launched near the Grove Street PATH Station.
Situated at 123 Newark Avenue, Dagda is named after the chief of the Irish ancestral gods. The bar is co-owned by Ben Prior, who is behind Hoboken’s long-running Wilton House, which has been on Newark Street for decades.
The dive bar spirit of Wilton House is now in Jersey City, but elevated a bit, as Dagda features a jukebox, a pool table, and darts, along with a traditional Irish “snug.” The restaurant’s soft launch menu includes a few entries inspired by the homeland, including an Irish breakfast and an Irish Spice Bag, which blends chicken strips, fries, peppers, onions, and spices with green onions and house-made curry sauce.
Other food selections at Dagda are fairly eclectic and span everything from pierogis, deviled eggs, Asian dumplings, and “hammered burgers,” including a Cheese Tower variety that blends American, Swiss, cheddar, and pepper jack cheeses with bacon crumbles.
Beers on tap include the obligatory Guinness plus some harder-to-find Irish beers like Sullivan’s Irish Gold and a diverse selection of everything from IPAs to Kolsch selections and more.
Dagda’s opening hours have fluctuated a bit during their soft open, but they are now open daily starting at 4 p.m. They can be followed on Instagram at the handle @dagdajc as they continue their full rollout.
