We’ve brought on a special guest for our latest Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast. Hosts Aloha Bruce and Emmy award winner Lanai Tabura talk with Joe Hart, the General Manager of O’Toole’s Irish Pub in Honolulu’s historic Chinatown Arts District where the bar scene in Honolulu really begins.

The traditional Irish pub calls the T.M. Forester Building home, just steps from the waterfront of Honolulu Harbor. It has been a location for several episodes of the wildly popular television show Hawaii 5-0, and a variety of other popular shows and mainstream movies, most recently Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. For that movie, O’Toole’s served as the main characters’ watering hole back east.

Joe recalls one shoot that saw producers of Hawaii 5-0 bring in truckloads of artificial snow for a scene that involved winter in Boston and how authentic the scene was. Joe is in the center of the bar scene in Honolulu. He talks about the historic building and what makes it such an attractive location for filming. He also notes how much work production crews do to prepare the pub for filming, which generally takes at least three days.

The conversation turns to the thriving Chinatown arts, culture, dining, and music communities. Lanai, with his typical humor and expertise, gives a brief history of Chinatown. He also rattles off a number of new establishments that any visitor keen to experience the “real Hawaii” would certainly enjoy. Aloha Bruce says that a trip to Chinatown’s many restaurants, bars and galleries is a must for any visitor looking to connect with residents and get a keen sense of what it’s like to live in Honolulu.

As always, our hosts Bruce and Lanai offer their expert local knowledge about an Oahu attraction that has become an increasingly popular destination for visitors to Oahu, The Gathering Place. We encourage listeners to tune in, and join the conversation with comments online.