On St. Patrick's Day this year, Maloney's Tavern joined Fio's, Croce's and The Bitter End to compete on the hottest intersection in the Gaslamp Quarter, Fifth Avenue and F Street.

Located in the basement retail space of The William Penn Hotel, Maloney's warm and "taverny" atmosphere is a welcome contrast to the turn-of-the-century style of the building's exterior. The interior is dark and cozy with a classic ambiance featuring a black and white tile floor, oversized booths and a mahogany bar with brass accents. (Several large-screen televisions are well-placed in the corners so that one could discreetly watch a game while seeming to be attentive to a date.) The walls are covered (and I do mean covered) with black and white stills of famous people. I had assumed that these were going to be famous Irish people (being Maloney's and all) but that theory went to hell as soon as I came across the head shot of Al Lewis, whom we all remember fondly as Grandpa on "The Munsters."

The original Maloney's opened in 1991 in the heart of downtown Scottsdale. A second opened in 1993 in neighboring tempe and now almost 10 years later the sixth is here in the Gaslamp.

The menu offers all the amenities of any good tavern and then some. By "amenities" I mean munchies like "Brooklyn Wings" ($7), spicy buffalo wings with a ranch dip, "Mozzarella Sticks" ($5.25) and "Spuds Maloney," more commonly called potato skins ($7). My favorite was the "Sliders" ($7.50) which are five baby char-grilled burgers topped with Swiss cheese accompanied by au jus for dipping. These little meaty marvels were so good that even I didn’t consider asking for mayo, but then I can enjoy almost anything dunked in salty-beefy au jus.

The sandwich list is long and includes the "Maloney's Philly Cheese Steak" ($8.50). Paper-thin top sirloin is smothered with mozzarella cheese, grilled onions and sweet peppers. It is served on a big, crusty baguette, which is baked at Maloney's. The Jersey Max ($7.75), a combination of thinly sliced roast beef, bacon, tomato, lettuce and bleu cheese dressing was the table favorite. I would eat either of these anytime (even if I wasn’t hungry) with great pleasure.

Maloney's offers some thin-crust (almost a cracker-crust) pizzas with toppings to accommodate almost everyone's taste: a tomato and cheese, a barbecue chicken, a Hawaiian, and a vegetarian. The pizzas run between $6.75 and $8.75.

A few complete entrée items are listed under a "Dinner Selections" section. While all three sounded good, spending $18.50 for an entrée didn’t seem to fit the casual atmosphere or type of evening we were having.

Maloney's has a short-but-sweet wine list and offers a good variety of beers on draft as well as 15 bottled beers. Our server, Colleen, was very knowledgeable about the menu and right-on with her recommendations.

Not only will Maloney's compete by occupying the fourth corner of this happenin' intersection, but by offering a cozy and casual corner bar, it also completes it.

— Terryl Gavre