Rolon’s Bar

This is one of my favorite bars in Jersey City. You have to come here late (after 11 PM) and on the weekend. earlier the place is mostly filled with old Puerto Rican guys playing dominos.
But at night the atmosphere changes completely. A younger crowd takes over. A strange mix of white kids, many of them dorks, and the hoodlums from nearby neighborhoods, as well as working class hispanics (waiters, bus boys, etc.) There are usually people standing outside selling drugs. There is a jukebox, so the music changes with the crowd.
All of the above makes for a very authentic and fun experience. Ray, the owner and one of the bartenders, will remember you and shake your hand after a couple of visits.
Drinks are cheap, and the place is perfectly safe as long as you don’t start anything (if you come here looking for trouble, you will find it).
That is all.

Do I even need to leave a review of Rolons or should I just keep this key-​hole window shaped bar a mystery? From the outside (and perhaps the inside) — Rolons might be the ugliest bar in downtown Jersey City. BUT! if you can convince yourself to go in … You might discover why this divey little bar is so great.

Been going to Rolons for years. Cheap ice cold beers, loud Spanish music that is played through a jukebox and a round table bar pretty much sums it up. This place is not classy nor social. Just a loud, cheap cool laid back place to get hammered. No food… Just slim Jims lol! I love all the bartenders, ray (the owner) is really fair! The other girls are cool and there’s a guy who’s like 80 years old who works the day shift and he’s hilarious! Love this place, usually go here to pre game before the city. (Five min from holland tunnel) 3 shots of patron will cost you 18 $! Amazing!

Great local dive. Cheap drinks. Diverse crowd but relaxed, friendly vibe. Affable bartenders.
They did seem to be very adamant about tanktops/​wife beaters not being worn in their establishment — signs everywhere… not sure how far they go to enforce that though.

Rolon’s Bar is the epitome of Jersey City. Back in the day, this place was a prime place to go have a few «Hein-​ees» and listen to Hector Lavoe joints out of the juke box while watching the the local boriqua dance nostalgically to their Salsa king! Today, there’s still some of that, but Rolon’s bar has been one of the most naturally inclusive bars for everybody hanging or living in Downtown. You could be enjoying a nice cold one with an old school guy, a new school guy, boriquen, gringo, Moreno, Chino, hip hopper, metal head, punk, artist, journalist, hipster, and even you. At Rolon’s you can by ten people a shot of Jack, and still have money left over! Best Dive bar in Jersey City!

Ditch the late night Friday line at Porta and Barcade and hop over to Rolon’s instead. It’s a no thrills dive bar and like most others, you can actually see and hear your company instead of shouting to hear each other speak. Although the bar isn’t super packed out, at midnight on a Friday it’s still got a buzzing crowd and is by no means an empty and lackluster dive bar.
At an NYC or BK dive, one shot and a beer will run you back 30 bucks. Here, we ordered 5 shots of Jameson and 5 Yuenglings for a cool 30. I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be making an appearance here again soon. Jukebox tunes, dirt cheap dranks and a laid back unpretentious vibe never fail to disappoint.

I love this place! Bartenders are great and a diverse crowd. You also can’t beat the prices anywhere.

Great prices. Definitely a dive bar. Probably the best dive option in the Newport-​Exchange Place-​Grove St. areas.
If you’re around Grove Street and want reasonable prices come here.
No beer on draft. But it’s still nice. :)

Don’t be discouraged the looks of this place, it’s a dive bar at its finest.
I was truly thrown off by the exterior of the bar but once I entered and ordered a drink I realized the beauty of this bar. Cheap drinks. Great service. Can you ask for more?

One of my favorite places in all of Jersey City. I consider this the most diverse place in town. Inexpensive drinks, cool crowd, awesome regulars and amazing bartenders to back Ray up. If you want a taste of what this city is about, stop in for a drink.

Great circular bar shape lends itself to making new friends easily. I guess I was expecting this place to be a bit more divey, but I found it to be clean (nice bathroom), nice friendly staff and regulars, and chock full of hipsters. All of the above reasons plus $ 5 Jamesons make this place a keeper.

Not a place for everyone, but connoisseurs of dive bars will recognize a classic upon walking in the door.
The white brick façade belies a simple bar that is the definition of a dive. It’s got a mixed crowd, dirt cheap drinks, and random jukebox. If that sounds like a good time you, then come on down to Rolon’s. I sincerely hope it doesn’t get taken over by hipsters, the crowd gets increasingly young as the night goes on.
We got there pretty early, around 9, on a Friday night. The crowd was older, but we have enough people with us to take up a significant portion of the bar. It was also pretty empty so we grabbed some prime real estate right at the bar. As the night wore on, more and more younger folks filtered in and it was quite crowded by the time we left, between 12 and 1. I had a great time, the bartender was attentive and friendly and $ 3 beer and $ 4 top shelf shots are pretty unbeatable.
If dive bars are your scene, grab $ 30 and get ready to have an awesome night.

This place is interesting. Made the mistake of coming here around 8:30 or 9 on a Saturday and the crowd was mostly old dudes. We only had one drink and left because we were’t really feeling the whole being the youngest people in the bar by about 30 years. Walked by later in the night and the whole vibe had changed. There was still some of the earlier crowd left, but also lots of other people and definitely more than a few hipsters. The place looked like it had completely changed. The drinks are super cheap. My jack and coke was definitely like 3 or 4 bucks and very strong (the jack: coke ratio was around 1:1); shots were around the same price and I think beers are cheaper. If you do come here, I would suggest stopping by after 10 or 11 as before that, the place is kind of dead. The music could be improved too.

the diviest of dive bars.
$ 6 black label on rocks. $ 3 beers (i think??). not in plastic cups either.
friendly bartenders.
stinky bathroom.
diverse/​weird/​interesting crowd.
eventual hipster swarm.
cash only.
eclectic jukebox.
close to grove st. path.

BEST. DIVE. BAR. EVER.
The crowd is insanely diverse and super chill. No frills, no pretension, no bullshit.
The drinks are strong and cheap. $ 5 for a vodka tonic. The house booze are not even from the bottom level of the shelf. And it’s pretty much straight up vodka. Rolon will give you the small bottle of soda so you can add it to your cup of booze as you realize you need to slooooow it down.
You can find the TV playing anything from Univision to whatever big game happens to be on that day. The juke box is often playing Latin Jams but can take a turn with the next crowd. The volume is never loud that you have to scream to hear the person next to you.
Keyhole has been a staple in Jersey City for over 40 years and there is no doubt it will stand the test of time.

This random white stucco building with its funky windows resembling a keyhole. Is a definite piece of history. Built in 1860; serving Jersey City since 1965. Rolon’s Keyhole is a place you come to drink. The goal is to get you hammered, impaired and inebriated at minimum expense.
Latin music fills the room until quirky patrons come in and play some random «pumped up kicks’ from the juke box. It’s a great mix of people here. The bartender was an older gentleman had the weirdest conversation.
Random Guy: How was this bar in the 80s?
Bartender: What?
Random Guy: Was it dangerous in the 80s
Bartender: Que Pasa?
Nonetheless, I ordered a Jameson neat cost $ 5.00; unbeatable! I adore this place as it has stood against the test of time. Keyhole words of advice keep going strong just like your drinks.

A straight up dive bar. And, it’s straight up awesome. It’s also straight up cheap as hell. When I say cheap, I mean as in what felt like $ 3 for any order (don’t hold me to that). They had sour cream n’ onion chips in a bowl for me to snack on and if that doesn’t scream awesome, I don’t know what to tell you.
So much Buena Vista Social Club on the juke box but, touch tunes is available for the modern day music but, do expect to get some gnarly looks from the motley crew of regular old Peruvian/​Dominican/​Puerto Rican dudes when you change up the music.
On a Friday it was pretty tame until about 11 PM when the hipsters rolled on through filling up the empty bar stools.
I got love for you Rolon’s. I’ll be back.

Blasting Spanish music, Telumundo soap opera on the TV, oh god where did we go? $ 3 corona bottles and a nice big bar. And if you need a DVD there is a guy walking around the bar selling them 3 for $ 10. Seriously!
An older gentleman was tending bar and seemed very affable. He gladly handed me salt for my corona.
We came around 8pm on a Friday and heard through other reviewers that the atmosphere changes later in the night. It was a good stop for a beer and to take in the scene.

Love my new find. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to finally get inside this place but damn am I glad I did!
This is the place that people call the Keyhole… hence the keyhole shaped windows.
This place (at night) is an anomaly. I feel like I step into another universe when here. It smells like stale smoke, the crowd is eclectic (if I was sober I would say alarming?) and the music is ABSOLUTELY OFF THE CHAIN!!!
The Jameson shots are like $ 3 and the PBR’s are even cheaper.
The only down side to this place is revealed when you try and stop in before 10. Rolon’s doubles as an old timey Spanish dominos gambling hole (Awkward). The way I see it is that I call this place Rolon’s during the early hours and refer to it as the Keyhole in the after hours.
So go to the KEYHOLE!

I work in the area and has walked past this place many times without knowing the little gem it was! One night after being bored stiff at Barcade, we heard good latin music coming out of there and walked over. It’s a block and a half away.
The drinks are cheap, the crowd is diverse, and staff is friendly. Truly a neighborhood place. It’s no frills but it is a true gem in downtown Jersey City!