My biggest gripe with Hoboken’s bar scene is just how similar everything is. Take for instance, this very moment, when I am sitting here at my laptop thinking of a way to introduce a review for Trinity, an Irish-themed bar and restaurant on the waterfront. It was nice, it was okay, I want to write. By my estimation, I have written approximately eighty thousand reviews of Irish-themed bars in Hoboken with flat-screens and deals on Coors Lite.

So while I’ll keep my eye out for the next Havana Lounge or Sammy’s Roadhouse, let’s just get this mess of a review over with, and go back to picketing anyone that stands in the way of this year’s non-existant St. Patrick’s Day Parade (or Snooki and JWoww TV show?)

Like I said, Trinity is an Irish-themed bar and restaurant, and its located on Sinatra Drive, which means it has spectacular views of the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline. But… you can only enjoy those spectacular views if you’re at a table, or if you sit outside. If you’ve sidled up to the bar alone because your life is in a sad spiral, you can watch the Knicks on the four flatscreen TVs behind the bar.

The décor at Trinity is “upscale suburban,” as I will call it, with dark wood tables and wall sconces. The bar is supposed to be pub-like, but there isn’t so much that gave me the feeling like I was at any sort of social club in Dublin. Where are the old-fashion Guinness ads?, I asked myself indignantly, looking around. Instead, there were just more wall sconces.

I was at the bar on a lady-date with one of my oldest friends. I had the house wine, because it was $5, and because I have been drinking so much lately that my liver wants to die. Wine doesn’t count as drinking, though, at least according to The Bar Hopper’s problematic thinking. Also, wine is great for girl talk.

But speaking of drink deals, Happy Hour specials run daily, and they include the aforementioned $5 wine, and $3 draft beers (Smithwicks, Stella, Yuengling, Coors, Blue Moon, Sam Adams). That’s not a bad deal, really. On the weekends, the deal is $6 sangria glasses, and $4 Sam Adams’, with buy-one-get-one free brunch drinks On Thursdays, they offer half-off martinis, and a $15 pitcher deal for beer pong (can you see me scoffing through the screen?)

The bar’s patrons were the usual after-work crowd. There was inoffensive rock music playing from the speakers. The bartender was nice, but nothing about the place really stood out in my mind. There was nothing bad about the bar at all, but like I said, once you’ve been to fifteen other places with the same décor, the same drink specials and clientele, well… it’s hard to get excited.

Sure, if I had stopped by on a warm, breezy spring day (or one of these eerily warm January days that keep drinking) and was sipping a mimosa outside, I might be writing “BEST BAR EVER!” But then again, who is really taking my opinions to heart? I’m just a girl with a weekly column who doesn’t know the meaning of “you’re cut off.” So in the spirit of looking at the bright side, I’ll give Trinity seven out of ten frosty mugs. The deals are pretty good, the outdoor seating will be a huge plus in my book come the spring, and, well, the views are perfect.

Trinity, 306 Sinatra Drive; (201) 533-4446.