Dive Bar Crawl #1

Julie's Review 

The Jury Room

We decided to start our dive bar crawl at the Jury Room.  It is the quintessential dive bar institution and this year was tied with Brady's for the best dive bar in Santa Cruz in the Good Times.  It is located on Ocean street, right across from the Court House, naturally.

I was struggling to get there by 4:30.  I raced to finish up last details before starting my month off work.  I barely made the 3:00 Highway 17 bus, changed into leather and leopard skin and headed downtown.

 

Josephine and Mary and Elisa -  our dive crawl companions - were already there.  The Jury Room is what you would expect - dark and smoky.  Yes, Virginia, they really do let you smoke in a dive bar,  so you best get used to it.  I always felt it was wrong not to be able to smoke in a bar, even though I quit years ago, so this doesn't bother me in the least.

I had been to the Jury Room before and remembered the bar rail being covered in leopard skin which I loved.  Now it was just straight brown leather - maybe with a bit of duct tape.  We noticed my bar stool was broken and the end was duct taped.  The small touching details of a dive bar.

 

Happy hour is Mon - Fri from 12-6.  There is no food, but Jack recommended going next door to the Mexican place and getting the chips with guacamole.  Mary went and came back with a large container of chips covered with guacamole for $1.50.  A steal and quite tasty.

The bar was dark, a bit run down and already pretty full.  Jack our bartender, was friendly and quickly brought me my rum and coke.  Here is what the Jury Room is about - strong drinks, cheap!!!!! $2.50 wells.  That's hard to beat.  Got some kick to them too.

 

Mary had ordered a Bloody Mary - Jack's first.  Not much ordering of Bloody Marys at the Jury Room and Jack has only worked there several months.  The Bloody Mary wasn't on happy hour (this isn't the Crow's Nest, honey) and was $5.  Still a good price.  By the time we had ordered our two well drinks we were up to Mary's Bloody Mary!

I think we were the only folks at the bar without tattoo sleeves, it is definitely the fashion here.  There is a pool table and the brick wall was lined with red vinyl booths.  A dog was sleeping on a booth and someone had brought their bike inside. There was a photo collage, I assume of Jury Room regulars and events.

Mary told us that she had received a jury summons and was supposed to be in court this week, so we joked that she was reporting for jury duty at the Jury Room instead.

We chatted with Jack about the blog.  He was a friendly, nice bartender.  I asked the guy next to me if he was a Jury Room regular and he said "yes, but I'm really tired of this place"  "Why are you here then?"  "Because the drinks are cheap!"

I think that sums up the Jury Room:  cheap, strong drinks, lots of tats and smoke and a casual place to hang out.  I'm afraid now that they've taken the leopard skin away, it just doesn't quite do it for me anymore - though with an all day happy hour - I might pop in for a cheap one.

Julie's Rating: 3.5

*****

Callahan's Pub

 

The second stop on our dive bar crawl was Callahan's Pub on Water street. Just a hop skip and a bike walk away, we were already feeling a bit of the buzz from our Jury Room deliberations. Onward!

I liked the feel of Callahan's as soon as I walked in the door. It has a friendly vibe, fun people and interesting things to gaze upon. There were animal skulls on the walls and I like animal skulls! (One of my all time favorite birthday presents was the Hawaiian wild boar skull Mary gave me for my 50th). But, I digress.

 

Callahan's happy hour is mon - fri from 11 -7' with a dollar off well drinks and beer. Our first bartender was Jessica and she set us up in no time. She was friendly fast and efficient. She made us feel welcome and right at home, even though she was finishing up her shift.

About this time we discovered the two saddle seats at the table across from the bar. How can you not love a bar with saddle seats? These aren't the fake broncos, just a comfortable saddle to hop on and ride after a long day at the office. Yes, I had found my home.

The only thing that would have been better than a saddle on a dive bar crawl would have been a pole. Callahan's was the only bar in Santa Cruz to have a pole, a fact I was well aware of since I love pole dancing so much.

Lete, our new bartender told us about when they put up a pole for St. Patrick's day a few years ago and then were actually busted by the police and fined daily until it was removed. It was the only time I wrote a "letter to the editor" at the Sentinel, saying how much we needed a pole in Santa Cruz. (The only poles in the county are at the Whole Enchilada in Moss Landing and in a bar in Carmel - if Carmel can have a pole - why not Santa Cruz?) But, I digress.

Lete was a wealth of information and a lot of fun. She told us about her famous Motorboat shots - which she can make as a cocktail or a shot. Her own special concoction made of cranberry Stoli, ruby absolute, sweet n sour, cranberry juice and fresh lime. She normally puts on the "motorboat song" not sure what that is.... but she set up five free motorboat shots for us. Since 'Show us what you got, we'll give you a shot' is our motto and we have the fully patented five shot glass happy hour rating - how perfect was that?

Five shots to you Lete!! Those motorboat shots were fantastic! What a great bartender. The first truly comped shots for the J&J buzz!

 

There were two other women who were on their own bar crawl and they showed us their cool bikes. We took a picture with the whole group of crawlers and I believe there was some nipple grabbing, but I won't say by whom. (See the things that go on in dive bars?)

Next thing you know the one woman says to Elisa, "I know you, you're my son's school psychologist!" I say, "Awkward!" But, Elisa takes it all in stride, since this happens to her all the time and she is recognized wherever she goes. She finally breaks away from the woman to pose in the festive little phone booth and to take a shot at the pool table. (In addition, to being a school counselor, she is also a hot pool player)."

At this point we must bid adieu to Callahan's. I could have gladly hung there for the night, it is such a fun place, but we must crawl on. I will definitely come back here.

In sum, I loved the ambiance of the pub, both bartenders were great, the drinks were tasty, loved the free shots, very generous, happy hour 11-7 is a nice range. The only down side is there isn't any food. :-( and the prices could always be a bit cheaper. Still stop on by and ask for a motorboat shot - and tell them J &J sent you. I may be riding the saddle there!

Julie's Rating: 4.5 shots!

*****

Blue Lagoon

The third (actually 4th stop) on our Dive bar crawl was the Blue Lagoon. After leaving Callahan's we stopped at Tampicos for drinks and a quick bite. There was a UCSC retirement bash happening - Congratulations to Connie and Gloria! I left Jo and Elisa gabbing away and headed to the Blue Lagoon with Roy.

What exactly is the Blue Lagoon ? According to the sign it's a sports bar. It's also a gay bar (our private joke used to be if this is a gay bar what are all these damn heterosexual men doing here?) and a great place to dance on a Thursday night to 80's music. But how does it rate for happy hour? Roy and I went to investigate.

The Blue Lagoon has happy hour every day from 4-9, with $4 well drinks and anchor steam on draft. In addition, each night has its own special drink specials. I usually only go to the Blue on Thursdays for a double dance to aforementioned 80s night. This was an opportunity to belly up to the bar. Our bartender was Jordan and he was highly championed by two guys sitting next to us. "Jordan's the greatest!"

  

I have to be honest that this late in the crawl, my perceptions might not be at their clearest. I can usually count on photos to stir my memories, but my flash wasn't working, so the photos are dark, blurry and with many a shot of the sidewalk. All as it should be at the end of a crawl, but not helpful in coming up with details of interest.

There are two dance floors at the Blue. They were doing a benefit in the front dance room, not sure what it was all about and won't attempt to make a guess, but access was cut off. Roy had just come from a Zumba class and wasn't drinking, but kept me company as I checked out the well drinks.

We chatted with Jordan about happy hour. Jo and Elisa arrived and Roy headed for home. The rest was a bit of a blur, but I do remember Elisa showing us her new yellow purse. Having always been a black purse kinda gal, she felt she had passed a milestone into adulthood, by the purchase of this new tote. Very exciting. At this point, the music had started and we all headed to the dance floor. The rest is a blur.

In sum, I like the Blue Lagoon's happy hours - can't beat every day until 9. The service was good, the drinks standard, ambiance was fair and being a dive bar, they had no food which is always a draw back. To me dancing is what the Blue lagoon is all about if you find me here, it will be on the dance floor and happy hour will be over.

Julie's Rating: 3.5 shots

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Jo's Review
And so it begins. Julie and I have come up with the idea of grouping the Dive Bar happy hours into a series of reviews. This may not of been the best laid plan but I must say it was a lot of fun. Dive bars have their own type of charm and the best way to experience them in my experience is fast and furious. Hit them fast, hit them hard, and move on before they throw you out.

*****The Jury Room 

  So we start at the Jury Room. As you can see by the sign it has gone through some changes, not sure when or how. This place has is your stereo-typical dive bar, dark, a little grungy, and stiff cheap drinks. The bar itself runs the length of the place, a pool table in the middle of the floor, and some booths on the other side of the pool table. Lots of interesting art work on the walls, pictures, funny signs, stuffed animals, dolls, well you get the drift. They allow smoking in the place so just be warned.

 











The happy hour Buzz is: Monday - Friday 12pm - 6pm. all day and night Wednesdays.
                                          $2.50 well drinks and domestic beers.

I decided to start with a Vodka Cranberry, very tasty and strong (I like that in a drink). On this occasion some of our friends decided to join us.  Interesting as soon as we say dive bar their all in. So Mary and Elisa join us. We are all enjoying the decor and chatting it up Mary decides on a non-happy hour price bloody mary and she loves it.  Julie shows up dressed for dive barring and soon the place is live with laughter. Now most dive bars do not serve food, but the place next door to them has food and you can bring it into the Jury room.  So the ladies decide on Nachos. The Nachos consisted of chips, a boat load of guacamole and some hot sauce.  Unusual to say the least but you can't argue when you have that much guacamole on the plate. We munch through the chips order up another round and the party is going on. Some lively banter with the bartender and we are off to our second stop. Now because most dive bars do not serve food, as far as rating it goes the highest I will be rating is a 4.

Jo's rating; 3 shots!

***** Callahan's

Callahan's has actually changed hands about 4 years ago we learned and they have really cleaned the place up, (O.K. yes I have frequented the place before). First it wasn't that dark, the back door was open so a lot of light was coming in and a gentle breeze was blowing through the place. Mary was looking for a place to lock up her bike out front but nothing was there,so we asked and they let her bring her bike in.

We're looking around and telling folks what we are up to (because we start taking pictures) and find out that a couple of ladies are indulging in their own type of dive bar crawl, we bonded immediately.  

 

This dive bar is big, it has a separate room with another bar, a stage, and an old fashion phone booth, you just don't see these things around anymore. 

The walls are decorated with skulls of cattle and other animals, some couches, a nice long bar and to all of our delight two horse saddle seats. The saddles were quite the hoot, we definitely had fun on them.

 
The happy hour Buzz is: Monday - Friday 11am - 7pm
                                          $1.00 off well drinks and beers.

  We had bartenders change hands while we were there both both of the ladies Jessica and Lete were great. There's a special quality to the dive bar bartender. They tend to be very happy and smiley and will put up with  a lot of shit. They definitely have a good amount of tolerance since they have to put up with a shall we say a more diverse type of clientele.

So the second bartender Lete has a specialty drink she makes and she wanted us to try it, well I am too well raised to refuse. She mixed up her Motorboat shots and lined up 5 shot glasses to fill (5 shots up), what a great idea ;-). 

We all had one including the bartender and it was delicious and our first freebie for the cause. Now we are not in it for the free drinks and food but hey every now and then is fun. I just opted for beer this round.



Everyone was so friendly at Callahan's and it was a great time. I will definitely be back.

Jo's rating; 4 shots!

***** The Blue Lagoon

So believe it or not I had a retirement party to go to in between  Callahan's and the Blue which was a good thing, it gave me a chance to eat.  You have to feed the booze. This made the Blue Lagoon the choice 3 stop.

The Happy Hour Buzz is: Every day of the week 4pm - 9pm.
                                          $4.00 well drinks, Anchor steam beers.
                                          They have specialty drinks daily and every day all day special drinks.

Let's just say there are a lot of special drinks going on at the Blue (which is what everyone calls it).  How did I not know this. So many drinks, so little time. One very important thing to know about the Blue before you go, cash only. They have an ATM on the premises so I guess at your own risk you can use that. O.K. so this is the 3rd dive bar and I'm feeling pretty happy. We lost Mary (no, no she just went home after Callahan's) so just the 3 of us.  I'm sticking with beer now so nothing special to talk about drink wise, Julie is having her usual Rum and  diet coke. 

  The Blue is a downtown DJ dance club with a gay following and an influx of straight people who like to dance and have good time. I can't describe much of the inside, a long bar, on the right another side room which I think has some pool tables and then all the way to the back a good size dance floor with the music pumping and the glittery disco ball spinning. We didn't get many pictures of the inside because there were a lot of people by then. So we got our drinks and ran our mouths a bit, Elisa knows everyone everywhere and these 2 guys were all smiles when we got here. Of course she knows them so into the blog they go.  Brad and Eric, fun guys.

Nine o'clock rolls around and it's time to hit the dance floor ( happy hours over as well).  By know we are all very happy and enjoying having the dance floor to ourselves.  As you know those that hang know that nothing gets started before 10 or 10:30.  So we danced and laughed and drank and yes it was a fun time.
  So the Blue has some cheap drinks, good drink special and a dance floor.  A good time was had by all but it's time to take my butt home.

Jo's rating; 3.5 shots!

Crow's Nest

THE BUZZ ON THE CROW'S NEST

Happy Hour  Monday - Friday 3:30 to 6pm, Wednesday all night

Half off all appetizers

All well drinks, wine,draft beers, well Margaritas and Bloody Marys $3.75

Crow's Nest

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Julie's Review

The Crow's Nest offers a great happy hour - you get more bang for your buck here than any happy hour we have visited so far. The view is beautiful, the food and drinks are great. The service was fast and attentive and they offer Thursday night beach parties with free music and dancing  on the sand. What's not to love?

The  hours  are pretty standard: Mon-Fri, 3:30  - 6:00 pm with happy hour all night on Wednesdays.  ( Since happy hour is just in the upstairs bar however, on Wednesdays you need to get there before 7:30 or 8:00 or you will have to pay a cover charge, though it is usually only three bucks)

I have spent many a nail biting time trying to get to the Crow's Nest before  the 6:00 p.m. cutoff.  Thursday was a case in point. I took the earlier bus so that I would be able to get there by 4:30, but traffic was so bad I didn't get there until closer to 5:15.  The traffic gets worse during the beach parties so allow yourself plenty of time.

 
Speaking of parking, I used to park on the street or on the beach, but it is always crowded and hard to find a spot.  The Crow's Nest parking lot is only  $1.00 an hour after 4:00and there is usually room which makes it worthwhile. I was running late, but was able to find a spot at 5:15 even on the day of a beach party.

Happy hour is upstairs at the Breakwater Bar and Grill upstairs. There is a large room with lots of ocean view window seats, an L shaped bar and an outdoor deck with more seating. Jo had already got us a nice ocean side table on the deck with an umbrella. Sweet!  One problem I have had in the past at the Nest is trouble getting a seat, particularly on a Wednesday - regatta night or Thursday during the summer beach party (and we all know how I like to get a seat ) but this was not the case today.  There were several open tables when I walked in.

Since the beach party starts at 5:30, Jo and I quickly got down to business. She was already having a beer, and I ordered my standard spicy Bloody Mary.  Here's where the Crow's Nest gets a five shot rating - a Bloody Mary on a happy hour menu and only $3.75! In fact, well drinks, pints, house wines, well margaritas and bloody marys are all only $3.75 and these are not shabby drinks. Look at the garnish on that bloody mary. Hello happy hour!!!!!!

The food value is just as high. All appetizers on the upstairs menu are 1/2 off.  Our favorites are always the Buffalo Wings which are only $3.50! We also ordered the Award-Winning Calamari $5.50, the Ahi Ruby Rare $5.50 and the Crab Martini $5.50. They also offer crab cakes, crostini, smoked salmon, nachos, prawn martini, house made potato chips or a cup or bowl of clam chowder? All half off! Wow!

By this time our sweet waitress had already brought my Bloody Mary and my water. Even though the place was hopping, she was fast and attentive.  I could finally relax and enjoy the view. We could see the harbor to our right and the beach party set up to the left. Sambada was already starting to warm up down below.

The food came quickly and boy was it yummy. First the calamari  - lightly fried with a delicious Parmesan  breading, they were delicious and were served with both tartar sauce for Julie and cocktail sauce for Jo.  Next was the seared Cajun-spiced sashimi tuna served on crispy rice noodles with wasabi, soy and ginger.  Very tasty.  Followed by our favorite standard, the buffalo wings which are always delicious. We ended with the crab martini which had very generous serving of fresh crab over avocado with cocktail sauce on the side. It was a little messy to share, but was delicious and healthy. We were well satiated by the variety of delicious foods.  

We chatted with our waitress who agreed to have her photo taken for the blog.  I had time to sample another  Bloody Mary, but then I could hear the music was really starting and we asked for our check. We were pleasantly surprised how low the check the was - where else can you have two bloody marys and four appetizers and walk out the door for less than $20 plus tip a piece. Impressive value!

 
Jo headed for home and I headed to the sand where my favorite Brazilian band Sambada was playing. There was plenty of room to dance, though by the end it was packed with happy dancing fans. Sambada always draws a big crowd and they are not to be missed! (They will play again at the beach party on August 21st). 

To hear a band of this quality, with no cover charge, to be able to enjoy the music, while looking at the ocean and the sky and lots of happy, smiling friends is the kickoff to summer for me.  It is great the Crow's Nest offers this free  party for locals.

So in sum -  I give five shots for ambience and the beautiful view, we received five shot service, the food, drinks and value are always five shots. I'd still love one weekend day happy hour in there or making it until 6:30, but they get extra credit for throwing the beach party and having their meal with a view special. This is one of the best happy hours around.  See you at the next Sambada beach party!

Julie's rating: 5 shots! 

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Jo's Review

When it comes to happy hour at the Crow's Nest it's all about location, location, location! The Crow's Nest is a the mouth of the harbor. It has a formal dinning area just as you walk in that is level with the beach with outdoor seating glassed in.   

A very nice setting but the place to hang is upstairs at the Breakwater Bar and Grill.  On the way up the stairs they have surfboards hanging on the walls and a great picture of a wave with a rider.  As you round the corner you get of course the view from the windows that line the wall, lots of table and chairs some high some low, and two outdoor seating areas. 

 

The smaller deck was a smoking area back in the day, yes I gave it  up 5 years ago, and the other deck is beach side, stretching the entire length of the building with stairs going right down to the beach. 

I got there right around 4:30 and the place was hoppin. Some one was just leaving a table outside fully covered in shade from the umbrella, it must be my lucky day.  The weather was perfect and Thursdays they have a BBQ beach dance party and one of my favorite bands was playing that night, Sambada. 

Something unique about the happy hour here, Bloody Marys at happy hour prices is usually unheard of but they have them.  I start off with a spicy Bloody Mary and it comes with a decent amount of garnish, olive, onion,lime, pepperoncini and a large celery stick.  I love Bloody Marys, their like a meal in a glass. Julie is stuck in traffic and running late so I get a text from her with that famous line of hers "order me a bloody Mary :-)". I was getting antsy myself and hungry so along with her bloody Mary I got my first appetizer, their award winning calamari. A large calamari steak seasoned, breaded and cut into strips.  the calamari is moist, tender, and delicious, I can see why it's award winning.

Once Julie shows up we get to ordering.  A Crab Martini, crab meat served in a martini glass with lemon, avocado and cocktail sauce, the Ahi Ruby Rare, spicy seared tuna on a bed of crispy noodles with wasabi,soy sauce and ginger, and of course the usual spicy buffalo chicken wings. I always order the chicken wings here, they are the closes to the actual buffalo style that I have seen in this area. I always wish they served more wings you only get 6 but they are moist, fried just right with a tangy sauce and just the right amount of kick to them. 

The Ahi was smokin, seared just right and melted in your mouth.  The crab cocktail was lovely and the avocado was a nice refreshing addition to the dish. Everything was just yummy and we gobbled it down.  One more Bloody Mary for Julie and I opted to a draft the second round and we were in happy mode. 

The bar and grill  upstairs has their own menu as well along with the happy hour menu all the usual far for a bar a grill with a few added touches unique for them.  I usually like to stick to just mentioning happy hours but there's one more thing that makes the Crow's Nest  special to me.  A salad bar. The salad bar is downstairs in the main dinning area but it's also on the menu upstairs so you can get unlimited trips to the salad bar or one trip to the salad bar with one of the entrees upstairs.  Not many places have salad bars left and this one has lots of good stuff on it.  Most of the time when I come here I get the salad bar and my order of wings and that's a perfect meal to me.  Now if we can just get a happy hour pricing on that salad bar and all would be perfect. 

The band is starting to play and Julie is jumping in her seat so we get the bill (always pleasing at happy hour prices) and head out.  My back is hurting today so no dancing for me but next time for sure.  A very successful happy hour with good food and drinks.

Jo's rating:  5 shots