Julie's Review
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!"
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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
*****
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.
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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!
*****
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
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.
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.
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!
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