This was actually the first pub crawl our professional drinkers ever went on and we did it all together in one night, however John Dooling’s account was lost to time and computer glitches, so you will have to take Katie’s (and Johnny St. Thomas’) word for it. The march from Burrito Gallery to London Bridge to Mark’s to Dive Bar to TSI is a regular one for many locals, but I do recommend stashing twenty bucks and the number to your favorite cabbie deep into your wallet. When you run out of cash, let a professional driver take you home, because the nightlife downtown can leave you pretty sauced. Plus, this being the Jax Gets Green issue, walking to your bars and taking a cab home greatly reduces your carbon footprint (and destroying your liver and dying young also helps the environment, so hoorah all around).
Address: 21 East Adams Street
Type: Latin Restaurant and Bar
Serving: Full liquor, great wines, domestic and imported beers. tacos, burritos, salads and more.
Amenities: Live music, eclectic DJs, outdoor seating, great art.
Drink Specials: Happy Hour is every weekday from open until 7pm. $2 domestic drafts, $3 import drafts, $4 glasses of wine, $3 well and call liquor drinks and $4.50 premium liquor drinks.
Burrito Gallery is bar none the best bar and restaurant downtown. When they have music, it’s usually cool music (jazz, indie rock or avant-garde) on the patio (which they call an “urb garden”). When you don’t like the band, it’s easy to slip into the bar where the holler of the evening crowd ricochets off of the bare brick walls. The art on the walls often changes, but the “Urban Core” mural on the side of the building will always remain. This urban chic restaurant has excellent fish tacos that they usually serve almost until close. Unfortunately closing time is usually ten o’clock, but on weekends they stay open until eleven (later if there’s a show). Enjoy their full liquor bar and great draft beers while you can, but save some sobriety for down the road. Burrito Gallery is only the first stop on the downtown bar strip.
–Johnny St. Thomas
Address: 333 East Bay Street
Type: Bar and Night Club or “Discotheque”
Serving: A great selection of imported draft beers, domestic and imported bottled beers, a fine selection of wines.
Amenities: Pool tables, old school video games, an art gallery upstairs and an outside DJ and bar area.
Drink Specials: Their specials change from week to week. This Friday (April 20) is penny PBRs. Check out clubtsi.com to find their specials of the week.
No night on the town in downtown J-ville is complete until you’ve capped it off at TSI. No one knows for certain what TSI stands for, that is to say the acronym changes regularly, but their cover charge is usually reasonable. If it seems high, it must be a live music night and they feature some of the best imported beers on draft (and PBR if you’re slummin’). This indie-chic dance club has a round stage (on which they showcase some of the best local, regional, national and international bands live) the hippest DJs, and a ghetto-fabulous postmodern décor. Play on their pool tables or just slump over their long bar. Although it is a far cry from Mark’s or Dive Bar (they don’t take credit cards), they are good at welcoming all kinds of people and the haircuts are always fun.
– Johnny St. Thomas
Since the Humane Society burned down, plenty of people are looking for a way to help. One unusual way to do something about it is to go to Ole’s Mutts & Margaritas on the 23rd. You can bring your pooch to their porch. Your dog will be able to order from his own menu, while you sip margaritas and eat tacos for a good cause. Mutts & Margaritas takes place every week, but on the 23rd 25% of all the proceeds go to the Humane Society. Hours for the event will be extended, running from 5-10PM instead of 6-9PM. This week you can expect an extra tent to be set up and a live band to be playing. The participating Ole’s is located at 9921 Atlantic Blvd. The doggie dishes will be handled by Miss Daisy’s Delights, which makes fresh food for dogs as well as gourmet dog snacks. If you’d like to make a direct donation to the Humane Society, just ask at any Wachovia Bank branch.
Address: 315 East Bay Street
Type: Bar and Night Club
Serving: Full liquor, fine wines, domestic and imported beers on draft and in bottles.
Amenities: Spacious dance floor hidden from the main bar area, separated seating booths, immaculate bathrooms.
Dress code: “casual chic.”
Drink Specials: Happy hour is 4:30 – 7:30
Next, we stumbled over to Mark’s. This lounge-type bar tends to get pretty popping and pulls in the well-dressed, mid-to-late-twenties professionals. With a full bar and a spacious dance floor, people aren’t shy of breaking it down to some hip-hop, pop, and dance music. I personally like this venue because it is upscale, but with a pretty relaxed vibe.
–Katie Veltri
Address: 331 East Bay Street
Type: Bar and Dance Club
Serving: Full liquor, fine wines, a wide selection of domestic and imported draft and bottled beers.
Amenities: Black light room, softcore porn in the bathrooms, and a cigarette machine.
Drink Specials: I’m sure they have some, but the bartender was a little too busy to answer my probing questions. You’ll have to go and see for yourself.
Our next stop was the Bar. Ironically enough, this bar is too new and clean to be considered anything remotely close to a dive bar; however, it does have many themes resonating throughout (mannequins, black light booth, go carts, etc..). This newcomer to the downtown bar scene has successfully managed to attract a wide variety of people. The music bounces from 80s mainstream to 90s rock to techno-pop (booty music). There are comfortable beanbags, mod chairs, and a semi-enclosed room with black light posters (like the old back room in Caribbean Connection – trippy). This bar is like a slice of Disney in Jacksonville’s downtown (with more cleavage).
–Katie Veltri (et al)
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