Abraxas Lounge

I don't drink, but I took my boyfriend, a huge beer fanatic, here thanks to Joseluis' great SoBe list.  Let's start with the hours--Abraxas is open until 5am on most days, and until 3 on Sundays and Monday's.  Pretty sweet hours.  

As for the ambiance, it's a very chill, laid back, come-as-you-are, neighborhood kind of place.  There's a large bar in the vented and sofas and chairs set up in a few nice lounge areas.  The chill tone is set by the music, which had a nice chill Indies sound and by the lighting,  which is where my problem came in.  It was dark enough that my boyfriend thought they weren't even open, but when you walk in,  it's so dark,  extremely dark that your eyes hurt and you can barely see he menu.  As for the chalkboard menu, forget about it!  It 's impossible to see well enough to read even half of it.

Aside from the darkness and the fact that all of the regulars seem to smoke, which quickly started to make me feel sick and kill my eyes, I thought this place was a real find.  Chillin' out at Abraxas is like having drinks at a close friend's.house.  Everyone feels welcome and right at home.  The bartender was cool,  even towards me, the non drinker.  She checked on me a few times and never made me feel unwelcome.  She seemed to know everyone else and chatted it up with them.

The star here is the menu, or should I say menus.  There's a specialty beer menu and an international beer menu, both of which are huge.  Prices are like little else in the vicinity, very reasonable.  The menus tell you origin and alcohol content of all beers and prices range from $6 to $40plus, with six bucks being the average price. Overall, this place is a gem.  Abraxas is a much-needed reprieve from the pomp and ostentation of the typical SoBe scene.  I was even impressed by the beer selection,  and Id never drink beer, even if I did drink. Thanks, Helpers,  for another great find!

Love at first sight and sip.

Why I love Abraxas:
-Incredible beer selection
-Awesome Jimi Hendrix poster
-It's a bar undercover as a house
-Trivia night
-Friendly folks
-Good music
-INCREDIBLE BEER SELECTION (400+)

This was meant to be.  Don't fight it.

I can't believe I haven't reviewed Abraxas, my favorite spot on the beach!.
My local watering hole with an amazing selection of craft beers, and a decent line up of wines and sake as well,10 taps of always solid choices such as Bells, Evil Twin, Cigar City, Avery, Ballast Point, Green Flash, Bear Republic, Stone, etc etc. Prices are reasonable, they have daily specials according to the different days, (which also controls the type of music they play!) Monday's "In the Biz", Trivia Tuesdays (ahem!) where you can actually win bar money sometimes in excess of $60! (I also hear the Host is a pretty damn cool guy), ladies night, and the occasional special event such as tap take overs or brewery features.
The owner is a great guy devoted to beer, music and to his customers. Ambiance is mellow, beer loving crowd, 'un-southbeachy', The have smoke-eaters installed so even though you can smoke (meh!) you can actually leave the place w/o smelling like an ashtray.

If you're any of these you must visit Abraxas
a) Beer Nerd
b) Beer Geek
c) Lover of Beer
d) Suds Devotee
e) Looking for something chill off the beaten path
f) Wanna hang out around mellow cool people and listen to some great tunes

See you there.