Classic dive bar, reminds me of the taverns in PA and NJ that have been around for fah eveh. Â Simple bar with long bar with stools and some tables. Â Smokey!! Â if you don't like smoke skip it. Â They have "snacks" behind the bar such as bagged chips, pickles in a jar and beef sticks.
I am giving it 4 stars because it is what is and does not try to be anything else.
I went with a group on a Friday night and they had a live band. Some nights have a cover.
Enjoy!
Jesus, I have so many memories of this bar when I lived in St. Pete. I've lived all over the US and let me say this on record, Crissy and Mo are the best bartenders I've ever encountered anywhere!
I've gotten drunk here. I've seen bands here. I've snuck in to avoid cover charges. I've sat alone at the bar and wallowed in my sorrows. This place will always hold a dear place in my heart.
Emerald is a great dive bar located near downtown St. Pete. I was brought here while staying with some friends who know the area, and they know their bars. This is a great place to start your night, with awesome happy hour specials- including $2 wells. We pulled a couple tables together, talked, enjoyed our drinks, had a great time, and it didn't break the bank.
There's a lot of seats at the bar itself, plus a lot of tables spread out, and you can almost always find a place to sit. There's a lot of local artwork hanging on the walls, which you can purchase if you like, as well as a jukebox with a great sound system, some dart boards, and maybe a pool table (I had a few of the $2 wells, and my memory is a bit fuzzy).
Either way, enjoyed the few times I stopped in here to hang out. Great bartenders, great folks, a real friendly atmosphere, this is a great dive bar!
If you want to breathe filtered air while wearing an Afflicted t-shirt, sipping a $9 bottle of beer brewed by thrice-recycled solar power, and take home spray-tanned Pilates puppets, go somewhere else. If your OCD flares up when the people next to you smell nothing like Calvin Klein's Pretension, you will not be happy here.
If you can handle the fact that reality is sometimes dingy, sketchy, mismatched, wobbly, or stained, quit whining and fork over the $2 cover. You might find out that it's a liberating blast to tie one on in St. Pete's answer to the big city dives (REAL dives, not the seedy-SEEMING fake-outs that your teenage sister can't wait to go to) with an unpredictable cast of characters who, as improbable as it may seem, really don't care what you think!
Gosh I like the Emerald, but the failure of the place to have an A/C system that blows the cigarette smoke out of the joint makes it impossible for me to be in there for very long. When the place is empty-ish, and I can breathe, its great!
Decor: Vintage, with a perfect patina of dive.
Staff: Awesome. Music: Awesome.
If they could only fix the air problem I'd be a regular... until that day, I'll sadly be next door at Sake Bomb or down at the Local 662.
slammin & fun dive bar! great music on Thursdays where the dj plays only records from the past! Simple bar where the drinks & goodtimes talking are the focus, not some huge tv screen playing sports games. Back to basic bar for the people that want to get away from the mainstream pubs/corporate sports bars.
Review Source:Seriously, if you don't know about the Emerald you've either A) just hopped off a boat from Nunavut, or B) say your bedside prayers at 8PM promptly every night. The place is a local institution, and if you have any social life whatsoever in St. Pete you have, Â or will experience this dive at some point.
As others have astutely pointed out, yes this is a dive bar. It's been that way for decades, and it's never going to change into a "classy" place for dbags with excessive tans and popped up polos. What it lacks in pretentiousness, it more than makes up for in character.
I remember my first trip there fondly, back in the early 90s. It looked like it was straight out of Archie Bunker's place or Barfly. We were the youngest lushes there by 40 years... had a great time with the guys who would start yammering about back when nickels had pictures of bumblebees on them, and everyone wore onions on their belt, which was the style at the time, you see...
The clientele has changed since then. There is a heavy dose of tattooed hipsterdom there now, though not exclusively by any means. The circa 1975 wood panelling is still tacked in, but more importantly the place has never lost its slightly disturbing crazy.
If you're a noob there, I recommend a weeknight jaunt to get a feel for the place. Weekends can get very crowded, very smoky if you're thinskinned, and they charge a $2-$5 cover for a live band or a DJ. Honestly I've seen some great shows there, and it's never been annoying background noise in any case. If the thought of paying a $3 cover for people actually playing music seriously bothers you, may I humbly suggest finding a more fulfilling career than working at Walmart.
If you find your tender sensibilities offended by the Emerald, please drop the ego, throw back some cheap High Life tallboys served by your friendly bartenders, get gloriously inebriated and let the good times roll. It's one of the best places in town to strike up interesting conversations with strangers and make new friends... if you're in the right frame of mind.
All that I know is yes, it was packed. Yes, people are smoking. BUT Yes, it's a much needed injection of filthy, dirty rock 'n' roll, of several kinds!
I personally did not smell any foul, BO riddled youth. Maybe the lingering cigarette smoke cancelled that out or I had enjoyed enough of their beer to not notice or really give a damn. The bartenders were very busy, and working hard but remained very pleasant.
The most important and surprising factor in this equation is that the bathrooms were not as dingy as I assumed they would be and there was a constant supply of toilet paper... and soap... and paper towels. Whaaaat?! Yes a full supply at all times. Crazy I know.
My husband and I were always skeptical of the Emerald and the sketchiness that may occur. It's not that we read the cover of that book entirely wrong but let's just say there were several nice surprises within the pages.
The Emerald is exactly what it is supposed to be... a dirty dirty local rock bar. Hipsters, Punk, Scenesters, Rockabilly and more. If you are looking for exemplary bar service, this place isn't for you. It is non pretentious in a very pretentious sort of way. Â Old Skool scene, typically great music, strong drinks and a bartender who will serve you with a cig' hanging out of their mouth. It isn't a a fancy place.. if you are seeking that, go somewhere else. If you want punk rock, then come here and have fun or don't.
Review Source:Drinks are poured strong at the Emerald. Awesome djs spin here weekly like Mega. Ladies night is the best on Wed for cheaper then normal drinks.
Every guy dresses like their dad did in the 70s and the ladies wear tight jeans, scarves and headbands.
The bathroom was clean. Srsly the cheapest drinks in St Pete other then a redneck dive bar!
I mean, shoot man... why not, you know?
The Emerald is a gem!
This place isn't a typical Florida bar if you ask me. It has the look and feel of a neighborhood dive bar you'd find in Pittsburgh or Chicago.
Smoky, cheap wood-paneled walls, worn linoleum floor, old school furniture, dusty old beer paraphernalia, old-fashioned jukebox and an analog cash register with real scrolling numbers!
The clientele is a mix dominated by the street punk/rocker or barfly in the making. Come as you are, not as you were or will be.
4 stars for relentlessness.
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