The Hub Bar

"Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

The Hub Bar is a dive bar located in the middle of downtown Tampa.  There are no martinis, craft beers, or wine.  Just potent cocktails with weak mixers, cheap beer, and lots of chain smoking.  They don't even take plastic *gasp!*.  Luckily, there is an ATM on location if you don't carry cash.

There is no atmosphere unless you count the homeless people that hang outside the bar.  Occasionally they enter this establishment and drink and mingle with the customers.  The jukebox carries every genre of music you can imagine.  The bathrooms are actually not as bad as I imagined they would be.  They were dingy, but mostly clean.

I wouldn't recommend this spot for "girls night out", but if you are looking to get trashed drunk on the cheap then this is your spot!

This downtown Tampa staple never disappoints.  This was my second time at the hub.  It had been about 4 years since the last time I was here.  I came to support a friend whose bad was playing.  And I was not disappointed.

Yes, the drink were strong, but the people watching was better.

My only negative comment about The Hub is that it's a cash only bar.  No Bueno.

B. Major Grade:  A

Alright, so my neighbors talk about The Hub Bar very frequently and are shocked every time I tell them I've never been there.  When the opportunity to check out this dive presented itself, I went for it!

So, honestly, it wasn't as divey as I expected (I have been to some yucky places).  I was told that I had to go for a liquor drink as that is what they are famous for.  Wowza, that's what I call a DRINK.  It burned as it went down.

I also much enjoyed the juke box.  They had a very obscure playlist in there and I enjoyed looking through the different album.  I wasn't a fan of the band that was on when I was there, but it seems that they attract a wide variety of musical groups.

Final opinion:  The Hub - strong drinks, a dive (but definitely not scary), and a fun place to boogie to some good oldies.