Ruby's Elixir

This place is just awesome.  A friend lured me here, and I love blues/rock music.  Yeah, this place has that and more.  I had such a wonderful time listening to the great band and local acts who just wanted to jam.  I was here on an "open-mic' type night where anybody could go on up and rock out.  Bartender was a class act and always polite even when jammed up.

One fine gent here who sings and plays harmonica was so good I asked him if he had any music on disc and BLAM.....he offered me a disc for sale....it was an easy sale as he was just great.  I can't wait to go back.  This place was so awesome and jammed....and it was a Tuesday night....I can't even imagine the stupid fun had here on a weekend night....

Way to go Ruby's !!!!!!!

In the mood for live jazz or the blues? Then this is your bar.  It looks like one of those cool, dark, unpretentious, low-key type of bars you see in the movies with a great music act energizing the crowd to into a mellow-jazz type of excitement.

The place is a nice size but you're compacted in there. There are also tables just outside so you have more personal space out there with the benefit of being within ear shot of the music. Outside is also a good place to people watch on a busy weekend night since this place is located in the heart of downtown St Pete.

I like the drinks bc they were strong. My only complaint is that according to the waitress they have discontinued one of their martinis but it was still on the menu and on the website - so don't get your hopes up f you want the cupcake martini. I do wish they had more martini options, especially since this is jazz bar.

Couldn't be happier we found this place.  Its small, its dark, its loud, but we had a great time.

Happened on Ruby's by chance - searching yelp for places to go with live music after we left Canopy.  The band playing was called Souliz, and they should be there every night.  Awesome musicianship, wonderful singer, and so much energy that everyone was dancing - either in their seats or at the stage.

Ruby's is a jazz club and cigar bar, so it is a bit smokey and like I said, loud.  Also kind of compact, although if you went into the cigar area where the humidors are located (in another room to the side of the stage), you could probably get a seat.  We got lucky and showed up just as another couple was leaving.

The only complaint is that they had something called a cupcake martini on the menu which my girlfriend was going crazy over possibly getting.  However, when we ordered it, we were told it was discontinued. Therefore, she was really disappointed and I thought it might put a damper on the rest of the night.  As it turned out, we still really enjoyed ourselves.  Stayed for a couple of sets and then made our way home.

It might not have been as good or gotten such a good rating if not for the band, but that's usually the way it is at a live music venue.  With a crappy band, this would have just been a dark, smokey, hole in the wall with crappy music.  For that reason, I can't give it 5.  The band is not part of the venue.  That said, I'll be back, and if they are simply that good at picking their acts that the next band is just as good, then I'll kick it up to 5 stars.

Great first experience though.