Tobacco Road

The first time I went to Tobacco Road was a bust. I remember sitting in the very-hot upstairs area, listening to a band with audio problems, and generally not enjoying it. So, I didn't review it. I mean, this was a well-loved place, and deserved a second opinion right?

I returned for the first time in a long time yesterday, for their Corona "Find Your Beach" sponsored event, Waterloo. What a bizarre experience.

I settled into a seat inside for some beer and food. The layout is quite narrow, so if you're there on a crowded day, even your own table won't prevent the sardines-in-a-can feeling. A person standing nearby spilled their beer, it landed in my cup. That's how close we all were. Behind me, a waiter tripped while holding a burger, then left half the food on the floor. He had a look that said "I hate my life right now".

In front of me, a lightbulb shattered over the head of a family, seemingly out of nowhere. Glass got in their food, but thankfully nobody was hurt. The waitress moved them, but for the next 30 minutes nobody did ANYTHING to clean up the glass. The table sat there, covered in it, as did the floor below. That seemed irresponsible to me, and as I watched the guy that was originally sitting at the table stand up to snap some photos of it on his phone, I guessed he was planning to complain about it.

Then my food arrived. The "loaded nachos" were simply laughable. Exactly 6 chips, with melted cheese, and some jalapenos. Please google "loaded nachos" for an idea of what I was expecting. Definitely not 6 tortilla chips. I snacked on my sister's order instead, which was actually not what she ordered at all, but whatever.

The atmosphere inside was stuffy as I remembered, very dive-y and dark. We finished the crap meal we were served, and went outside. The parking lot, which they had tried to convert to a beach for the event by bringing in tons of sand, was completely flooded in at least a foot of water. Now, it's not their fault it rained, but if you're the oldest bar in Miami... surely you have had some time to figure out that this happens when it rains for five minutes.

Bent on making lemonade out of this Corona event, several of us played with beach balls and ended up having a grand old time. The reggae band was very good, and the ambiance in the parking lot was much better than inside. I'd have given the event 3 stars, but this review is for the place. And the place, well, wasn't my cup of tea.

Came for an event, went inside for food beforehand. Service took forever, but that's okay because it was getting kinda packed.
While there, we saw a lightbulb break and land on a couple's food.

I didn't really care since it wasn't our food. I didn't like that the servers ignored us. My sister ordered the nacho chips. Her plate came with literally five chips. I ordered the CHILLI CHEESE FRIES, I *got* the loaded fries. But we'd already been waiting an hour for the food, and our server was nowhere to be seen... We didn't want to send it back.

All in all, won't be going back.

The only good thing about this place, in my opinion, is the happy hour. Otherwise, it's very crowded and difficult to get a drink. The few times I've been here, the bands have all been pretty terrible.

We ordered food once and it took a while. The beer is pricey for such a dive, but the location is excellent. I wouldn't valet your car here...they cram them in there pretty well.

Again, good for happy hour, not so much outside of that!