Sloppy Joe's
Sloppy Joe's Bar | |
![]() Famous Sloppy Joe's Bar | |
Location | Key West, Florida, USA |
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Built | 1933 |
NRHP reference No. | 06000957 |
Added to NRHP | November 1, 2006 |
The Sloppy Joe's Bar is an historic U.S. bar in Key West, Florida. It is now located on the north side of Duval Street at the corner of Greene Street, (201 Duval Street).
Sloppy Joe's is open 365 days a year from 9:00am-4:00am Monday through Saturday and noon-4:00am Sundays. They have a food menu, including wraps, sandwiches, fish, shrimp, pizza and salads as well as an extensive alcoholic beverage menu, including the mixed drinks listed below. Adjacent to the bar/restaurant resides the retail shop where various novelty items, such as t-shirts and hats, can be purchased.
Sloppy Joe's also has two other locations, in Fort Lauderdale and Treasure Island.
History and present day
Founded on December 5, 1933, the bar's most famous patrons were Ernest Hemingway and the infamous rum runner Habana joe. The original location at the time Hemingway frequented Sloppy Joe's is a few doors down to the west, just off Duval Street, at 428 Green Street, and is now called "Captain Tony's".
The bar went through two name changes before settling on Sloppy Joe's with the encouragement of Hemingway. The name was coined from a bar in Old Havana, on the corner of Zulueta and Anímas, that sold both liquor and iced seafood. In the Cuban heat, the ice melted and patrons taunted the owner José (Joe) García Río that he ran a "sloppy" place. The name has nothing to do with the like-named sandwich [see Sloppy Joe].
The bar is the site of the Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest, started in 1981. It is well known as a tourist attraction, with live bands and slushy drinks. On November 1, 2006, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The bar is also referenced to in the famous film Citizen Kane. One of the men being interviewed, trying to remember the name of Xanadu, lists a few places that are "down south." The last place mentioned before he remembers the right name is Sloppy Joe's.
External links
- Weekly List Of Actions Taken On Properties: 10/30/06 through 11/03/06 at National Register of Historic Places
- Official website
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Gallery
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Green Street façade of Sloppy Joe's Bar
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The Silver Slipper dance hall adjacent to Sloppy Joe's, painted in the 1930s by Waldo Peirce