Sloppy Joes Key West
Is A Pure Key West Treasure
Sloppy Joes Key West is as much about the history of the Florida Keys, as it is a simple bar on Duval Street Key West.
Many of the bars that you will find around the area, are great to drink in, or to pop in and watch the clientele waste a few hours out of the Key West sunshine.
But Sloppy Joes Key West is more than that.
It is somewhere that when you return home from your vacation people will ask “So did you drink a few in Sloppy Joes then?”
Don't be one of those people that sheepishly mutters “Er, no...I never got round to it.”
Let's break it down first and foremost to where Sloppy Joes Key West Bar can be found, what is offers, and then we will try to illuminate you with the full history of the place.
It really has a tale to tell.
Where Is The Bar To Be Found?
The bar is found at 201 Duval Street, up near Mallory Square, which is the official home of the Sunset Celebration.
The Square is the place in Key West that you see crowds flocking to each night, to watch the entertainers, street performers and of course the world famous Key West sunset occur.
Its an easy place to find as Mallory Square is always shown on all Key West maps, even if Sloppy Joes Key West isn't.
For a great downloadable PDF of the area you can click here which shows both, Sloppys and Mallory Square, plus a host of other attractions and restaurants.
Click The Above Image To Go Straight To Google Maps
What Are Sloppy Joes Key West Opening Hours?
The bar opens it doors very early, as is the way of most bars in Key West, but closes much later......good stuff.
So if you got in there at 9:00am you wouldn't have to leave until the doors close to do some cleaning etc at 4:00am the next morning.
That is the norm throughout the week and Saturday, but they either want to go to church or have a well deserved layin on a Sunday as they don't open until noon.
Go on, cut them some slack....you have plenty of time to try their wares for the rest of the day.
Amazingly they are even open for business on Christmas Day, and I'm sure the owners wouldn't do that unless they had people eager to pop in and have a beer or two.
It truly is a popular and historic Key West attraction.
And talking about attractions, make sure that you take a look at some of the best Key West attractions near Sloppy Joes Key West, as you really are in the hub of things, in and around the bar.
What drinks and food do Sloppy Joes In Key West offer?
The bar has a good range of food from burgers, fries, spicy hot wings, to salads. that will keep you more than nourished, as you aim to soak up all the alcohol that you have consumed whilst inside.
Certainly I will always go for the classic conch fritters that seem to do the job of stopping me getting too drunk.
But the food is hot, quickly served and a good price, based on other restaurants and bars in the area.
Yes you could get things cheaper, but Sloppy Joes Key West is a tourist attraction at heart, so the prices will always be a little more.
However most people understand that.
For the full current menu, click through to the official menu at Sloppy Joes Key West, as this occasionally changes and you will always be up to date.
What Events Do Sloppy Joes Key West Provide?
There are many fun and entertaining things occurring in the bar each year, but the two most famous of the events are the look-alike competition and the New Years Eve extravaganza.
Firstly the Ernest Hemingway Look-a-like competition that takes place in July each year is a huge an popular event, and came about due the famous writer Ernest Hemingway love of Sloppy Joes.
He would make good use of the facilities in the bar, and spent more time than was perhaps good for him, leaning against the bar, chatting to the locals.
And in honor to him contestants travel across the globe to be crowned the most like him.
And believe me, although the winner is generally a fair representation of the great man himself, some of the others are......well shall we say either completely drunk or just deluded.
It's all good fun though and is followed by the bizarre running of the balls, which you can read more of here.
And the second is the dropping of the Conch Shell on New Years Eve.
A kind of homage to the times square ball in New York that was hosted by Dick Clark for years.
It's great to see everyone focused and celebrating the new year outside Sloppy Joes Key West, and certainly I have been there many times and love the vibe of New Years on Duval Street.
The History Of Sloppy Joes
Sloppy Joes has quite a past and has even moved location since first opening its doors in December 1933, the actual day that prohibition was dropped.
Before then if you were going to drink alcohol you needed to be in the know, and either make contact directly with the rum runners who operated in the area, or have entry to your local illegal drinking place - The Speakeasies.
And Key West was full of them, as it has always been a place that has laughed at conformity and regulation.
I suppose that is what makes it so appealing to the wide range of races, sexuality and creative and artistic folk that flock here years after year.
But back in prohibition times, when the government were convinced that stopping the sale of alcohol Americas problems would be a thing of the past, a guy named Joe Russell saw that he could make a killing.
So he would sell his booze to anyone who came along, and even Hemingway himself would pop over to Russell's bar for a drink or two.
However, the name Sloppy Joes did not occur till later when Hemingway himself suggested it due to the wet floor that was always common in the joint.
For more great history about Sloppy Joes, go to the official site from here.
who can let you know about all the interesting goings on that has occurred on the corner of Greene Street and Duval Street then....yeah you got it Sloppy Joes themselves.
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