Tobacco Road

02/19/09

In response to previous posts

by MiamiMadHatter at Citysearch

Markis: The barmaid you are referring to is actually very nice and usually works very fast. I believe her name is Crystal. When you first meet her she can be intimidating, but believe me that she is very nice. You might just have caught her on a bad night. Everyone is entitled. I am sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience. Give them another shot.

BBV: I am a local artist and I happen to play at The Road a lot. I'm not sure how you got your information, but Tobacco Road always pays me when I play for them. The tickets thing you are referring to is not a Tobacco Road gig, those are festivals organized through a 3rd party promoter. I am sorry to say that your facts are a bit off.

As for the reference to "bad music" I will say this: The Road is very eclectic. Sometimes they have jazz bands, sometimes heavy metal bands, sometimes folk, sometimes blues. If you happen to show up on a night when someone is playing a style of music that is not to your liking you will not enjoy the show. My advice to you is to check their website before going and find out who is playing and what style of music they play. If you don't like heavy metal then you should not be there when they have heavy metal bands. Get what I mean?

Lastly, I want everyone to know this:

The Road has one of the most amazing bowls of chili I have ever eaten. And every Friday they have all drinks for 96 cents during Happy Hour - which is pretty amazing and awesome I think.

And if you ever hear of a band playing there called "The Coffee House Gypsies" you should really attend and check it out. That band rocks. Hehehehe. And yes, that's my band, and I am shamelessly promoting myself here so shoot me. We are also on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, MySpace, FaceBook, Rhapsody, and a zillion other sites. Just look us up in Google.

And oh, yeah... we play at The Road almost once a month, so go see us...

SEE Y'ALL AT TOBACCO ROAD!!!! :)

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02/16/09

Could and should be better considering the reputation.

by bbv1979 at Citysearch

The bar staff is always overworked and hard to get a hold of. The food is good, but the staff needs to be trained in service. And the bands used to be good here but now they have a whole lot of really bad bands most of the time. Maybe cause they went from being a live music venue that paid their entertainment (with cash and food/drink tickets) to a venue that expects bands to play for free (or for tickets that the bands are expected to sell?) and bands must pay for their parking and their drinks and their food at full price (on top of not getting paid to play), so essentially if you are a good or semi decent performer or band you will not play here. Because you lose money by playing here. They care more about quantity than quality. The end result is poor quality of service and a whole lot of bad music. Shame. I used to like this place a lot.

01/01/09

The worst service ever...

by StPete Fun at Citysearch

HORRIBLE!!!! Don't let the Dennis Rodman look -a -like bartender at the main bar serve you. Rudest bartender I've ever had...Ordered the most expensive steak on the menu at ther bar, took me 10 minutes to get her and the other brunette bartender attention as they did not give me a steak knife...also asked for steak sauce but never got it. Got so frustrated I decided to just take the meal home...the topper, THEY MADE ME PAY CASH AS IT WAS NEW YEARS EVE!!!! The bar was far from busy, I was not ordering a quick drink, I ordered a full meal for myself and a friend and they tell me when they deliver the bill they are only taking cash??? Perhaps they were skimming, not sure but I have been into this bar a half a dozen times and other than the great live music outdoors, there is nothing to draw me to this overrated bar.

• Pros: Good music
• Cons: Horrible service

02/07/07

We love this atmosphere

by realjiujitsu at Citysearch

We went on a Saturday. We loved it. It had the atmosphere we were looking for a mix of adults and mature younger crowd. The music was exceptional if you like blues. The area was a little concern at the beginning but shortly after, felt very comfortable. Reasonably priced.

01/25/07

Meanwhile. . . . Acerca de Rio Miami

by joeybrozenick at Citysearch

Green glowing neon beckons me back to simpler days as I enter this treasure nestled on the banks of the Miami River in old downtown. Having the opportunity to visit on numerous occasions whether in the company of latinas bonitas, or solo I have never been disappointed. Great crowd and super staff always make you feel welcome.

The front room bosts a cozy bar and sitting area where you can enjoy a delicious and amazingly reasonable menu with juicy steaks, handcut fries, sandwiches and plenty more. Get together after work for a few frosty cold ones, or check things out later in the evening on weekends where I have been greeted by anyone from KoKo Taylor to the Jack Daniels girls inviting me over for some refreshments. I have enjoyed the patio as well, taking me back to those fond memories on High St. at The Ohio State University. It definitely has my vote for a great evening of action and adventure, a historical landmark being the first and last remaining speakeasy standing in the city of Miami. Won't you join me on Tobacco Road?

All the best ~

JoeyB

• Pros: Excellent atmosphere and neigborhood feel
• Cons: Parking

11/17/06

Classic Spot

by wrharbour at Citysearch

For those of us who like it a little funky this is a great spot! If you ever have been to the French Quarter in New Orleans this will remind you of it. The place has been around downtown Miami for a while and is a great place to see some cool blues and jam bands. It has a nice outdoor stage area and plenty of parking. It also has a small room upstairs which can get extremely packed when a good band is featured. The food is basic bar food but I know they have a lobster night there also. Cheap Drinks yea!

• Pros: Cool old joint with lots of character
• Cons: Gets hot and steamy

10/30/06

Let's hear it for the SALADS here!

by faxas at Citysearch

So, by now you know the place is dark and narrow and sometimes has great music and sometimes doesn't. But did you know Tobacco Road has awesome SALADS? Yup. Salads. They rock a phenomenal burger, big and juicy, but they also serve a humongous, delicious Caesar salad. If you're living downtown, prefer your dining establishments unpretentious, and still like your meals low-carb.... this is THE place. The only thing I don't like about it is on Saturdays when the place becomes just another club and you have to valet.

• Pros: Great food @ great prices, Unpretentious atmosphere
• Cons: Parking lousy on Saturday nights...valet required

A reputation for great blues and debauchery stretching back more than 80 years.

by Contributor at Citysearch

In Short
Established more than eight decades ago, Tobacco Road is Miami's bar of choice for great blues and food. Its two stages have played host to many blues legends, including B.B. King, Koko Taylor and Albert Collins. It's also one of the few places in town where local bands regularly perform. Even Al Capone used to hang at the Road during its days as a speakeasy. The Road also holds Miami's liquor license No. 1.

06/13/06

Best bar in Miami

by downtownmiami at Citysearch

One of my favorites. Perfect location. You can't go wrong with this place. The food is great, try the loaded nachos at least once in your lifetime. For dessert, get the chocolate bomb, a warm fudge cake with ice cream on top... so goooood. Great service, great prices, great food, great music. This place is a classic. Light years away from South Beach shallowness, silly trendiness and fashion obsession. There's a small triangular parking lot at the end of the block right before the bridge. Parking there is free, but some people come and pretend they're working on the parking lot and will ask you for money to park there. It's better to park behind the bar in their private parking lot, which is pretty big; plus, it's free monday through thursday. Friday and saturday it's about four dollars.

• Pros: Great music, great food, laid back
• Cons: Food's too tempting for dieters

04/28/06

miami's oldest bar

by sonoman7 at Citysearch

this place great. so when you go to a bar and pay 13$ for a screwdriver what do you get?

vodka and tang, right? check out how at the road they squeeze those florida oranges for your drinks, right there in front of your face.

nightly specials, awesome live music, from jazz to punk in spanglish.

yearly crawfish boil festival - open until 5am.

leave your bling bling out of the road.

• Pros: kitchen open til 2am, bar open til 5am, cig vending machine
• Cons: slow service at times