Frozen In Time and Proud of It - The Oasis

Leave well enough alone.

That could be the motto at , 6006 Manatee Ave. W., where not much has changed since the little bar opened its doors in 1965. Sure, the side roads around it are paved and the name has changed at least once or twice. But those familiar with The Oasis inside and out agree that it is frozen in time.

And that’s fine by them. The Oasis has the basics and not much else – a bar, plenty of barstools and a few tables – but that’s all it really needs. Seven days a week it opens at 7 a.m. and, believe it or not, it does get customers that early, mostly from the area's graveyard shift employees.

“You get out of work early in the morning and you aren’t ready to go home, so where you going to go? The Oasis,” said patron Brian Smith.

The bar serves beer, wine and liquor. While it may be the definition of an old-time dive, it offers a surprising variety of beers. On tap are Bud, Bud Light, Miller Lite and Icehouse, but the bottled selection includes Guinness, Heineken, Yuengling, Sam Adams, Bass, Amstel, Pabst Blue Ribbon (in cans) in addition to specialty drinks like Twisted Tea and Smirnoff Ice.

Drafts cost between $1.25 and $2.25 while bottles (or cans, for the PBR crowd) range anywhere between $2.50 and $3.75. The first happy hour of the day from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. offers $2 pints, $2.50 wells and $2 Bloody Marys. The same deals are good during the second happy hour from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., minus the Bloody Marys.

It’s a cozy setting, with dim lighting and a low ceiling where a string of Budweiser pennants dangle above the bar. Neon bar signs and television sets glow in the dimness. It has three video games, an electronic dart board and, behind the backs of patrons bellied up to the bar watching television early Saturday night, a lottery ticket vending machine and a popcorn machine.

As more patrons filed in around 9 p.m., the juke box sprung to life, belting out southern rock and drowning out Tru-TV’s reruns of home video mishaps. A couple guys relinquished their seats at the bar to shoot stick at the bar’s lone pool table.

Cynthia Bancs, an Oasis bartender for going on 10 years, described The Oasis as a true neighborhood bar where its regulars know they’re always welcome when they have nowhere else to go – even on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day or just any given Sunday. The owner, Brenda Cays, cooks homemade meals for her regulars on the holidays and Bancs is there to serve the drinks.

“It doesn’t bother me at all to be in here at Christmas,” Bancs said.

The main entrance to the bar is in the back of the building off Manatee Avenue West. Access to the attached liquor store, which also has a drive through, is in the front. That door closes at 9:30 p.m. but the package store stays open as long as the bartenders are serving.

IF YOU GO

The Oasis is open from 7 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. seven days a week, 365 days a year. It is smoking friendly and there's never a cover.