Kicking Back at the Oneco Beach Bar

When I met the owner of Oneco Beach Bar, 5151 15^th St. E., around the first of the year, he summed up the place in a couple sentences.

“It’s just a watering hole for the locals and anyone else,” Al Kochanowski told me. “I like to call them the ‘One More Club’ because they always want one more beer before calling it quits.”

Accompanied by my wife and her camera, I occupied a barstool at the little, old pub to get a first-hand account of the One More Club and their “headquarters.” It’s definitely old; The Beach Bar has been around since the 1950s, according to its patrons. Kochanowski has owned it for about three decades.

Its ambience is true pub atmosphere with little in the way of lighting, except behind the bar. Even the door is covered with a blanket adorned with sharks to keep the hot sun from beating down on the backs of patrons bellied up to the bar. The entrance to the bathrooms are outside along the building’s north wall.

The place is relatively small. There are fewer than a dozen stools at the bar and a couple more two-seater tables facing the bar’s lone pool table. Thirty years ago there were more tables and the place would get packed at night, and sometimes a bit rowdy, said longtime patron Chip Whited.

“Now it’s just a laid back little place. You don’t see any fights here anymore,” he said, adding that he owns a place nearby and is in walking distance. Chip, like many of the long-time patrons of these historic dive bars, loved to chat. Stranger or friend, he entertained us with stories of the bar's past while we guzzled cold Budweisers from the bottle.

The beer selection isn't all that great, but it does the trick. In fact, I recall Kochanowski telling me last time I visited that most of his customers live within walking distance and most prefer a cold Budweiser. He called it a "Budweiser bar."

Other drinks  available in the cooler behind the bar were Michelob, Coors and Heineken, along with different flavors of Smirnoff and Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Seagrams and Sangria.

Prices are always low enough that every hour is a happy hour. Domestic drafts are $1.50 and cans, bottles and wine coolers are $2.50. The bar does not serve liquor.

There’s a television behind the bar counter, video games and a dart board to go along with the pool table, but not too many patrons seemed interested in anything but sitting and chatting with one another, at least on the day we arrived.

“It’s a friendly place,” Chip said. “We’re all neighbors and most of us are all friends.”

That's exactly what a neighborhood pub should be.

Oneco Beach Bar is open from 9 a.m. until midnight seven days a week.

The Oneco area has a few other neighborhood pubs like the Beach Bar:

• , 5435 15th St. E., has happy hour from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays with $1.25 drafts and $2.50 bottles of domestic beers. The kitchen serves burgers, hot dogs, fries and other munchies late into the evening. Bubba's II prides itself on always being there: It's open from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. 365 days a year.
• If you need breakfast but want a beer, too, , 5526 15th St. E,., is open every morning for breakfast and starts serving beer at 8 a.m. Happy hour starts at 8 a.m. and lasts until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday with drafts for $1.25 for a small glass or $2 a pint, bottles from $2.50 to $3.50 and liquor from $2.25 for wells to $4.50 for top-shelf brands. Mulligan's, like Bubba's, rarely takes a day off and features live music most every weekend.
• , 420 301 Blvd. E., is hosting its monthly cookout party this Saturday - but it's still too hot to grill! Instead, The Dorics family, the bar's owners for more than 50 years, is bringing homemade spaghetti and the guests are bringing side dishes. Food comes out around 6 p.m. Get there, get a free meal and enjoy a cold drink at Manatee County's oldest family-owned bar.
• Speaking of, Hi-Way Bar is hosting its first-ever breast cancer benefit called "Stop the War in My Rack" starting at noon on Oct. 6. Save the date! We'll have more details as the event draws closer.
• There are a couple happy hours at , 5108 15^th St. E. #402, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week. But "The Rose" is best known for its “Karaoke with Faye” evenings. Faye revs up the karaoke machine around 9 p.m. every Saturday and 8 p.m. on Wednesdays.