The Cellar Bar Is One Of A Kind

It’s almost hidden in plain sight. One of the hippest, stylish night spots in town.

The inconspicuous, one-story building on 26^th Street West just north of busy commercial Cortez Road with its gas stations, fast-food joints and banks, is, believe it or not, the ultimate Miami chic in Bradenton.

It may not look like a nightclub during the day, but check out , 4307 26th St. W., on a Friday or Saturday night.

That’s what the temperature inside heats up, as the dance-club cliché goes. But The Cellar certainly isn’t a cliché, especially not in Bradenton. Because there is really nothing else like it in town. Owner Bill Hatoum, who wanted to bring a bit of Miami to Bradenton when he opened The Cellar about two years ago, sums it up in two words: “sexy elegant.”

“We play the latest music, we give that sexy elegant atmosphere inside and we try to give an upscale look with low prices,” he said. “It’s a battle on a daily basis to be able to give a great quality at a low price served by professionals in an upscale atmosphere, but we succeed day after day after day.”

The Cellar does this by giving its patrons a top-notch experience, from the spring-loaded bar stools to a straight draw dispenser for a fresher-tasting draft beer. All at reasonable prices and no cover charge.

The Cellar offers 15 draft beers, several of which change regularly. Along with the popular domestics, current choices include Extra Special Bitter, Sierra Nevada, Spaten Optimator and Magic Hat No. 9. Bottled selections, which also vary, include 25-30 other American crafts and some imports. Several brands from Dogfish Head and Bell’s Brewery, along with overseas favorites like Newcastle, Dos Equis and Guinness, were among the choices in the fridge Saturday night.

The house wines are always quality, Hatoum said. Jacob Creek and Robert Mondavi wines are the current offerings. The bar also serves top-shelf liquor and is famous for its own tasty, alcoholic fruit juice mixes. The Cellar only serves authentic fruit juice and actual cola, not syrup and water.

The bar is smoker friendly. It was the first, and possibly still the only, bar in Bradenton to offer hookah, the practice of smoking flavored tobacco through a multi-stemmed instrument that draws the smoke through a water pipe for a smoother inhale. It’s the latest rage in the clubs. The Cellar offers about a dozen flavored tobaccos including apple, pear, cantaloupe, strawberry and grape.

The elegance that defines The Cellar doesn’t stop at the craft beer selections and carefully-dispensed drafts. It’s right under your keister. Patrons can enjoy a seat at one of the leather, spring-loaded bar stools that surround the granite bar or on a soft sectional couch or lounge chair.

The Cellar enjoys a reputation of being not only classy, but clean. The restrooms are cleaned multiple times throughout the night, the bars and tables shine and the dance floor isn’t littered with cigarette butts.

In turn, Hatoum asks for the same from his patrons with a dress code. It’s not extreme, but there are a few banned garments including inappropriate gangster gear and biker jackets with dangly chains and the skin-tight men’s tank tops more commonly known as “wifebeaters.”

Next door to The Cellar and currently closed for renovations is the old Beer Monster, a package beer and liquor store that specialized in obscure American crafts and imports.

Hatoum said Beer Monster will return in a few months but with an attached sports bar that will include pool tables, steel tip darts, video games and televisions. A sports bar, but with that Cellar-esque touch.

Total class.

IF YOU GO:

, 4307 26th St. W., is open from 4 p.m. until 2 a.m. every day except for Sunday. The bar is smoker friendly and you must be 21 or older to enter. Phone: 941-751-9111.

AROUND BRADENTON THIS WEEKEND:

• Test your endurance at , 5627 14^th St. W., during the bar’s weekly “Penny Till Ya Pee” which starts at 10 p.m. Thursday. Drafts and wells cost only a penny – until someone has to go! Don’t wait too long to get there. These contests last about an hour. Ladies Night starts immediately after, featuring $1 drafts, wells and wine for the ladies.
• Karaoke with Faye from 9 p.m.-close Friday at , 3102 53^rd Ave. E. Bartender Bev is serving up the drinks and her special $1.50 shots.
• Live music from Gumbo Boogie starting at 9 p.m. Friday at , 425 Old Main St. Gumbo Boogie, a popular local band influenced by zydeco, country, blues and Americana, puts its own unique spin on classic rock, blues, and oldies.
• , 2604 Manatee Ave. E., is the place to be this Sunday. Enjoy $6.50 pitchers of Bud or Bud Light during the races. The televised race from Phoenix begins at 3 p.m.
• , 5606 14^th St. W., has a Sunday NASCAR special, too: $1.50 Bloody Marys, $5 pitchers of domestic and the race is on every television – and Bleacher’s has about 20 TVs.